Contemporary Poets

Contemporary poets are people that are still alive and writing about their past experiences.  In Yusef Komunyakaa's "Facing It," he describes the Vietnam War and reliving his pass.  During this time period not many people could accept the war and booed at soldiers when they came home. When the speaker says "I go down the 58,022 names, half-expecting to find my own in letters like smoke. I touch the name Andrew Johnson; I see the booby trap's white flash" (14-18).  They know eventually they will be on the wall once he dies, but he also relives seeing his friend die. This war can be like the modern day War in Iraq, but people are actually supporting the troops.  This poem also describes words in several forms like reflection and the title facing it also has two meanings.  Facing it can mean facing the war or facing the wall.  Reflection can be the reflection on the wall or the reflection of people on the wall. Facing it can show people many different points of the Vietnam War after the war has been over for about 40 years ago.      

Komunyakaa, Yusef. “Facing It.” Poetry Foundation . N.p., 2001. Web. 18 Mar. 2011. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/‌archive/‌poem.html?id=177382>.

"Metaphors" and "Not Waving But Drowning"

Everyone in life always has a low point.  In Sylvia Plath's "Metaphors" and Stevie Smith's "Not Waving But Drowning" both share a theme of depression and death.  In Plath's poem she talks about pregnancy and how she really did not want a child. When the speaker says "This loaf's big with its yeasty rising," (5) she is describing the baby inside of her.  She is very depressed and wants to not only kill the child, but also kill herself.  On the other hand Smith's poem is a cry for help as he his drowning.  The speaker says "Nobody heard him, the dead man," (1)  This is his way of someone to save him, but yet no one hears him.  Both of these situations are common for many people.  Many women can relate to Plath's poem, especially teenagers who accidentally get pregnant.  They can feel the same emotions as the speaker did.  Plath's poem cold also relate to people who cannot get pregnant and want to.  They feel that sorrow like the speaker is expressing.  Smith's poem can relate to pretty much anyone.  If people have problems they tend to try to indirectly express it as the speaker does.  Both poems can relate to everyday life as no one is perfect and some people cannot handle their reality and unfortunately cut their live's short.  

Plath, Sylvia. “Metaphors .” Poem Hunter . N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. <http://www.poemhunter.com/‌best-poems/‌sylvia-plath/‌metaphors/>.

Smith, Stevie. “’Not Waving But Drowning.” Art of Europe. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2011. <http://www.artofeurope.com/‌smith/‌smi1.htm>.

Langston Hughes and Claude McKay

Poems are often written to express emotions and vent whatever is on their mind.  In both Langston Hughes's "The Ballad of the Landlord" and Claude McKay's "America," the speakers show their emotions regarding the government.  In Hughes "The Ballard of Landlord," the speaker describes how they have problems in their tenement, but no one will listen.  When the speaker says "Landlord, landlord, My roof has sprung a leak. Don't you 'member I told you about it Way last week,?" (1-4) he talk about how the landlord never fixed the problem that made the roof leak after telling the landlord about it last week.  This is similar to the government during that time.  The government was not fixing America properly during the Depression.  Instead of fixing problems, they made more problems by going into war.  This also has to do with blacks wanting to get their equal rights.  In McKay's America on the other hand talks more deeply about America's segregation.  The speaker states "I love this cultured hell that tests my youth!"(4) The "cultured hell" in the line refers to America's culture toward African-Americans. This poem also talks about how the government is killing him. The government towards African Americans especially are not well treated.




http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/49026-Langston-Hughes-The-Ballad-Of-The-Landlord

-          http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/america-2/

Rebelious

When people go against an authority or tradition it is called rebellious.  In Lucille Clifton's "Homage To My Hips," and William Carlos William's "This Is Just To Say," both describe rebelling.  Clifton describes African-American women's hip.  Within the lines she was also describing how she wanted to rebel against being a slave.  When the speaker says "These hips are free hips. They don't like to be held back. These hips have never been enslaved" (193), they were referring to being free and how the hips were not enslaved, but they were.  On the other hand, in William's poem, he describes a plum, but every word in that poem has a deeper meaning.  The speaker says "Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold" (345). This is very sarcastic and shows that they did not really want to say sorry, but they did. They both rebel from two different perspectives.     






Clifton, Lucille. "Homage To My Hips." Literature: An Introduction. 6th ed. Ed. X. J. Kennedy. NY: Longman, 2008. 193. Print.

Williams, William Carlos. "This Is Just To Say." Literature: An Introduction. 6th ed. Ed. X. J. Kennedy. NY: Longman, 2008. 345. Print.