Ian Crichton Smith

Now that you have read the poem and considered the meanings of the lines, answer the following questions in a Word doc or in your assignment window:

Female imagery shows itself in the second line. When we think of Mayflowers, we typically think of the ship that brought settlers to America. This representation can go in several different directions. The Mayflower can represent the boat taking people from the only cavernous home they have known and pushed into a new world that they have never been part of, and left to their own devices; much like children being born. The mention of this flower could also be a parallel between the Mayflower ship and the party itself. It was supposed to be a great thing that brings happiness and development but based on the narrator’s reaction and what we know happened on the Mayflower while it traveled and when it landed; it is not too farfetched to assume that neither response was the one expected.

This poem begins with the speaker leaving his group of friends (who have been discussing sexual liaisons) for a drunken walk in St. James’s Park, to “cool my head, and fire my heart” (8), whereupon he encounters his lover Corinna being led away by three “knights.” She looks at him disdainfully. His anger towards

It is doubtless that Satin Legs Smith is fully aware of his king-like nature; we are presented with the visual of him slowly and beautifully waking himself next to his lover, as if in the beginning act of a great performance. “He wakes unwinds, elaborately: a cat/ Tawny, reluctant, royal. He is fat/ And fine this morning. Definite. Reimbursed” (Brookes). Indeed, much of “The Sundays of Satin Legs Smith” seems to be an intricate performance on the part of Satin Legs Smith. “He waits a moment, he designs his reign, /That no performance may be plain or vain” (Brookes). The intentionality of Satin Legs Smith’s every movement implies that this regality is not natural to him. Brookes confirms that Satin Leg Smith’s presentation is at least partially a façade in the 5th stanza- “But you forget, or did you ever know, /His heritage of cabbage and pigtails, /Old intimacy with alleys, garbage pails, /Down in the deep (but always beautiful) South “(Brookes). It is now confirmed for the reader that Satin Legs Smith is, at least partially, his own creation, and that we, the reader, are not privy to the truth about his

    In romantic or sexual context, a woman is often said to be as beautiful as a flower. In John Steinbeck's short story "The Chrysanthemums", Elisa Allen never receives this recognition. Although she is a strong woman, she is frustrated because her husband will not admire her romantically in any way. This frustration only deepens because she is childless and feels the need to be a mother. She discovers an outlet for her frustration in a flower garden where she cultivates beautiful chrysanthemums. Steinbeck uses these elegant flowers as a symbol to represent the tender, inner-self of all women, including Elisa.

The narrator does not value his wife’s poetry and therefore does not feel connected to her. The narrator remembers the first time his wife showed him the poem she wrote about Robert, and the narrator says, “I can remember I didn’t think much of the poem. Of course, I didn’t

In addition to the content of the poem relaying the message of the importance of memories and their driving force and their ability to allow an individual, or a group, to lay claim to immortality, the form in which the poetry was written subtly alludes to the same concepts of heroism and memories. This is demonstrated in everything from the subtle changes in tone that occur throughout the poem. An example of this change of tone affecting the mood of the poem could be demonstrated while studying the character’s loss of humanity throughout the poem. In the second stanza the narrator presents war in an

Iain Crichton Smith, a Scottish poet, acclaimed for his focus on the ever-present theme of geographical exile. Through his work, he can be seen to describe the process of leaving home – particularly in a rural place similar to the island in which he grew up in. However, his use of exile in many different forms can be found in a variety of Crichton Smith’s poetry, resulting in what can be analysed as a deeper and more meaningful sense of the idea of exile. He effectively explores the cultural and religious background behind those who ultimately distance themselves from the reality of the modern-day world he was living in. He explores the idea of death as a final type of exile which can be interpreted as the subject of the poem turning away from death in hopes that they can flee from the inescapable finality of death.

The woman in this poem grieves over the separation from her and her husband. Her husband left her because he was forced to leave for safety. She blames her husband’s kinsmen for dividing them and breaking her heart. Later in the poem, the woman meets another man. This man seemed to be everything the woman needed, until he was revealed as a criminal. Other men disliked her new lover, forcing the woman to live in a cave. Even though the woman from “The Wife’s Lament” moved on from her husband, she was deeply depressed. The woman grieved over her husband, mourning him. She was isolated from him, which was unbearable for her. Throughout the poem, she talks about the hardships of her life and Anglo-Saxon women lived

Flowers are typically given to someone as an expression of love or friendship. However, depending on a person culture, it can also mean mourning and or death. Example, carnations and lilies represent mourning, but yellow Roses represents friendship; Red roses are seen as romantic. Often times flowers have shown symbolism in different literary pieces. In John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums”, the protagonist, Elisa’s loneliness and confinement are represented by the fenced in garden and growth of her chrysanthemums.

I do not know how without being culpably particular I can give my Reader a more exact notion of the style in which I wished these poems to be written, than by informing him that I have at all times endeavored to look steadily at my subject; consequently, I hope that there is in these Poems little falsehood of description, and my ideas are expressed in language fitted to their respective importance. Something I must have gained by this practice, as it is friendly to one property of all good poetry, namely, good sense; but it has necessarily cut me off from a large portion of phrases and figures of speech which from father to son have long been regarded as the common inheritance of

The poem talks about a man- an anonymous “he”- a perfectionist whose poetry was understandable and who, himself, understood “human folly” and the human psyche like “the back of his hand”. He was

In this poem Hayden explains how hard a speaker’s father worked and what had done for him. He wakes up before sunrise while other people enjoy their sleep. In addition to working every weekday, he continues to work over the weekend to make a better income for his family. He never receives thanks from anyone for his hard work. This makes the reader consider the father’s feelings. The second and third section of this poem explains how the speaker’s father cares for his family. He takes substantial consideration for the comfort of his family. He wakes up early and warms the house by turning on the fireplace. He waited until the house was warm before waking his son up. This action indicates his love for his son. With how often the father worked,

The tone of this poem is solemn. The descriptions within the poem are vivid and dark. For example Hayden writes, “the cold splintering” and “the chronic angers” and “speaking indifferently.” These words show that Hayden’s childhood was not simple or joyous. The end of each stanza is very critical; without these lines the poem is mundane

The beginning of the poem is a very peaceful, “Blest Age!” (1), with “Purling Stream[s]” (1), “an Eternal Spring” (5), and “wanton Gods of Love” (15). This takes place in the world before the rise of mankind, much like the biblical Garden of Eden. In this flowery place, nature triumphs with love. Nature is referred to as a feminine idea, “Virgin Earth;/ Who yielded of her own accord her plenteous Birth” (32-33). This can relate to the idea or allusion of Mother Nature, as Earth is commonly referred to as female. Behn tells the reader how roses, as a symbol for virtuousness, live in prosperous morning dew. In this peaceful and young world, two lovers are free to “all their Joyes and