Blog 11

“Sir Patrick Spens” and Dudley Randall’s “Ballad of Birmingham” are two poems that many similarities. In “Ballad of Birmingham” the little girl remains faithful to her mother. But she ends up dying despite her mother’s efforts. In “Sir Patrick Spens” the sailor remains faithful to the King and ends up dying at sea as he attempted to do what the King told him too. The two main characters remain loyal and faithful but in the end it results in their death. Another similarity that I noticed was both the poems are similar in structure. Both poems have four lined stanzas and have a rhyme scheme of the second and fourth lines rhyme together. The pomes also share imagery. In “Sir Patrick Spens”, it says “Its fifty fathom deep,/ And there lies good Sir Patrick Spens,/ Wi’ the Scots lords at his feet” (42-44. 650). And in “Ballad of Birmingham, “She has combed and brushed her night-dark hair,/and bathed rose petal sweet,/ And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands,/ And white shoes on her feet.” (17-20. 956) This shows the vivid imagery. It gives us as readers a good picture of what is going on between both of the poems. Another similarity that I noticed between both of the poems is at the end of both of them they both set a gloomy mood leading up to the tragic outcome. And when the lines are revealed about the tragic such as in “Ballad of Birmingham” when it says “For when she heard the explosion,/ Her eyes grew wet and wild./ She raced through the streets of Birmingham/ calling for her child.” (26-28. 957) she knew in what had happened. And in “Sir Patrick Spens” O long, long their ladies sit… O long, long may the ladies stand,/ Wi’ their gold combs in their hair,/ Waiting for their own dear lords,/ For they’ll see them no more.” (33-36. 650) And the reason why I think that is important because, it was all leading up to the tragic outcome of the poems.

Blog 10

In the poem “My Papa’s Waltz” written by Theodore Roethke, this poem can be taken in two different ways abuse or the actual waltz. At first I thought the poem was about abuse, in the poem he says “The whisky on your breath/ Could make a small boy dizzy;/ But I hung on like death:/ Such waltzing was not easy”. This poem can lead to a person’s interpretation of abuse or a memorable dance. The mother is also brought up and how she is upset at the boy’s behavior “My mother’s countenance/ Could not unfrown itself” Which means by the look on his mother’s face lets the boy know that she is upset.

Blog #9

I chose “The Lamb” and “The Tyger” written by William Blake because I liked both of the poems the most. A similarity that I saw between both of the poems is that both of the titles have an animal in it. That was the first thing I noticed about them. Another thing that I noticed about them is the rhyme scheme and the way both of the poems start out with questions, like who created them? “The Tyger” creates a darker image compared to “The Lamb” which seemed completely harmless and the exact opposite of the tiger. Both poems are asking a question, who created thee? Who created such an intimidating/ powerful animal and who created such a gentle animal? They both purpose one common question, if the creator who made the lamb, also created the tiger as well. The diction is similar in both of the poems and both of them are easy to read and simple. I enjoyed reading both of the poems and how they compared to each other.

Blog #8

Out of the poems the one I liked the best was “Here a Pretty Baby Lies”, written by Robert Herrick the reason why I liked the poem was because it was simple. The diction in the poem is easy, and the rhyme scheme is basic. The reason why I liked the poem the best is because of how one line at the end of the poem can change everything. That one line at the end can make you think totally different. From the last line of the poem we find out that the baby that the author gave us a visual of is in a grave. The poem has deep meaning and I like it because its straight forward and gets right to the point.

The poem that I least cared for was “Schoolsville” written by Billy Collins. One of the reasons why is I thought it was boring nothing really was going on. It seemed like a boring town. There was no surprise ending compared to the poem “Here a Pretty Baby Lies”, it just did not keep my attention and therefore I did not care for it.