Rivers

In Langston Hughes poem “The Negro speaks of River” He is basically building up the African American civilization and their impact on history in the different times and places they establish their civilization just in the first line “I’ve known rivers ancient and older than the flow of human blood in human veins” This line also is a call for equality because he is making a point that he his ancestors been on this world just as long as the Caucasians. Hughes then point out that his soul is as deep as the rivers drawing a comparison that the African American race has been through so much hardship and still have manage to make a major impact in society just like a river carving its way through hills and mountains making itself wider and stronger to become a bigger part of the world. Langston decided to used rivers become rivers played a major role in the upcoming of civilizations because everything needed water for survival

The Negro Speaks of Rivers

I chose to critique “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes. I was moved by this poem because it tells of adventure and the timeless, ageless, mystery of the rivers in our world. It is a very interesting poem right from the start. One is brought to wonder how a simple man can know rivers older than time or older than the flow of human blood. This is to say he's known rivers before man was ever considered. He moves on to say that his “soul has grown deep like the rivers” and then recalls adventures he has had on a few of our world's major rivers and their impact on him. The speaker talks of having been lulled to sleep by the Nile and raising the pyramids over the Nile. These things are almost serene to imagine because of the remarkable experience it would provide to anyone who witnessed such an event. The speaker describes the next lines in much the same way and I was able to connect with him in the adventurous lifestyle he lived and how being on and near these rivers set him apart from the rest of civilization. I very much enjoyed this poem and look forward to reading more in the coming weeks.

Langston Hughs wrote mostly about the lives and culture of black American during the Harlem Renaissance era. One poem that we read got my attention, this was “Dream Boogie”. This poem has a young child who is speaking to a father, the child speaks about “the boogie-woogie rumble of a dream deferred”. The dream could be many different things, it may be that they could feel something coming a situation that would change and hopefully get better. Whatever troubles they may have been having will soon be over, they can see they dream coming true.

The poem also mentions the beat and asks “you think it's a happy beat?” this gives an impression that maybe the boogie-woogie has an underlining hardship attached with it. That possibly this is a cover-up for the true feelings and trials of life. It is also showing that the character is an optimist, because they refuse to even mention any negatives, this is the idea that you should always hope for the best and do not jinx it with any negative ideas.

Harlem Shadows

"Harlem Shadows" written by Claude McKay is a similar poem to another one of his works called "The Harlem Dancer". This poem is mainly about the prostitutes way of life at night in Harlem. "To bend and barter at desire's call", is an example of how these young women, do whatever they can to earn a type of living. Changing their times around to make the money that they need to survive in the world. They work all nights and long nights which normally do not end "until the silver break". This poem is an overall view of the nights that prostitutes work and how the world around them looks down upon them. My question is if they are full of the "poverty, dishonor and disgrace," then why do people still "use" them in that manner? Obviously, they are just trying to make a living, by going from street to street. These young women are a type of victim and are worn out by the society around them. Their feet are tired and worn by all of the walking and standing they have to endure. Physically and emotional worn by the stress and the long nights. Overall this poem just tells a story about the prostitutes in Harlem and what they go thru during the nights that they work. In a sense it could state that to get where you want to go in the future, you may do things you never believed you would or that its a long tough road to achieve what you want in life.

"The Harlem Dancer"

"The Harlem Dancer" written by Langston Hughes has a lot of emotion, not just from the poet but also the charcter in the poem. It's about a woman who dances to earn a living and make money. But you can tell she doesn't enjoy dancing because it says, "but looking at her falsley-smiling face". But just because her emotion isn't happy, Langston Hughes put in the emotion of other people. For instance, "Applauding youths laughed with young prostitutes". This is saying the young boys and girls watching her were having a good time laughing and enjoying themselves. There are two very opposite emotions portrayed here with just one story. Also, I think Hughes uses imagery very well here. Like when it says, "The wine-flushed, bold-eyed boys, and even the girls, devoured her shape with eager, passionate gaze". It paints a picture in your head what they are seeing and their reactions to it. I liked Langston Hughes poems because you could actually understand them. There weren't any hidden messages. It was straight to the point he was trying to make. He was an African American writer, writing his thoughts during the Harlem Renaisance and exressed his feeling through his poems which made him a fantastic poet.

Dream Boogie

In the poem “Dream Boogie” by Langston Hughes a little girl is talking to her dad about the boogie- woogie. At this point in time music and dancing was a big part of their heritage and who they were. The little girl is trying to show how happy the music makes them feel. She explains how their feet are moving and going beat by beat. She also tries to explain how underneath the dancing it is like words are trying to come out. I think that what she means by that is, that the feeling of the people show through their dancing, their music, and their actions. They don’t have to say what they are thinking because it is displayed throughout their motions. She also keeps asking if it is a happy beat, but from what I got out of the poem I believe it is. Seeing as how at the end she said, “I’m happy! Now take it away!” and then went on to sing and dance. I believe that our society should be like that as well. And no matter the hard times just let loose and let is all go sometimes through the music. It is their place to get away!

Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town

Anyone lived in a Pretty How Town by E. E. Cumming tells us about the life cycle of the townspeople and some ignored couple. This poem is written down in nine short stanzas. Cummings uses reverse word order and we can even say that he employs reverse word order and almost sentences that does not make sense, play with words and repetitions. Make us visualize the coming and going of the seasons leading lives and circumscribe them and sometimes even be monotonous. In this poem we can see how people dream, get marry, have children and are joyful and full of hope. As we read the poem at first we cannot realize the true meaning, after actually getting deep in the poem we can say that the description of the townsfolk is like a tale about a man and a woman. This man and woman were falling in love. Time goes by and they both die and as a curious fact they get buried right next to each other. As for that we can say that they became one and part of the earth. This was a weird poem as for the plot and the resolution were not that good and clear. Too much love between them and they did not got to live that up and enjoy it.

america

"America" was written during the Harlem renaissance and portrays the negative and positive aspects of the country. The first half of the poems seems to show the negative aspects of America because of the choice of direction we have chosen. The two key words bitterness and stealing are harsh words that show disgust and painfulness to the country. However the line "I love this culture hell that tests my youth" shows that the speaker appreciates America. To me this means that America has a lot of challenges it has to deal with, but in the end our leaders handle them well. At the end of the poem I get the impression that the speaker doesn't have confidence in the direction the country in going. He believes that the future for America may be dark and downfall from where they currently sit.

The Weary Blues

The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes has a very depressing tone to it. This man playing the piano is sad and lonley and talks about how he doesn't have anyone but himself anymore. It's really sad that he can't be satisfied anymore, and I can't stop thinking about what brought this man to feel this way. I can picture him going to sleep and still playing the tunes in his head, much like me when I can't get Poker Face by Lady Gaga out of my head after hearing it on the radio. I picture a very sad, lonely man just sitting in a dark room each day sobbing about something in his past. The Blues have become a part of his everyday life and it's very depressing. Langston Hughes writes in a way I have never seen, and it's very interesting. I really enjoyed the poem.

Weary Blues

The speaker of Langston Hughes “The Weary Blues” describes an evening of listening to a blues musician in Harlem. The repetition of lines and its inclusion of blues lyrics, the poem sets the tone and tempo of blues music. The poem gives readers appreciation of the blues musician. Hughes is singing about how, even though he’s miserable, he’s going to put his worries aside. Even though something has happened in your life, you just can’t give up, like Hughes says, you have to put all your worries aside. You have to keep on fighting if you ever want to get stronger.
The tone of this poem is sad and depressing. Hughes not only expresses his feelings but he represents all African Americans in his poems. He talks about people suffering and racial discrimination. He describes life as if you don’t have freedom than it is better to just die. I like the way he writes his poems, they have rhythm and rhyme to them and it seems easier to read.

America

In this poem it talks about how America feeds the black man “bread of bitterness” meaning that America kills the people hopes and that kills their dreams. It also says that it slowly steals the breath of life away from them. This is the time before the movement for equal rights. So, a lot of the minorities had no dreams and just threw a lot of crap at them because of their color of skin. Even though they get picked on they still pushed though and look for hope. In the poem it states “her vigor flows like tides into my blood” meaning that it gets them excited for new and crazy things. Even though they get beat down all the time they still love it here in America it gives them strength to move forward to someday be equal to the majority. They see America to be a priceless treasures sinking in the sand meaning that might be sinking in the sand but someone can still find it and polished it off. So that America can shine again but if a new people need to take lead then let it be. Now a day the white population is steadily decreasing as the majority and it is now going to another race.

Gone by Carl Sandburg

This poem could be easily read and interpreted by almost every level reader from sixth grade on. It is a simple type of poem to read because the language is not hard to understand. This is another way to keep the reader intrigued because they do not feel like it is a "hassle" to read. It is the one person in your city or town that everyone likes and cares about. The one that chases her dreams regardless of what she might leave behind. Her aspirations of a dancer and singer are clearly stated within the poem on line 13. In my opinion that strong willed passion that she posses’ draws people to her, like a moth to a flame. The men that are hunting and left with broken hearts are all because Chick left. Whether it is something you once had, or something you longed for, when it is gone, you want that something a million times more than you would normally. This poem’s references has the reader imagining their own type of Chick Lorimer in one way or another. Overall, this poem can help the reader relate to the situation proposed in the poem, making it a short and enjoyable selection to read.

Frost

Robert Frost’s the road not taken is a lot like all of our lives in the way that we came to Marion Military Institute. He talks about his decision to choose the right path to take which I view as our choice on where we want to attend college to ultimately reach our end goal, whatever that may be. It says in the first stanza “And sorry I could not travel both”. Assuming that both roads lead to the same end destination, Frost decides to choose the road that is less traveled. This is a perfect way to describe most people’s reasoning to come to MMI, it is simply the choice that most college students would never chose and it is that experience that makes it worthwhile. Frost will not know what he could have experienced if he had taken the other route, just as we would not know what would have happened to us if we were to go about the first two years of our college lives at a regular party school. The end goal/destination would end up being the same, be it a degree or literally a destination of travel. The last line of the poem “And that has made all the difference”. That is where Frost lets me know that he does not regret his choice of taking the road less traveled as he has enjoyed the experience along the way.

Proof of a Rock

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot is a story about a man's failure to balance himself in the world, and his ultimate rejection of his circumstance and the resulting excuses. Prufrock wanders through life aimlessly, wandering around the possibly the seedier parts of town to reestablish himself in a world he has inadvertently cut himself off from, possibly from too many bad experiences. This has led Prufrock to begin doubting himself, those around him, and even the legitimacy of characters made up in his own mind, like the mermaids. He talks about how they are merely dilletantes to art, not seeing deep into the subject, possibly a reflection about how he thinks people view himself (They think only of his bald spots and skinny limbs). This eventually leads to him being doubtful of every move he makes, measuring his life in “coffee spoons” rather than taking the full measures he wishes he could. This self doubt leads to suicide, whether physically, or mentally, of Prufrock at the end of the poem that leaves the reader a little out in the cold. Prufrock’s detachment from reality leaves the reader wondering where exactly Prufrock was headed, what these thoughts actually are, whether the reader is on the inside of his mind or merely listening in on a conversation. In the end, Prufrock leaves the reader a little sad with the results.

T.S. Eliot

Prufrock is his own worst enemy in the fact that he lacks the confidence he needs to be successful. He is too concerned with what others will think of him and that conversations with other people are worthless. He wants to engage in conversations but Before he does he talks to himself and convinces himself that they will just play along then when he leaves they will talk about aspects that he can't control; such as his bald spot and his arms and legs being too skinny.
I think that T.S. Eliot is trying to point out that if you worry too much about what others will think of you, then you will get nowhere. We can all learn from Prufrocks example and we should all be spontaneous and do what we want to a point. Stop worrying about what people might say about you and just do. most the time you will find that it all works out in the end.

The Road Not Taken

“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is the story of one man’s journey through life and the decisions he has to make. He comes up to two roads diverged and had to make a choice that he would once look back at. He would either regret or love the decision for the rest of his life. Not knowing where either road will take him he looks down both and makes a decision. I believe that the message behind this poem is that one day in everyone’s life we are going to have to make a decision not knowing where it may lead us. Choosing that road isn’t meant to be easy, and isn’t meant to be the right decision. Sometimes the hardest things in life are the things that matter most. A good example of having to decide which rode to take is when you are going to college and do not know which one to attend. And another may be when you have multiple job offers and one may be away from home so you don’t know what will be best for you. I believe that sometimes you just have to go with the flow of things because you cannot decide how everything in life is supposed to be it just has to play out and the beginning of that is making a decision, and not having a clue of where it will lead you.

Adventure

In the Adventure the girl Alice Hindman is sixteen years old and has a affair with a young name Ned Currie. Alice Hindman was really pretty and she knew it. I think this story shows how our generation is now and how everything goes. Alice’s falls in love with Ned but Ned wants to leave the town and go to the big city. Alice wants to follow Ned to the big city but Ned doesn’t want her to leave her family and doesn’t want her out in the big city. Ned leaves and Alice writes letters to him and he would response back. Their love lasted for about a year but Ned’s letters went from day to day to weeks and then to months. Alice thought didn’t really believe that Ned doesn’t love her no more and that he would come back for her. This never happen Alice lives the rest of the live like this and just waits for Ned until he comes back. She just works and tries to save up money, so she can go to the big city and fins him, but that fails to. I believe this is a show of Realism and Romanticism because this is how it is but the main character wants something else. The story is mostly though about Realism and how it really happens to people.

The Waste Land

Section III “The Fire Sermon” of The Waste Land by Eliot talks about how this is taken from a sermon that Buddha in which he encourages people to give up earthly passion and how to seek freedom from earthly things. This leads to sexual encounters and a religious confrontation. The section starts up in a scene in which rats and garbage are surrounding the speaker who was fishing. The speaker as the poem tells us is then propositioned by Mr. Eugenides, the one-eyed merchant of Madame Sosostris’s tarot pack. Eugenides invites the speaker to go with him to a hotel known as a meeting place for homosexual trysts. Later on in the story the speaker proclaims himself to be Tiresias, which was a figure from classical mythology which had both female and male features that at the same time is blinded but can “see” into the future. The speaker is observing a young typist who is waiting for her lover a dull and some type of arrogant clerk. The woman allows the clerk to have something with her. After the clerk leaves the typist thinks the whole thing between them was over. There are some moments of tranquility in the poem such as the description of the interior of the church, the Thames.

Wishing

“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is a poem that can apply to everyone as they journey through life. When decisions in life come upon us we find ourselves standing at a fork in the road and at that point we must make a choice that will have a permanent affect on our lives. I can personally relate to this poem right know and many of my peers can as well, because we are approaching graduation and must decide which road we will take to our futures. We must decide what school we will go to, what we will major in, and what careers we wish to pursue, and many other choices. Our decisions on these choices will affect how the rest of our lives will play out from this point on. And as it appeared in the poem some of us may look back and wish we could go back in time and change our decision, that maybe if we could just go back to one instance in time that our lives would be somehow better. But that is impossible, we all must live and die by the choices that we make or fail to make.

The Waste Land

The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot takes his name by an Anglican service and is composed of four vignettes each one from a different speaker. The first one is an autobiographical one from an aristocratic woman’s childhood, where she recalls sledding and claims that she is German, not Russian which in that moment was a big deal. The second section is a prophetic, apocalyptic invitation to journey into a desert waste, where the speaker tries to show the reader something different from the shadow in the morning and the one at evening. The third episode in this section describes an imaginative tarot reading, in which some of the cards Eliot includes in the reading are not part of an actual tarot deck. The final episode of the section is the most surreal. The speaker walks through a populated by ghosts of the dead. And he confronts a figure with whom he once fought in a battle that seems to conflate the clashes of World War I with the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage. The speaker asks the ghostly figure, Stetson, about the fate of a corpse planted in his garden. The episode concludes with a famous line, accusing the reader of sharing in the poet’s sins.