Poetry Response 10

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

By Wallace Stevens

Poem

It's apparent after reading this poem that as long as you keep with one subject you can say just about anything in your poem. It's impressive really that Stevens was able to do thirteen diverse lines all pertaining to the blackbird while still remaining distinctly different from one another. It's a list poem which gives out so many interesting stanzas, each able to stand on their own in they were taken out of the poem I feel. Each of the thirteen stanzas alternate in the number of their lines and it really gives the poem a nice change in pace since we're not reading anything that goes 2-2-2, 3-3-3, you get the idea. Doing that would take away from the unique feeling of each stanza. Reading this also, I'll admit, made me want to make some of my own lists and construct various poems to describe any thoughts or feelings associated with whatever subjects f choice. 

Poetry Response 09

American Gothic

By John Stone

Poem

I really enjoyed Stone's poem about Wood's famous painting. The images each line in the poem's stanzas not only give the painting a character on it's own but it also makes the reader think about the painting more deeply than how they usually would when looking at it. I felt like it had a slightly comedic feel to it as well by the end of it. The simple idea of writing about what the couple would be thinking about during posing for the painting is amazing because it seems to say title but it makes you think. What were they feeling during the process of this painting? Was it possible that the wife really was worried about leaving the stove on? It makes for some creative thinking and connects the reader a little more to the poem and the painting.

Original Poem 04- A List Poem

Eight Legged Freaks

I hate spiders.

I hate spiders because they take vacancy in my shoes,
As if I wouldn't notice them,

Waiting,

Watching,

With those eight glassy blank orbs,
Long black hooks,
And sickly thin legs.

I hate spiders because they move like deranged,
Mechanical abominations,

They bolt across the floor,
Ungodly fast,

Their path sometimes aimed straight for me.

I hate spiders because they're devourers,
Vermin in my home all but eradicated,

An unintended favor,

I owe them,
With great reluctance,
By sparing their little lives.

I hate spiders because with eight limbs one can do so much,

Here I sit with two arms and legs,

Not as versatile as four and four.

I hate spiders because their craftsmanship is admirable,

Their crystalline web catches my eye,

After a noon shower,
Water droplets clinging to their silk strings.

I hate spiders because,
Admittedly,
Some are quite cute,

Like eight legged,
Eight eyed,
Puppies.

Hypocrisy bubbles up inside of me.

Poetry Response 08

Winter Landscape

By John Berryman

Poem

Both this poem and Williams, The Hunter In The Snow, deal with the same painting but there’s a notable difference in the way the poems capture the details within the image. While each poems’ contents describe the subjects and what’s going on within the Brueghel painting the varying degree of detail they go into is noticeable. Berryman’s winter poem is more in depth and puts more meaning to each aspect of the painting’s many subjects and little details. The imagery I see when I read Berryman’s poem is easier to picture and I feel more connected I guess to the painting than with William’s poem. I also like how Berryman’s poem feels more complete. With William’s poem it feels like he may have left out something about the painting that the viewer may have seen but it wasn’t in the poem or maybe there was an important detail he skated over.

Poetry Response 07

The Hunter In The Snow

By William Carlos Williams

Poem

When I first started to read this poem I didn’t expect the whole piece to revolve around the actual image accompanying it. I just assumed they were both related with the whole hunter and snow aspects. Anyhow, I like the poem a lot because it acts as a detailed description of the painting and its subject matter while also being a poem as well. I’d like to think there’s a collection out there of various paintings with their descriptions done as a poem. An awesome two in one if I may say so. Literally you can read the poem and it gives you a good image of what’s going on in the painting to a T. The size of the poem is also quite lovely because it’ long enough to get the whole image of the painting described through poetic means and short enough to keep your attention.

Original Poem 3-Capturing A Memorial Moment

Birthday 

Count to five,

Hesitate,

Make a wish,

Inhale,

Breath out.

Poetry Response 06

A Hand

By Jane Hirshfield

Poem

Visuals are indeed an important part of this poem. As the poet describes various details and actions in regards to hands, what they are and what they can do, and how they're more than just pieces of flesh or tools we use. That's what I think anyhow. The length of the poem makes for easy reading and each line is worded in a manner which makes adds to the effect of making the subject of the poem, hands, so much more than they are. Hands are more than just a part of the human body. They raise questions, they create experiences, they’re capable of more than they’re taken granted for. Hirshfield’s poem is really quite lovely in my personal opinion because I’m an artist and I can understand the emphasis she places on hands and what they can do.