"Infant Sorrow"
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/45951 In the poem "Infant Sorrow" by William Blake, the thoughts and feeling of a newborn baby that is not wanted is illustrated. By having the infant as the speaker, Blake is able to show that the parents actions reflect on the child as it is just discovering the world around him or her. As the baby is born, the unhappiness of the parents is immediately expressed by words such as "groand" and "wept," which imply that most likely the baby was not intended. After this the baby goes on to say that he has been put into a "dangerous world" and even describes himself as being "helpless." Moreover, Blake then uses a simile to say that the birth of the baby is like a demon that has been hidden in a cloud, which can only suggest that the pregnancy was unexpected and terrible to the parents. This shift carries into the rest of the poem as the baby then describes how he wants to break free from his father holding him and the constricting feel of being swaddled. This leads him to feel "bound and weary," which may also be a reflection of how the parents are feeling as a result of the recent birth. The poem ends with the baby then going to its mother to lay upon her chest, and most likely to breastfeed. This line shows that even though the parents have made the baby feel unwanted, he still seeks comfort and nourishment from the mother.
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"So much Light We Could See to the Other Side"
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/nyregion/21poet-light.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion In “So Much Light We Could See to the Other Side” Tina Chang crafts together a poem about the history of humankind with all of its faults and victories. The second stanza sets the tone of the poem with, “We were a warring lot, hammered by days,and greedy too,” which explains how over the years of our existence we have fought many wars mostly over our own greed. Along with this, Chang goes on to explain the selfishness we portrayed and how we are always striving for the next best thing. Her line, “We were wanton, selfish, predisposed to constant dreaming,” paints a picture of the world we live in that is filled with human motivation to keep growing. Chang is able to explain and bring light to the amazing, but sometimes dark history of civilization. Overall “So Much Light We Could See to the Other Side” is an eye opening poem to the greed for more our ancestors and ourselves has shown in order to improve mankind. It’s a beautifully crafted poem that is an honest and raw look at the faults of humans. |
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