How do you tell your children about life and all its realities? How do you explain the fact that life is as evil as it is good? In Maggie Smith’s 2016 viral poem “Good Bones” the speaker resolves to keep the terrible part from her children and offer hope of making the world beautiful instead. The poem is a parent’s reflection of the real world and how they wish their children could perceive it. Taking a closer look, the poem is also the speaker’s effort to convince herself too that maybe the world could be beautiful; that she could make the world beautiful.
Category: Poems
“Work Without Hope” Poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Using Contrast to Emphasize Lack of Hope
The 1825 Romantic era poem "Work Without Hope" by Samuel Taylor is a lamentation of a man who lacks an object to place his hope and thus, wonders aimlessly and directionless amid nature. While slightly unconventional for a sonnet, the poem begins with the speaker romanticizing nature and how it seems busy going on with… Continue reading “Work Without Hope” Poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Using Contrast to Emphasize Lack of Hope
War and its Irrationality as Themes in Thomas Hardy’s Poem“The Man He Killed”
Thomas Hardy’s (1840-1928) poem The Man He Killed is a lyrical monologue of a soldier who has returned from war. He’s speaking about the war to his friends and native villagers in a pub. In its 1902 original publication in Harper's Weekly magazine, the poem’s setting is a scene inside the Foxx Inn pub. Hardy… Continue reading War and its Irrationality as Themes in Thomas Hardy’s Poem“The Man He Killed”
“A Massive Dying Off” by Camille T. Dungy- A Poem Analysis
Everyday we hear about the dying coral reefs in Australia, the Amazon forest fires, the massive number of ocean animals washing ashore with stomachs full of plastics but how often do we stop to think about our actions that have contributed to this destruction?
The Theme of Regret in ‘The Road Not Taken’ by Robert Frost
Robert Frost's famous poem 'The Road Not Taken' has been anthologized in plentiful collections and quoted in a multitude of settings, some without even knowing it. Motivational speakers, pastors, promotion, and award speeches all tout its main theme of individualism and 'following your own path'. How they took a different career path or made an… Continue reading The Theme of Regret in ‘The Road Not Taken’ by Robert Frost