Catherine's English Blog

Nothing Gold Can Stay By Robert Frost Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.   I chose this poem since even from reading the title, it's clear that he's writing about the idea that nothing good stays for too long. I think this definitely applies to life, nothing great ever stays but better things later come along. I think Frost's use of nature in the poem applies really well to life too since every season nature goes through different experiences. Although many of the seasons don't last long, as Robert Frost says: "only an hour or so", each year they end up maturing from different conditions. Frost is describing a cycle in this poem too, and I think this applies really well to life, how many experiences are cycles over again. Although the poem is short, I think it definitely describes...

The way Joe Brainard describes death https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/58250/death-56d23c74e8276 The poem that I chose explores the topic of death. I think the topic isn't something I avoid, but I think this poem portrays it in a way that faces death headfirst that is completely unfamiliar. Most people think about what happens after death, but rather than thinking about those possibilities, Joe Brainard almost minimizes what death should be thought of as, describing it more as an event or statistic. I really enjoyed his light satire and sarcasm throughout the poem. He tries to make learning and understanding the aftereffects of death this more lighthearted thought, and he definitely views it in a way extremely unfamiliar to me. Rather than talking about the importance of death and what it means, he rather says it's an extremely normal thing that happens to everyone.

The poetry of  Hsieh T'iao Contemplating the Capital from the Three Mountains in the Sunset Hsieh T'iao From Pa Szu I contemplate Ch'ang An, From the south I look toward the capital. Embellished by the sun, The pointed roofs appear to me ondule. The red clouds spread themselves like pieces of embroideries, The limpid river is smooth like white silk. The spring islets are covered with twittering birds, The parks are adorned with variegated flowers. While setting out I was already reluctant, Nostalgically I now think of the joyous feasting. When is a reunion expected? My tears fall like rain. Fondly I turn my eyes to my native land, Who can prevent his hair from turning gray? This poem by  Hsieh T'iao describes the place he grew up in Taiwan. I thought this poem was really interesting since from the beginning it's extremely idyllic. He describes Taiwan as this peaceful place almost separate from the rest of the world and its chaos. From the poem, ...

Epic Poetry Epic poetry is a type of poetry that is narrative poems that tell a series of events and are fairly long. Epic poetry came from ancient Greece, and one of the most famous epics is "The Odyssey" by Homer. I feel like epics aren't read a lot of the times or covered because of their length. An epic is typically long, but I think the length adds to the poem and you're able to experience much more as you read, such as prose, plot, and even certain history. In many greek epic poems, it talks about a hero's journey and goes really deeply into greek mythology. As time progressed, epic poems weren't used only to talk about a hero's journey but a way to evoke a lot of emotions or create a drama with comedy and tragedy in a really lyrical form. One of the best parts of an epic is it's length, because of that nothing is rushed and you're able to experience a full storyline in these poems. Here is a link to a few epics: https://www.poetrysou...

I chose a limerick as the form of poetry we have not yet studied. Limericks were first made popular in the 1800s by the author Edward Lear when he published the "Book of Nonsense", a book featuring lighthearted and comedic limericks. An example of one of his limericks would be: There was an Old Man with a beard, Who said, 'It is just as I feared! Two Owls and a Hen, Four Larks and a Wren, Have all built their nests in my beard!' Limericks are short poems consisting of five lines, and the first, second and fifth lines must rhyme with each other, while the third and fourth lines must rhyme with each other. Another attribute of limericks is that the first, second and fifth lines must have the same number of syllables, while the third and fourth lines must match each other in syllables too. The typical number of syllables used in the first, second and fifth lines is 8-9, and the typical amount used in the third and fourth lines is 5-6 The limerick is a f...

Favorite Poet The poet I chose was Edgar Allan Poe, I first began reading his short stories and found his poetry this year. After reading a few of his poems such as The Sleeper and A Dream Within a Dream , he became my new favorite poet because of his writing style, his portrayal of emotions, and the meanings behind his poems. The first poem I read was “The Sleeper”, and I was completely caught off guard by his style of poetry and wording. I believe what surprised me the most about his poetry was his descriptiveness and use of prose. In “The Sleeper”, he describes his environment in an extremely beautiful way which captures how the narrator is feeling and everything around him. Poe has a very specific writing style that still fits into a structured rhyming but manages to incorporate other aspects such as illustrations and actions, which helps further the story.  Edgar Allan Poe was born in 1809 and wrote works ranging from mystery stories, poems. Poe didn't receive much re...