The Art of Poetry

"I knew a woman" by Theodore Roathke, page 398

The speaker uses an array of literary techniques to further describe his love and attraction to the women he once knew. One of the most important examples in adding to the meaning of the poem is the metaphor used in lines 12-15. He stated, "She was the sickle; I, poor I, the rake, Coming behind her for her pretty sake, (But what prodigious mowing we did make)." A sickle has a curved blade, while the rake is straight, meaning the rake resembles the male speaker while the the sickle represents the women. I feel as though the "prodigious mowing" that he is referring to can actually be them having sex, as the rake is also coming behind the sickle. The way the speaker is hinting at this action with garden tools is genius, as it further explains where their relationship had once been, and that is the epitome of love. Not only this, but it also keeps the poem from becoming vulgar.

The most prominent technique used to describe the women is point of view. By writing the poem in first person, direct emotions from a person who once had a sexual relationship with her can be used. Also, while the first three stanzas are written in the past tense, the final stanza is written in the present tense with the speaker thinking back about the women. With the line, "I swear she casts a shadow white as stone" it can be assumed that the women is no longer with him and possibly dead, since the white stone could be a grave stone. However, the women will always live with him, as seen by the final line, "(I measure time by how a body sways)." The poem is not supposed to be sad that she is no longer with him, but instead in joyous memory of what is remembered of her.

The reason I chose this poem as one of the two to put on my blog is because it really has a great message about celebrating past loves instead of feeling saddened that they are no longer with you. Not only this, but the women being described is very happy and attractive, which adds to the fun of having the speaker remember his times with her. The comparisons made about the women are joyous and pleasant and nothing negative is remembered about the women, which is why it is clearly seen that the speakers words about the women are only filled with love and memory.

"I wandered lonely as a cloud" by William Wordsworth, page 422

One of the most prominent themes in this poem is nature and how there is a connection between it and the speaker. There is no better technique that can be used to show this connection other than personification, which is very prominent in this poem. By describing the daffodils as "Tossing their heads in sprightly dance," it makes it so that elements of nature are doing things like humans, creating a type of connection between the two. When the speaker is dancing with the daffodils, it seems there is nothing else he would rather do besides it. The aspect he loves the most is that they dance with him, and he doesn't feel alone when doing so because he's surrounded by the beauty and freedom of nature. Also, whenever he is feeling lonely and glum, all he has to do is think of the dancing daffodils and his heart will be overcome with the joy of the dancing flowers.

This poem is famous for it's first four lines. The first two lines are a metaphor, which is a very clever comparison of the speaker to a cloud. It opens, "I wandered lonely as a cloud, That floats on high o'er vales and hills." The metaphor adds to both themes of nature and happiness, as the cloud is overjoyed when spotting the field of daffodils. There is only the one cloud in the air, and this makes him lonely as clouds are used to being with other clouds. This is similar to humans and their need to be with someone else.  As the cloud is looking down, it sees the flowers dancing and this makes him feel less alone and instead joyful. By making it a single cloud, this shows that the speaker feels lonely before seeing the flowers. By emphasizing the theme of appreciating nature, the speaker is no longer lonely whenever thinking of the flowers, because their dancing makes him feel happy as well.

The great aspect of this poem is that it's themes of nature and happiness can be used by anyone to make their lives better. The way that William Wordsworth uses the dancing daffodils as the element in nature which makes the speaker feel less lonely and more happy can be something used by everyone. People should pick something they find the most beautiful in nature and when they're feeling down they can just think of that and it could possibly help them feel more at peace with the world, just like in the poem. For me, I would think of a sunset on the beach, as this picture always makes me feel more content with my life. There are so many beautiful parts of nature that everyone should find at least one aspect which makes them feel happy.