Bud On The Ledge Poem Analysis

As a junior in high school, I read this poem and thought it was about a man appreciating nature and getting drawn in by its beauty. However, after analyzing and re-reading the poem, I realized how much deeper of a meaning this poem holds. As I read it now, I hear the story of a man who is depressed. The woods help represent this dark place he is at in his life. He also states it’s “The darkest evening of the year.” I take this as him reaching an all-time low of his depression and he has never felt this alone before. Within the poem he also states he has a horse, and I believe this horse serves as a symbol of this work and tasks. I think he is on the verge of suicide, but realizes he has more tasks, work, learning, and teaching to do before

First, we have “Bud On the Ledge” by Alan Silvestri. The beginning of the song has a light feel, like the snow. As it proceeds it gets a little more eerie, which symbolizes the speaker entering the woods. The voices build up and become every powerful, this moment I see the speaker looking into the woods debating the decision to commit suicide. It then gets quiet and I see our speaker climb on his horse and leave the woods. Next, I found “Growing Up” by Hans Zimmer and Richard Harvey. This emotional piece, once again, tell us his story through song. This song helps support the emotion of the poem because the song has an emotional essence to it; therefore, it helps take you one the same journey as the poem. For the song titled, “The Big Ship” by Brian Eno, this song helps display the curiosity theme I hear in the poem. I imagine him looking into the woods in this song curious of which choice to make between life or death. When the music slowly fades out, I see this moment as him getting on his horse to finish his work her needs to finish. Another Brian Eno song in my playlist is, “An Ending (Ascent).” This piece is very emotional and I see the music personifying snow. The setting we are presented with is described through this song. As mentioned in my interpretation of the poem, I think the speaker is going through a dark time in his life or dealing with depression. The song “Fyrsta” by Ólafur Arnalds helps describe this dark time/depression I think the speaker is feeling. My last song in the play list is “Moving On” by Michael Giacchino. Once again, I feel like this song describes the overall poem and the story it is telling. The piece gives off the eerie feel, with the sound of hope near the end that the poem describes as