In the poem Rain, Billy Collins’ establishes censorship relating to surveillance, creating societal issues, such as the deprivation of humanity extending to the destruction of the mind. The poet continues to construct negative connotations to the title, Rain, indicating the controlling metaphor as censorship’s effect spiraling into the negative impacts the populace faces discussed throughout the poem. Personification intends to reach the boundaries of nonliving objects into humanistic actions, for instance, “these birds have done nothing, a few protested. That is precisely the problem. The loudspeakers answered” (7-8).
People have the need to always prove their self worth to everyone. In the poem The Leaving, Brigit Pegeen Kelly demonstrates how an individual’s environment and expectations of others encourages a person’s actions. In the poem the girl is so dedicated to her work that she’s willing to stay late even when her father doubts her. The speaker takes on the challenge to prove to her father that she can complete her task, and she successfully proves to him that she can do it. By proving her self worth to her father, the speaker faces new challenges along the way that test her own thoughts and decision making which ultimately determines the pursuit of her hard work.
Billy Collins’s poetry is marked by - and loved for - its accessibility. His work is not too complex, and it is easier to understand than some others. The title of the poem, “Introduction to Poetry,” introduces us the theme of the poem. Throughout the poem Collins uses copious metaphors that when coalesced show the readers how to rightly read a poem and how not to.
In the poem “On turning Ten '' by Billy Collins and in the short story “ Marigolds” written by Eugenia W. Collier, both authors talk about how life has changed and the end of their childhood based on situations of their past life. In the poem and the short story, both authors explore the impact of losing innocence by describing their memory and discovering the truth. Both authors show how emotional it was to face the truth and reality based on his and her memories. In “Marigolds”, she starts losing her innocence when she “Never heard a man cry before” (Collier 42) and how she discovered Miss Lottie wasn’t frustrated with the situation at the end but was upset. In “On Turning Ten” he realizes “I skin my knees.
Then shifts to him comparing to what his mother does for him and how he gave him a Lanyard. I see this when Collin writes,”She gave me life and milf from her breasts,/ and i gave her a lanyard.” This now compares what his mother did for the poet and that the poet only gave his mom a lanyard. Having these shifts Collins demonstrates the theme of the poem. Billy Collins use figurative devices, shifts, and tone to develop the theme
This particular poem is about parents that have no idea what's going on in their kid's daily life and what they go through. With this type of action, the parents act as if all is good and make little to no effort to get involved in their day to day activities. This shows the kid that the parent does not care or seems like it. The kid will be influenced to do things they normally wouldn't do. If the parent would at least make an attempt to get involved, it may influence them for the better but until then it will not happen.
The Silent Killer Explication: “Alzheimer’s” by Kelly Cherry was published in 1997 during a time of personal struggle for Cherry and her dad. This short, free verse poem consists of twenty nine perplexing lines. The poet’s nontraditional placement of line breaks cause some ideas to fall off in mid-sentence, while others never complete the thought. This creates enjambments which mimic the disease’s confusing nature.
World War II was a global war filled with innumerable deaths and unspeakable atrocities. Not only did it shift the balance of power between countries and shape the development of the world after that point, the war also left a lasting impression in people’s minds to this day. It created an unprecedented path of ruin and destruction in Europe and Asia, tearing apart countries and displacing families. Even in the United States, in which nearly no fighting took place, the resounding effects of the war permeated through all aspects of life. On the home front, World War II ended the Great Depression and led the United States to become an anti-Communist world power.
In his thirty eighth sonnet, Ted Berrigan reminisces on a brief moment from a summer during his childhood. Berrigan utilizes both elegiac and narrative elements in this sonnet to describe the memory. The sonnet begins with a sense of nostalgia, as Berrigan writes “in the dark neighborhoods of my own sad youth, I fall in love. once” (Berrigan 25). I find the metaphor he uses to describe his youth to be very pessimistic.
The beginning part of the poem, the speaker recollects the mental punishment and abuse that the family has received from their father. Olds uses realistic imagery to show the amount of violence that they have endured such as “She took it and took it, in silence, all those years and then kicked you out, suddenly, and her kids loved it.” This shows how after all of the mental abuse they have faced, they are fighting back by showing happiness of the presence of the father who was in their homes in their minds. The imagery sets a tone of fear that they once faced and then reclaiming their power by forcing the abuser out of the home.
“He tried to kill himself in grade ten when a kid who could still go home to mom and dad had the audacity to tell him; / Get over it.” (lines 54-56) The poet makes it known that the poem is not told in a happy mood nor can it be. The poet also includes different life tragedies and
A common theme of life that can be seen "Nostalgia" is remembrance. Throughout this poem Collins talks about these characters who remember a time period, "These views assume that nostalgia depends, in some way, on comparing a present situation with a past one" (Howard). The first character begins with, "Where has the summer of 1572 gone? Brocade and sonnet marathons were the rage" (6-7). The first character is remembering a time when a certain activity
As you grow older so do your feelings. In the short poem “ On Turning Ten” by Billy Collins, a little boy gets to experience the pain of growing up and having to experience change. Through the use of tone and hyperboles, Collins conveys how growing older can push you from what you love most. To begin, Collins uses tone to evoke how the boy is feeling throughout the poem, the boy is feeling what it is like to be older and looks back on golden memories from when he was younger. The speaker is trying to present an melancholic tone to express what the little boy is going through and how he is feeling about the change he is experiencing “ This is the beginning of sadness” (Collins 24).
Q1 The poem “On turning ten” by Billy Collin reflects on the speaker giving up on his childhood and imagination of the world, it shows the pain and discomfort of going into a dreadful teenage stage. The author uses metaphors comparing the 10th birthday as dreadful, creative imagery, and symbolic of the 10th birthday. Billy Collins used these devices to show the idea of coming of age consequently losing his innocence, he uses his creativity to present this, like a child’s mind.
The poem really expresses how one mother values her son, and tells you how kids grow up to fast and she believes that her little boy cannot handle the challenges life throws at you. At the end of poem, the mom is surprised that her son learns to get out of the chains and get past the challenges he has been through. Families will always have a strong bond and it can never be broken, no matter what life throws at your family, you will always get though it and find new ways to make your relationship even stronger. Later in life as the kids get older, they learn that their mom will not always be there for you, so they start to get close with their mom and they realize all the wonderful things your mom did for you.
