Shavonne's+Poetry+Log

**Shavonne's Poetry Log**

 * August 14th, 2011**
 * 1) //School is Not so Cool// by Chantel Braatz (Exactly what I am thinking right now, reminds me very much of what I have been through the first 2 days of school)
 * 2) //Over the Rainbow// by Sulaiman Mohd Yusof (He makes ordinary noises into the most beautiful sounds, the imagery of what he see's during a rainbow is described so positively as if it's his favourite moment and so alluring)
 * 3) //I Sit and Think// by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (The thoughts are what I'm sure goes through everyone's mind, about the past, present, and future. I like how the stanzas are broken into each memory and I have never seen a rhyming pattern done that way before, ABCB etc...)
 * 4) //Sea Fever// by John Masefield (Reminds me of my summer and exactly I feel, want to be back at the sea. There is a lot of alliteration within each line describing what the person misses and why so. Like the way he describes everything and the words chosen)


 * August 18th, 2011**
 * //5. I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You// by Pablo Neruda (I have always loved Pablo Neruda's poems, and this is not different from any other. I like how he says one thing then each time takes it back showing how much love the speaker really has for the other person, and that even though they wish not to, they always will)
 * 6. Saddest Poem by Pablo Neruda (It fits the title perfectly, and is definitely a sad poem :(, but I like the experiences he uses that makes him sad and I think everyone can relate to one or another)


 * August 27th, 2011**
 * //7. I Remember, I Remember// by Thomas Hood (It makes me think of my childhood, and what I remember about it. A couple things that is said in the poem I can also relate to and also remember in my childhood. I like how each stanza is broken up into one thought and the detail that goes into that one thought he remembers)
 * //8. Shakesperian Readings// by Phoebe Cary (This poem is about the anger a women has towards her husband and the relationship/commitment they share, and she goes through some of his actions and how he acts towards her. In the end, she ends with "was not this love indeed?" showing how she didn't even know what love was or how it was supposed to be)
 * //9. In Memory of a Child// by Vachel Lindsay (The structure of this poem is like nothing I have seen before, it is broken up into 5 stanzas but each stanza is numbered. This poem is quite sad, as its amount a young boy who has just passed away, but how he is going somewhere better and brighter that no one on earth knows about and he will be happy there. But everyone down here will be lonely and always think of him)


 * August 28th, 2011**
 * //10. Taking Time to Grow// by Mary Mapes Dodge (The poet uses eagles to show how a mother interacts with her eaglets when they are wanting to grow up, but the mother doesn't want to see her children leave their nest. So she says that "an eaglet can afford to wait", this reminds me of my parents and how they do not want to see me grow up and sometimes want me to stay a child)
 * //11. A Boat beneath a Sunny Sky// by Lewis Carroll (I like the rhythm and the rhyming of the poem, it is very smooth and pleasant to read. Although it seems very sunny and bright, it reminds me about night time and imagining sea monsters out in the lake that haunt everyone)
 * //12. Winter Stars// by Sara Teasdale (I really liked this poem, I have always enjoyed going out at night and just lying back and looking at the stars, I even did it last night. Every time I'm outside star gazing the only stars that I can tell are "Orion in the east", and how even though there may be so much going on with me the one thing that doesn't change are the stars) // A lovely thought.... //
 * //13. To an Athlete Dying Young// by A. E. Housman (This poem makes me think about young athletes or young people in general, they get so much praise when they do well and are looked up to, but when they are so young when they die, will people remember them? Will people remember what they did? Which is how the poem flows, the beginning is very happy with praise and then it contrasts and it's very quiet and people forget)
 * //14. When Daisies Pied and Violets Blue// by William Shakespeare (I like the rhyming pattern and how the poem is written, the first to stanzas refer to the Cuckoo bird and the fear it brings in the day; and then the second two stanzas are at night time with the staring owl and the how it sings a merry note. However I have always imagined it the opposite way, I think of the daytime as a merry time and night time as scary and eery)
 * //15. Spring// by Edna St. Vincent Millay (The speaker in the poem, is not very happy that Spring is here and they don't see the beauty in anything but instead everything is negative and depressing. I wonder why? Spring is my favourite season and always makes me happy when it comes, because it marks the end of the long and cold winter)

Checked 18 September 15/15-25 KBoyce Good diversity in your collection with concise commentary.


 * September 18th, 2011 **
 * //16. When I Was Fair and Young// by Queen Elizabeth I (The lady in the poem is used to having many men approach her and ask for her but everytime she sends them away as she does not want to be a mistress, however then another man comes and she sends him away but once she has done that she regrets it and realizes all she wants is him. In this poem I like the rhyming at then ends and also how she repeats the same line again showing how much it occurs.)
 * //17. The Children of Stare// by Walter De La Mare (This poem reminds me of what is happening right now in Beijing especially through the first line "Winter is fallen early" this year it really has and although I wanted it to get colder, not this cold, not this fast. I really like how the poet describes the imagery, it makes it very visual and makes it easy to visualize.)
 * 18. I Sit and Sew by Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson (A lady is surrounded by war, with men outside fighting and a lot of issues going on around the world however all she is allowed to do is sit and sew at home however when she does this she feels like she is not helping with anything and would much rather be outside fighting and helping. You can really feel the emotion in this poem in the way the poet describes her feelings and also by using personification.)


 * September 19th, 2011 **
 * //19. A Day in Bed// by Katherine Mansfield (I think this is how everyone feels like when they are sick in bed, especially during the winter months, frustrated and cold. I like how the poet covers everything that she notices is while in bed and everything that bothers her from the dog barking to the wind blowing outside.)
 * //20. Petals// by Amy Lowell (In this poem I think that the poet is trying to show the similarities between a flower and its petals and how life is like. With the beginning being a full flower and slowly growing and then once we are grown up and on our own our petals float away and we leave our home and begin an new life for ourselves, but even though we are gone our scent will always remain where we had been.)
 * //21. Rain on a Grave// by Thomas Hardy (This poem reminds me of a song I just heard called Gravedigger about a man who wants his gravedigger to dig his grave shallow so that when he is burried he will be able to feel the rain seep down. In this poem however the rain is represented as dishonour and that when the person in the grave gets hit by rain it is a bad thing like arrows falling down on her. The person wishes for the sun come out and daisys to grow around her grave instead.)


 * September 25th, 2011**
 * 22. //When You Are Old// by William Butler Yeats (It is very much a reminder of what old people should remember when they are old, that they should reflect on the happiness and love that they experienced in their life. I like the personification in the poem, and Yeats makes it seem like every person can relate to this and has experienced this.)
 * 23. //A Red, Red Rose// by Robert Burns (A person's love is like a red, red rose. And how the rose, is so beautiful that it is like music to one's ear. And then Burns repeats "I will love thee still, I will come again" depicting the love that this person has.)
 * 24. //Always// by Pablo Neruda (The commitment one man has to his lady, not becoming jealous of her previous men no matter how many there were, but all that really matters is them right now and forever always.)


 * October 2nd, 2011**
 * 25. //Cat's Dream// by Pablo Neruda (Reminds me of my cats, they are so lazy and fat and all they pretty much do is sleep all day and all night; and this poem describes them perfectly especially the first line "how neatly a cat sleeps".)
 * 26. //Whatif// by Shel Silverstein (Sometimes I lay in bed, just like what Silverstein has said and the Whatif's start streaming through my mind, many of the ones that he has listed are just what goes through my mind. What I don't really understand is why the Whatif is like a compound word and not seperate.)
 * 27. //There is Another Sky// by Emily Dickinson (This poem reminds me of a TOK moment we had in TOK class, where we were discussing the probability of there being another earth and another solar system just like the one we live in and whether everything on the planet would be like everything we have on our planet Earth. But I like this poem because at first not to sure where Dickinson is going with it but in the end she is talking about her garden. I like the characters positivity and delight about her garden and how bright and green it is.)


 * October 5th, 2011**
 * 28. //Lost// by Arielle (I think many people can relate to this poem, where they do not know whether someone is pushing them away or pulling them in closer and the person just feels lost, caught between two different worlds. I like this poem because it can really be related to and the way she words things it feels like the words were taken right out of my own mouth.)
 * 29. //One Art// by Elizabeth Bishop (The "one art" is losing and how you should master the art of losing so that when you do loose something there is no disaster or loss felt. I do not think I would be able to achieve this, however I like the tone of the poem and how Bishop makes it seem so easy like it is so big deal for example even losing "my mother's watch" it did not matter to her.)
 * 30. //Frozen Love// by HJ (This poem is about a break up between two loved ones, and the hatred the girl now feels for the boy. I especially like the similes in this poem because they really relate to what the person is feeling and perfectly describes the emotions that are felt.)


 * October 24th, 2011**
 * 31. //France Defeats the All Blacks Again!// by Hugh Wyles (I like the stand that Wyles takes on the game 4 years ago, my dad was at that All Blacks game and the poem fits him and majority of Kiwi's; they are not good at loosing and do not react well either.)
 * 32. //Walk Naked in New Zealand Day - Part Five (Final)// by Hugh Wyles (I think everyone can relate to this poem who watched the All Blacks and France 2011 Rugby World Cup Finals, he talks about the mistakes and the tries scored and how the game played out. When we watch the game we see these mistakes but in the heat of the battle, one often makes mistakes. But in the end the All Blacks pulled through and were left standing with the Web Ellis Cup. I like how Wyles stuck to a set structure and also made the poem rhyme as he discussed the ins and outs of the game.)
 * 33. //The World is too Much with Us// by William Wordsworth (The poem is focuses on the complaint that people are so consumed by consumerism that they no longer are moved by nature. The speaker feels that people are completely ignoring our surroundings and not even considering them anymore. The poem is written as an iambic pentameter and this structure allows for a shift in the ninth line where the speaker is upset with how things are happening.)
 * 34. //To Autumn// by John Keats (This poem is written as if autumn were a person, he tells us about the bees that think summer can last forever as they buzz around the flowers, but this isn't true. This is ind of how I feel right now, we are definitely in autumn and it is bittersweet. I'm glad that the hot weather is gone but now that it is getting chilly I want it to come back and with it would last for a while longer.)


 * October 31st, 2011**
 * 35. //The Security Guard// by Jeffrey Regullano (Looks into the thoughts a security guard has, I especially like the lines "Stop these fingers play Between trigger and tedious time" I feel like this shows the contrasting roles a guard must have. Some times there will be action when the trigger can be pulled, but the other times you just stand around waiting, waiting for something to happen)
 * 36. //Moonlight Memories// by Megan V. Goldner (Seeing as it's Halloween today, I thought I would have a halloween themed poem. It specifically reminds me of last night, I could here the little kids in the streets yelling and screaming as they ran from house to house, coming up to doors with orange glowing faces, and just enjoying every moment of it. I miss trick or treating)


 * November 5th, 2011**
 * 37. //Time Was...// by Alice Frieman (I really like the first stanza of the poem it talks about how someone has altered a clock so that the time is much faster and so the "day could tick itself out correrctly." Once the clock has changed, this allows the person to go to another place in another time. The poem is nicely structured and I like the references that Frieman uses for example how when the clock has stopped nothing happens and there is no crime in the world.)
 * 38. //Sorry// by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (In this poem Ella goes through all the things that she feels sorry for, for example "I'm sorry for the strong brave men, who shield the weak from harm". But then even though she is sorry for a bunch of sad in the world, she believes that through this there is still good in it.)
 * 39. //A Barred Owl// by Richard Wilbur (I think this poem is very relatable for young children, it is about the night time when children hear scary things lurking in the night sky for example an owl, but still get scared believing it is something else. I like how the poem rhymes and has a nice beat to it.)
 * 40. //Flowers// by Wendy Cope (To me this poem sounds like a bunch of excuses, a guy tells a lady that "you'd nearly brought me flowers" but every time "something had gone wrong". However in this poem it seems that it is the meaning that counts and every time the lady is so happy and pleased that he even thought of the idea. Sometimes it is the just the thought that counts.)
 * 41. //Farewell// by Rabindranath Tagore (I wish I was saying farewell right now. In the poems farewell the person leaves his brothers trusting them with his house, and is so thankful for his friends and what they have done for him, but now he is ready for his journey and ready to say farewell.)


 * November 10th, 2011**
 * 42. //Autumn Gilt// by Valerie Bloom (This reminds me of autumn now, the sunshine is out blue skies and all, with multicoloured leaves on the trees. It is one of my favourite times of the year, so beautiful. The best days are the these.)
 * 43. //Hope// by Emily Bronte (In this poem the whole poem is personification, "hope" is as if it is a person who does things for someone. Hope used to do a bunch of things for this person, was a friend, a false guard, but then she left and went away, and there was no more hope.)
 * 44. //Imitation// by Alexander Pushkin (Death is coming for this person, he saw death himself and was just sitting there waiting for him. And he is ok with this he has accepted it and is ready to say farewell. I like the first stanza and how Pushkin describes Death's presence.)
 * 45. //The Life of Love XVI// by Khalil Gibran (This poem is split into four different sections, there is Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. In each part the person talks about what she and her partner will do during the season and how they will make the most of it. The imagery is lovely and so descriptive really illustrates the seasons and the beauty of each one. And in the end all that matters to her is that she spends all this time with him and that they are close together, forever.)
 * 46. //Goodbye!// by Richard Aldington (I love the descriptions of this poem "Feel her strength through all your veins; Breather her full odors, taste her mouth, which laughs away imagines pains;" there is strong imagery that really shows how he is feeling.)
 * 47. //Hey, That's no way to say Goodbye// by Leonard Cohen (This poem is about two people who have the greatest time together, and even though there were loves before it didn't matter cause this was now and it was special. But then he repeats over and over "Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.")


 * November 10th, 2011**
 * //48. Ocean of Forms// by Rabindranath Tagore (This person has spent most of their life in the ocean, but now he is done, "no more sailing from harbour to harbour" and he is eager to die, and leave his life where he spent in the most in the ocean of forms.)
 * //49. The ocean said to me once// by Stephen Crane (The ocean has said to someone, to look at this woman weeping on the shore, tell her that it is ok I have laid her lover "in cool green hall" where "there is wealth of golden sand" and also "two white fish stand guard at his bier". I think that this is a sweet poem because even though this women's lover is dead in the sea the ocean wants her to know that he is safe and being looked after also the king of the seas is mourning for him too.)
 * //50. The Stars go over the Lonely Ocean// by Robinson Jeffers (The poem is about the unhappy things happening in the world in relation to many places in Europe and also on Mal Paso mountain. But the stars still go over the lonely ocean. This reminds me of my summer in Croatia, I was out swimming at night time and looking out at the stars and the whole sky was just shining bright and it was so beautiful, but while I was staring at them in the "lonely ocean" so much is going on in the world.)
 * //51. Hairpins by Jane Duran// (The rain is what lasts all summer everyday there is downpour, "in every room of the house, every part of the woods" it stays the same. But the thing that changes is that "my grandmother piles her hair loosely with hairpins." And they're not staying anymore, she is beginning to get forgetful and through the summer the rain stays the same, but she is changing, ageing.)


 * November 15th, 2011**
 * 52. //Birdshooting Season// by Olive Senior (Birdshooting season is different for everyone, the men are ready with their guns ready to kill birds and bring them homes, the women are at home getting the dinner and snacks ready for their husbands, the little boys are longing to grow up to be birdhunters too, while the little girls are hoping for the birds to fly away so they don't die. This poem shows how in one situation every single person can have a different perspective on it, and I like how each "character" has their own role.)
 * 53. //Call it a Good Marriage// by Robert Graves (Everyone thought it was a good marriage, they had "interlocking views", "never fought in public", and "faced the world with pride". However they both committed suicide and were found dead, no one expected this from them, they thought they had a good marriage. People may look fine on the outside like there is nothing wrong, but it's what is on the inside that counts and sometimes people just don't realize it in time.)
 * 54. //Leaves// by Lisa Zaran (Someone went looking for God but found something else instead, whether it was bad luck or destiny who knows. But this person gave her "thorny rhythms and tragic, midnight melodies." The last line says "My heart never tried to commit suicide before." So whatever the girl found lead her to her death.)
 * 55. //Lonely Burial// by Stephen Vincent Benet (There were not many people at that lonely place; in this poem it basically describes the scenery around this remote location. With very descriptive imagery it brings the place to life.)

5 December 2011 55/45-75 :-)


 * December 6th, 2011 **
 * 56. Butterfly Laughter by Katherine Mansfield (This poem reminds me of a childhood, it’s about young children who have butterflies on their plate, everyday at breakfast they eat up there food to see who can reach the butterfly first. Their grandmother always tells them not to eat the poor butterfly. This story reminds me of some memories that you just never forget as a child. I really like the poems story.)
 * 57. The Threat by Denise Duhamel (This poem talks about the relationship between two sisters, one sister is completely jealous of the other one because she has asthma and thinks that she gets more attention. The poem is written as if it is the sister (with the asthma) s thoughts and everything that goes through her mind gets written down, like rambling. I really like this style because you get to see personally what is happening in someone’s head. It reminds me of Catcher in the Rye. In the end of the poem the mad sister throws her suitcase down the stairs and they go crashing, the mom and other sister are on the other side of the door and don’t know whether it was the sister who fell or the suitcase.)
 * 58. To the God of Pain by Sarojini Naidu (As I read the poem I could imagine the suffering, the speaker talks about the “rigorous years, sad days and slumberless nights”. It is as if the speaker is talking to God and telling him her problems, the speaker than asks to depart from the world because of all the pain that she/he is feeling. Though the poem is very sad and depressing I like how it is written and the descriptions of how the speaker feels.)
 * 59. Laziness by Robert William Service (This poem basically talks about what someone does when they are lazy and are not really doing anything productive, they lie down, don't think about anything, feeling the sun on them, and have a great time doing nothing at all. This is all I wish for right now and cannot wait till break in 3 weeks when I can just relax, I feel lazy already but need to finish everything off!!!)


 * January 19th, 2012 **
 * 60. Lesson in Grammar by Vernon Scannell (I really enjoyed reading this poem it was like nothing that I have read before, it basically was a lesson in grammar! Haha. It first used an analogy to talk about a sentence and related it to a machine that needed all parts in order to function. Then he discusses what must go into a sentence and what a very is and other things too. It was very interesting and enjoyable to read.)
 * 61. On the Beach at Fontana by James Joyce (Two people on the beach, they wind is whining and getting colder, the girl wraps the guy warm and touches his “boyish arm” and in her heart she feels an “ache of love”. Although this poem is not very direct in describing the scene I think that through the descriptions you can still figure out what is happening.)
 * 62. I Saw from the Beach by Thomas Moore (This poem describes the beach at different times of the day, in the morning there was a bark over the water, the person came back “when the sun o’er that beach was declining” and the bark was still there but the water was now gone. It describes the tide coming in and going out and who wouldn't welcome the moment’s returning of the water in the morning.)


 * 63. Beach Glass by Raymond A. Foss (This poem is kind of talking to the reader, the speaker asks “how do you beach?” and then gives options of what someone may do such as lay in place and sun tan or play ball. He then goes into what he does, and talks about how he walks the length of the beach, “lost in my own thin” “Looking for shells, people, and beach glass”. I love to do so many different things on the beach, it is one of my favorite places, I love walking along it or playing sports there is so much to do.)
 * 64. The Beach by Weldon Kees (This poem is so sad, Joseph Samuels is out of work and waits in the darkened underpass. He stares at “the fading light outside” and hears the rain beginning to drop, when it starts to pour and all the cars are gone “he takes an object from his coat” and then, “in darkness, cuts his throat”. When I first clicked on this poem I definetly did not expect this to be what the poem was about, but although it was very gloomy, I really like how it was written and how the person was introduced and gives his surroundings and what is happening before he ends his life.)
 * 65. An explanation of poetry to my father by Glenn Colquhoum (This poem was very funny, it uses rugby terms to describe a poem, so that this person’s father can understand what a poem is. I like how the poet parallels the similarities between a game of footy and the meaning of words.)


 * 66. Excuses, excuses by Alison Moyle (The excuses that are listed are ones that I have heard throughout the 10 years that I had to do P.E., they usually didn’t work on P.E. teachers because they had heard them all before. I never understood why people made excuses, P.E. was my favourite subject. I the poem is also really well written, it rhymes everything together and covers everything in a good pattern.)
 * 67. Drought by Pauline Cartwright (Lists out all the consequences of drought, hot wind blowing, dust clouds flying, etc. There is also a lot of repetition with words to emphasize the impact of drought.)
 * 68. Clouds by Elizabeth Smither (It talks about how sheep are the clouds in the sky, and how they always travel in a straight line. This reminds me of when I was little and we were always told to count jumping sheep to fall asleep. I like the connection between clouds and sheep, and how there is no end to either.)


 * 69. Don’t by Christine Johnston (This poem sounds like a mother talking, she is telling her child everything they shouldn’t do: ‘Don’t poke your brother in the eye.’ This reminds me of my own mother and how she talks to my brother. What’s scary is that I sound just like her and am constantly telling my brother not to do stuff.)
 * 70. From the Bad Glazier by Charles Baudelaire (This poem doesn't have the typical structure of a poem but instead it is written in paragraphs, telling a short story of something a man went through. 'One morning [he] woke up cranky, sad, [and] tired' this lead him to take it out on someone. He saw a glazier on the street and made him walk up 6 flights of stairs to his apartment, then told him his window panels were ugly and had no colour, so sent him away. On the way down, he dropped something on the man. This man was drunk throughout, but it is only revealed at the end, giving a different perception of the situation.)
 * 71. Daylight Savings by Steven Bauer (It's spring time and there's now daylight saving. The imagery at the beginning is of the first signs of spring. Then in the second stanza, the man notices the change and the extra light. The new light gives a radiance that wasn't seen before along with more detail in many things.)


 * 72. To a Dark Girl by Gwendolyn B. Bennett (This poem is for a dark girl, it tells her how much someone loves her from her 'brownness' to the 'breaking sadness in her voice'. These reasons are discussed in the first stanza. Then in the second stanza it tells her she should forget she was a slave 'and let your full lips laugh at Fate!' I like this poem because of the dark descriptions of her which represent her because of her past experiences as a slave.)