Poems for Friday:
Water-Front Streets
March Moon
Harlem Night Song
Border Line
Genius Child
Suicide’s Note
End
Drum
Desire
Song for Billie Holiday
Answer TWO of the
following as a Comment below:
1. How do many of the
poems use the natural world as a metaphor for very intimate human
emotions? In other words, how does the outside
world help us look deep within? Focus on
one poem that specifically develops the nature/emotions idea.
2. Hughes is known for
packing tremendous meaning into only a few short lines. We see this clearly in “Suicide’s Note,”
which only has 12 words. How does this
tiny poem capture someone’s state of mind just before committing suicide (or
contemplating doing it)? How does he/she
‘see’ the world in a way that reflects their own pain and torment?
3. Many of these poems
are also about love, yet they are not traditional love poems by any means. How does Hughes put a unique, 20th
century twist on the love poem, that might also borrow from blues and
jazz? Why might this be closer to the ‘real’
condition of love rather than the stereotyped poems of yesteryear?
4. If you don’t know
who she is, look up Billie Holiday and ask yourself, why did he write this poem for her? What about the mood/sentiment of the poem
suits her or her music? What idea of the
woman (or her art) is he trying to capture with his images/metaphors? [that's her in the photo above]
Teresa Buretta
ReplyDelete1) "March Moon" talks about the nakedness of the moon, only the moon is obviously a metaphor for something else. Perhaps emotion itself laid bare for the world to see? It's definitely symbolic of being vulnerable.
2) This poem represents an acceptance of death. The writer is calm, unafraid of death. In fact, this person sees death as a lover waiting to embrace him or her with a welcoming kiss.
Nesha Pickens
ReplyDelete1) This world has some kind of symbolic value to everyone. Some how in some way this world has a connection to our emotions whether its death, love, or happiness. In the Poem "Drum" he uses death as a way of expressing their dangerous desire for one another.
2) This person sees death as not something to be scared of but something no to run from either. Either way death is coming so why not make peace with it. Accept and embrace it with your arms wide open a kiss.
Zachary Martin
ReplyDelete1) "Desire" speaks of how we can have the desire for something and it can vanish just as quickly as it came to be. Imagine being a 5 year old and seeing a toy you really really want, but then as soon as you get it, the desire to want it is no more because you have it. All you want to do from there on is to play with the toy. Desire to have it is no more.
2) The way it is worded, it sounds as if the person is not in any way shape or form scared of death, instead accepts death like a friend. Not worried of his earthly problems and is ready for what awaits him.
Josh Coats
ReplyDelete2. I would have never thought to compare suicide to a kiss. His wording is so eloquent that in the moment of suicide, it doesn't seem so bad.
4. The loss of Billie Holiday was saddening to Hughes. She's often said to have been the greatest singer of the century. I think he wrote the poem in a song like setting because he could hear her singing it.
2.It shows how a sick person finds simple answers. It is a brief poem that releases peace for someone by making a calm statement using positive words. Looking forward to cool water is awakening.
ReplyDeleteCasey Bear
Nikki Ennis
ReplyDelete2. A person's state of mind just before committing suicide would be clear. There wouldn't be all these extra thoughts, they're usually at peace with their decision. This is reflective in "Suicide Note" because its short and sweet. There aren't any "filler words" or extra fluff. Its just the final words of a person who welcomes death with open arms.
4. As we discussed in class, Hughes poem for Billie Holiday really reflects her as a singer. There's a "despair" in her voice that tells you she has known pain. Langston uses the phrase "dusted with despair", which I love because I feel its the perfect description of Billie Holiday's voice. Its sensuous and beautiful, but there's a pain there as well.
Stormee Chestra
ReplyDelete1).I read "Desire" and it basically speaks of how you could attain something and it disappear as soon as you got it. Maybe you could desire for a candy bar or something and you eat it so quickly you don't even get to cherish it.
4).Maybe he wrote it because he lost her or he thinks of her very often. He feels that was the greatest loss of the century. He wrote it to capture a glimpse of her in her glory singing and doing what she loved to do.
Weston Haynes
ReplyDelete1.) The world and its surroundings play a part in everybody's life. You really cant escape it. The world is relatable when it comes to death, happiness, and sadness because we live in it everyday and experience some kind of emotion because of our surroundings in this world. Desire is a great poem, because it shows that we are anxious when we don't have something that we want (desire), but as soon as we have possession over it, it is not as special or attainable as it was when you didn't have it. It is not as valuable when you have it, which you can relate to the world. You may want the world to be fair and give you what you want, but when you have it, you don't know what to do next. You have it, now what?
2.) In these 12 words, it seems as if the person is embracing death with open arms. Death is coming with a kiss and ready to sweep the person away. The cool and calmness of this poem should describe what a person is feeling when it comes to death, he or she makes peace with it and does not have any second thoughts. Sadly when it comes to suicide and death that is not always the case, but in this poem, we see someone embracing death and is fully content with what he or she is about to do.
2.) in this poem as some others have already stated, he is talking about how the river greeted/ embraced him with a kiss. In other words it's like a woman greeting her man just that would be in a less deathly way, he personifies the river as a woman who is welcoming him (in his mind).
ReplyDeleteAmory Morgan
ReplyDelete2. I think this is more of a flirtation. You consider this because the word "kiss" means so much more than a thought of suicide. It means something sweet and personal and embracing. Which is what suicide means to him at that point in time. Something that is going to embrace him instead of shun him like he is being shunned back then.
1. Hughes uses nature to capture the vastness of human emotion. He tends to use the sky, stars, and space to convey free space, loneliness, and emptiness. Wind is representative of change or someone passing away, and water is often associated with depths of sadness. The water in Suicide's Note is described as "calm" and "cool," showing the relief death would bring to the poet's troubled life. The river is inviting, yet apathetic, which is indicative of the apathy associated with depression.
ReplyDelete3. Desire shows modern partners making love, but not a long-lasting, traditional marriage type of love. When times are moving fast and fear is present, passion is what makes its mark. With the expanding freedom of African Americans, I imagine sexual freedom and expression was an important way of asserting humanity, even authority. However, the language suggests passion burns out quickly, evaporates like the perfume, which I think is representative of the constant change experienced by the Harlem community.
2 For someone that is thinking about killing themselves death is not as scary as life the thought of leaving the world and all their problems behind is almost just as satisfying and exciting as a first kiss it makes you feel a little scared and excited but you want that kiss so bad so it can set you free
ReplyDeleteStefan Schodlbauer
ReplyDelete1) In the poem Desire, we can realize how the author gives us a perspective creating words that lids us to imagine different pictures. The word Desire, its a very important way to describe how a man wants something that maybe he can only use it a short period of time. He must fight to get it and try to focus on protecting it.
2) In the poem "Suicide’s Note” we can appreciate how the situation of death is not a so bad part and we, as a society have to realize that in a certain time we are going to pass. In other words, we do not have to be scared of something that we do not know when its going to happened.
Cristian C. Nazario Cruz
ReplyDeleteFor me Desire is a realistic poem, because it shows that we are anxious when we don’t have something that we want. The world is relatable when it comes to sadness, death and happiness. We live everyday some kind of emotion in this world.
For me the word "kiss" means so much more than a thought of suicide. Is very Sadly when it comes to suicide and death that is not always the case, but in this poem, we see someone embracing death and is fully content with what he or she is about to do.
Cristian C. Nazario Cruz
ReplyDelete1.
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