rotation 7, blog 2

“The Man with Night Sweats” Thom Gunn
-made up of 8 stanzas
-every other stanza is made up of two lines
-enjambed lines
-lines 1 and 3 rhyme in some of the stanzas and the couplets all have end rhymes: “shield, healed”
-Personification:
-“wake to their residue,/ sweat, and a clinging sheet.” makes it sound as if it’s the dreams residue
Internal alliteration:
“The given shield was cracked”
“My flesh reduced and wrecked”
Slant rhymes:
“Sorry, hurry”
“Cracked, wrecked”
Tactile Imagery: “sweat, and a clinging sheet”
Euphony: “I grew as I explored/ the body I could trust”
-isn’t straightforward
-no words that would have to be looked up
-diction choice and rhyme scheme makes the poem flow when read aloud
-the line: “where it was gashed, it healed”  has intense imagery of a very deep cut, but doesn’t leave the reader in a disgusted state of mind
-has a way of turning this gash into an okay image by using words such as healed, and then keeping the poem moving
-another line: “the pains that will go through me”  also an intense image standing alone, but the surrounding lines make this image not be so strong
-the diction choice plays a huge role in these two examples above by toning down the images that would normally be more intense on their own

“The Names” Billy Collins
-made up of 8 stanzas
-the stanzas have different numbers of lines throughout the poem
-throughout the poem, names of people are listed throughout in alphabetical order, until the letter Z is reached
Simile: “Heavy with dew like the eyes of tears”
“I see a thick tangle where letters are hidden/ as in a puzzle concocted for children”
-Second example is personification  saying that letters can be tangled up
-no real thyme scheme
-the lines are pretty long
-feels more like prose when read aloud
-lines aren’t enjambed
Tactile Imagery: “In the morning, I walked out barefoot/ among thousands of flowers”
Auditory imagery: “A soft rain stole in, unhelped by any breeze”
Internal alliteration: “Names rising in the updraft and buildings”
“A name under a photograph taped to a mailbox.”

-the overall poem makes names seem like such a big deal  writer does a really good job in “exploding” this idea
Words that may have to be looked up: unfurled, boughs, updraft, and swallows
-even though this poem has imagery, similes and other alliteration it’s pretty straightforward
-shows how a writer can incorporate multiple types of alliteration into a poem, but still keep it simple
The last line of the poem seems really strong: “So many names, there is barely room on the walls of the heart.”
-seems to mean that throughout our lives there are so many names of different people that we see constantly
-a lot of people also keep their friends close to them, and if they’re your good friends you don’t forget their names  could take up room on the “walls of the heart”
-kind of seems that there isn’t much room left for anything else but all of these names listed throughout the poem
-this line could maybe be considered a hyperbole since the writer is claiming there isn’t much room for anything else but all these names
-kind of an exaggeration



“Fire and Ice” Robert Frost
-made up of one stanza
-enjambed lines
-some rhyming: “fire, desire” “hate, great”
-not a lot of punctuation
-throughout the poem he’s talking about how he people believe the world will end through either fire or ice
-says he would “hold with those who favor fire” but then “if it had to perish twice…/to say that for destruction ice/ is also great.”
-saying he chooses fire over ice, unless the world got to end twice then he would also choose ice
-makes the end of the world sound like a good thing, and not a big deal: “to say that for destruction ice/ is also great/ and would suffice.”
-here he is saying that ice is a great way for the world to end too along with fire
-kind of sends a weird tone to the reader since Frost makes this scary idea into a light idea
-shows how his use of diction has helped toned down this idea of the world ending
Internal Alliteration: “I hold with those who favor fire”
Euphony: “from what I’ve tasted of desire/ I hold with those who favor fire.”
-claims that he has “tasted desire”  abstract idea
-No similes or metaphors
-some punctuation usage
-when read aloud has a good rhythm
-even though this poem is only one stanza, the idea of the poem is really strong
The lines: “I think I know enough of hate” relates to ice and “From what I’ve tasted of desire” relates to fire
 Makes ice seem more “cold”/less liked and a turn off compared to fire
 Fire is temperature wise warm, but in this poem it makes fire seem like a good thing