J. Alfred Prufrock

T.S. Eliot's J. Alfred Prufrock is a very interesting poem.  It seems to be about love,  but not a positive or hopeful side of love.  It is very dreary, pessimistic and self defeating.  The beginning of the poem quotes a piece of Dante's Inferno.  I think thhis is a good way to represent to the pessimism and dispair expressed by J.  Alfred Prufrock thought the poem.  Dante's Inferno, which talks about the 7 levels of hell, seems to be an appropriate introduction to this down poem.  It also could be construed as a parallel to the struggles of love and the whole "man this sucks im stuck now" idea that some people feel when falling in love and developing a long term relationship and commitment.  Perhaps he feels anxiety about finding love because in some ways it is like going through another ring of hell.

Preludes

I really enjoyed T.S. Eliot's poetry.  His poem Preludes is beautifully written.  I couldn't seem to decide what it could be portraying.  I either found it to be an account of a relationship or love of his, or in complete contrast, about a prostitute.  His first stanza describes a city street as it gets late, and in the second one describes the coming of morning.  Eliot uses imagery, but in a less intricate way.  His short lines in the opening stanza sort of set a simplistic picture.  Something busy, yet still.  In the third section of the poem, what I percieved to be a girl is described in a very tell-all way.  It seems like a portrait of her.  It is unclear of who she is, but it seems that it is a lover of sorts.  I really enjoyed the way this poem was written as well as the content.  It's hard to put my finger on exactly what spoke to me in the poem, but I think it is one of my favorites.

Langston Hughes

I enjoyed Langston Hughes' poetry very much.  I thought it was skillfully written as to evoke a certain feeling in the reader.  In his poem "the Negro Speaks of Rivers", he exhibits this characteristic exactly.  He writes historically, speaking about slavery or the inequality among blacks and whites.  Throughout the stanzas, he develops a picture of African pride within the subject of the poem.  This could be thought of as a somewhat light poem, if read as though the subject is connecting with his or her heritage.  Although, it could also be taken in a dark manner, as if the subject is realizing and accepting that he is a slave or unequal and always has been.  I enjoyed this poem it was particularly crafty and well written in order to make the reader contemplate it's true meaning.

Ackland and Warner

I particularly enjoyed Sylvia Townsend Warner's poem "Ornaments of Gold".  Though somewhat simplistic in style, I thought the message was somewhat heavy.  The stanzas, which are just a few lines alternating the speaker, make it more as a conversation and less as something complex and more so a bold statement.  The ending of the poem where she says, "yes child, you may depend/woman-kind shall go thus to our world's end" leaves sort of a bitter taste in your mouth.  Considering the time period, women were not nessecarily allowed to live freely. There were norms and unspoken rules that women adhered to, such as the way of dress Warner describes, as well as the earrings and the ring.  She is making her audience aware of the suffocating social placements of women, and what it is they are "supposed to" do.  I found this poem to be powerful, yet somewhat dark since it seems Warner is speaking from oppression. 

Lawrence

Lawrence's poetry seems very nostalgic and personal.  His poem "Piano" is a very sweet poem in my opinion.  It is obvious it as memoir or memory of either his mother or someone elses.  I guess it could be seen as a metaphor for things that could havve been going on in history and the point in time, but to me I took it is a memory of his mother.  It seems like the woman playing the piano is the gateway for his thoughts and memories of his mother.  I also particularly enjoyed "The English Are So Nice!".  It definitely put a smile on my face.  Although potentially offensive, I found the part about the Americans, French, and German were sarcastic and humorous.  It seems as though his sarcastic and fecetious nature comes out the most in this poem to show his true feelings about "the big picture" type problems going around during that time period.

imagism

In these poems it seems as though a lot of imagery and detail is used, which coincides with the imaginist time period in which they were writing.  Ezra Pound and Amy Lowell both rely on heavy distcriptive accounts and imagery to portray their subject and meaning with their poems.    Amy Lowell's "The Pike" follows suit with this term almost to a T.  She writes in a free verse style and very eloquently describes the surroundings and attributes of this Pike.  She uses contrasting colors to particularly describe certain elements. "Silver-sheened in the sunshine..." is an elaborate use of imagery and also alliteration.  She uses attention grabbing metallic color to describe this fish's action of swimming throughout the water from some one else's perspective.  These thoughtful and detailed used of imagery are used to convey the subject of the poem in a simplistic, yet beautiful way.  I particularly enjoyed these poems because of how thought provoking and descriptive they were.  It made them easier to read and enjoyable.

War Poets
The war poetry was nice to read, just because I am particularly interested in the history of wars and the literature surrounding it.  Sassoons poems, "The General" and "Blighters" were nice because they were simply written, not too long and no sort of intricate pattern, but somewhat mysterious or whimsical.  Although a heavy topic it almost seemed light, perhaps in a mocking way toward the seriousness of war?  I enjoyed his poetry because while not entirely metaphorical or symbolic, it still kind of made you think of something beyond the words there in front of you.  I also enjoyed Gurney's poem "First Time In" alot.  It was a bit longer, and more intense and descriptive, but I feel like his writing style was a very realistic account of war and it's components, which in itself was beautiful.  "Dolce et Decorum Est" was odd but interesting since it is about a gas attack.  Its strange how something so terrible was able to be captured and put into something as eloquent as poetry, while still keep it's subject matter.