Great job!! I loved all your poems, and what you had to say about them..

Which bears a sword

Can pierce an armed man.

It hurls its barbed syllables,–

At once is mute again.

But where it fell

The saved will tell

On patriotic day,

Some epaulette brother

Gave his breath away.

Wherever runs the breathless sun,

Wherever roams the day,

There is its noiseless onset,

There is its victory!

Behold the keenest marksman!

The most accomplished shot!

Time’s sublimest target

Is a soul “forgot”!

By: Emily Dickinson

            This poem starts by talking about the negative effects of words, and then the second paragraph talks about the positive effect they can have.  Emily Dickinson compares hurtful words to a sword, stabbing someone, but not just stabbing a defenseless person, but an armed person, someone that expects the blow.  She also uses metaphor to compare those words to being sharp like a barbed fence.  She then points out that those words come and go so easily but can be forever remembered and painful.

            The then goes on to compare positive words to victory and to being as beautiful as the sun. She says that the person who says them is as perfect as “the keenest marksman” and that his words accomplish something perfect.  My favorite line though is the last one, because it says, “Is a soul ‘forgot,’ and by this she points out that these words are also never forgotten, but are remembered for something good.

            I completely agree with the meaning of this poem, because it’s so true.  The old saying, “Stick and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” is not true, words can have a way of hurting someone deep within, even if you can’t see the pain on the outside.

That I shall love always,
offer thee
That love is life,
And life hath immortality. 

This, dost thou doubt, sweet?
Then have I
Nothing to show
But Calvary. 

- Emily Dickinson

          At first reading this poem, I didn’t know quite what to think. But when I got to the last line I think I got it.  I think this could be a poem from God or Jesus to us, humanity.  The beginning starts off saying that ‘I always loved you, but you never believes me so I’ll even give you proof.’ And that could be like when Jesus came to the world, he was the greatest proof of love.  The second paragraph goes on to say that because love is life and that in life we are immortal, that life has to end to truly show love.  Then in the last line, its as if Gods asking, ‘you still don’t get it, how much I love you,’ and that it finally ends with that Jesus sacrificing himself on the cross at Calvary, that him dying was the greatest show of love.  I really love this poem, not only because I believe it, but because I like the way Emily Dickinson wrote it.

By: Emily Dickinson

            Although this poem is very short, I think it holds a much greater meaning.  It reminds me of most relationships were one of the person cheats on the other, or in a marriage where one of the spouses has an affair. And they use the line, “I’m just not in love with you anymore,” as if they outgrew love. As if love is as simple as a sweater that a child outgrows over a years time, or shoes that we used to like once, but they went out of style.  Emily Dickinson makes love sound like something easily tossed and gone.

In the next stanza though she points out that we never fully lose love all together, but that we put it in a draw, as if it always lingers in the back of our minds, that even though we’ve outgrown it, we still like to look at it sometimes and think about it.  In a very sad pathetic way I can relate to this.  When I broke up with a past boyfriend, I just didn’t love him the same way anymore, but I still kept a bunch of his pictures stored away in a box, because I just couldn’t bring myself to completely destroy the evidence of my past, over the next two years, every time I would go through that box I would throw more and more of them away, until now there are only a few left.  They are “antique” to my mind now, as if that time in my life was just a passing moment or “costume,” as Dickinson so simply portrays.

Nay good Lysander. For my sake dear.

Lie further off yet. Do not lie so near.

Lysander riddles very prettily:

Now much beshrew my manners and my pride,

If Hermia meant to say Lysander lied.

But, gentle friend, for love and courtesy

Lie further off in human modesty.

Such separation, as may well be said.

Becomes a virtuous bachelor and a maid.

So far be distant; and good night, sweet friend.

Thy love ne’er alter till thy sweet life end!

            In this part of the play Lysander and Hermia have just ran away to be together despite her fathers wishes.  They are now alone in the wood, and are tired and they both just want to sleep.  Lysander wishes to sleep near Hermia, and to be with her, because they have so long been separated.  But Hermia does nto allow this, because she is too afraid of being caught.  When she says the line, “Lysander riddles very prettily: Now much beshrew my manners and my pride, If Hermia meant to say Lysander lied,” she is pointing out that his words are beautiful and that they do mean so much to her.  She knows he is not lying but in the next line she points out that they must do this out of ‘human modesty’ because they are not completely out of their town yet.

            She cares about their reputation and not having bad words said of them. Towards the end she finally gets him to leave, and she does all she can to assure him that she still loves him and hopes that he is not angry with her.

            I like this scene in the play because I think a lot of people can relate to it.  I just remember being sixteen years old and watching a movie in my living room with my boyfriend, and pushing him away from me because I didn’t want my parents to walk in and catch us.  Obviously I wasn’t pushing him away because I didn’t want to be near him, but the thought of being discovered made that happen.  This scene describes that experience perfectly, especially in the fact that it is usually the girl that is more nervous than they boy.

How wonderful it is, how pleasant,

when brothers live together in harmony!

For harmony is as precious as the fragrant

anointing  oil

that was poured over Aaron’s head,

that ran down his beard

and onto the border of his robe.

Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from

Mount Hermon

that falls on the mountains of Zion.

And that the Lord has pronounced his blessing,

even life forevermore.

By: David

Well to start, I love the first two lines of this poem, because it can relate so easily to most people. It’s so true, that whenever there is peace it is wonderful.  Whenever all is well, and no one amongst you is fighting, its easier to have a great time, especially with family and friends.

            Because this poem is from the Bible, the reference to Aaron is great because he was a Moses’ brother and he helped Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt.  It is also quite important because, Aaron also made many mistakes and had many faults throughout his life.  So the Psalm points out even more so how amazing harmony is because pouring anointing oil on someone’s head and their robe was an extremely honorable ritual, so Aaron could receiving it despite his faults, shows great importance.

            Mount Hermon and Mount Zion were very important places throughout the Bible, as being great cities of kings, so the poem points out that the dew and the water from those places are so refreshing and so special that they represent how much we as people need peace and harmony among each other.

            And the last line sums it up by saying that harmony between brothers is pleasing to the God, and he promises blessings if we follow in this way.

            This whole poem inspires me to look beyond petty arguments and disagreements, and realize that being at peace with people is far more rewarding in every sense.

You left me, sweet, two legacies,—

A legacy of love

A Heavenly Father would content,

Had He the offer of;

You left me boundaries of pain

Capacious as the sea,

Between eternity and time,

Your consciousness and me.

By: Emily Dickinson

                Pretty much every girl has gone through some type of break-up with a boy and been heartbroken afterwards.  I appreciate the way this poem perfectly relates to that.  I love the line “A Heavenly Father would content, Had He the offer of,” because I think it shows how ungrateful and how unsatisfied men can be when it comes to love and relationships.  The women is saying that if she offered all her love to God that he’d accept it and that it would be enough for him.  But that men are so imperfect that no matter how much of her love that she offers him it is not enough.

                The first paragraph points out that this man left her two legacies, one being that of love, because it is so deep that she will never forget him and the other, as she points out in the second paragraph, is pain.  The first line of the 2^nd paragraph says that her pain has boundaries, but then she goes on to further say that her pain in as capacious and vast as the sea. She ends the poem by pointing out that she will never forget him for all eternity and that she will always keep a part of him with her. That his words will always haunt her.

                As I originally stated, many people can relate to this poem, and I think it could go both ways for either a guy or a girl.  I like the fact that the author makes the point about the heavenly father, because it adds a bit of humanity to the poem and points out that man is imperfect and never truly satisfied.  

By: Emily Dickinson

I died for beauty, but was scarce

Adjusted in the tomb,

When one who died for truth was lain

In an adjoining room.

He questioned softly why I failed?

“For beauty,” I replied.

“And I for truth—the two are one;

We brethren are,” he said.

And so, kinsmen met a night,

We talked between the rooms,

Until the moss had reached our lips,

And covered up our names.

In the second paragraph of this poem, Emily Dickinson points out that death is a failure.  And while many would disagree and say that death is not always by means of failure, she makes a rather good point.  That life is seen as a positive thing most of the time, and we as people constantly try to accomplish all we can throughout our live, and find ways to prolong our lives, that I can see what she means how death could be a failure. 

When I first read this poem it reminded me of war.  How all the brave men who died, died for what they believed in. I also noticed that when someone dies in war we praise and honor them, but we never know how they might feel about it.  Dickinson portrays them as seeing death as a failure like they didn’t complete their job.  I thought that was a very interesting way to look at it.  I also liked that both men felt that even though they failed, that they failed for beauty and truth, which made it almost ok to them. 

I also liked the last two lines of the poem, which to me points out that even though throughout time their names wouldn’t be remembered, what they died for would never be forgotten.

XXII

In this poem, I think the writer, Emily Dickinson, is trying to show the weight of consumating a marriage back in her time.  Sex was a gift to the husband, and when a couple consumated the marriage it made the contract of marriage officail.  I think she is also trying to portray the “buying of wives” back then, and how women were seen as property, to be bought by a man.  The woman in this poem feels as though because of her inexperience she may to prove herself as great as the man. But she claims that despite that fact, she will give him all of her heart and love.

I also think that the writer shows that sex was and still can be a duty.  In that time it was soley a wives duty to her husband. It was her “Sweet debt of Life.”

The mood of this poem, and the way that it was written could also make the man appear to be heartless, but i think the last paragraph represents that the union between the man and the woman, and that they are both benefitting from it.  The last line, “Insolvent every noon,” creates the ultimate bond between the man and the woman, and it makes them sound equal to me.  Insolvent meens that they are incapable of separating, they were two separate people, that have hence become as one person.