Poetry
The poem that I was drawn to in this section was "Schoolsville" by Billy Collins. I found this poem very interesting because it was humorous and the author showed that he was fantasizing and not talking about reality. The poem that I didn't particularly care for was "Sir Patrick Spens" I found this one confusing and difficult to read. I think the reason there is this differnce is because the poems are different genres and styles.
"Schoolsville" the subject of this poem is about man's past as an english school teacher. He writes about his experiences being a teacher and all the work and rewards that came with it. He is humourous in this poem when he says "...reading disorganized papers out loud..." (Collins, 642) "There grades are sewn into their clothes like references to Hawthorne. The A's stroll along with other A's. The D's honk whenever they pass another D." (Collins, 643) I really like this stanza, it is so clever and funny which is what drew me to this poem. I really like the reference to Hawthorne's the Scarlette Letter. He starts to sound like he is a little mad when he says "Needless to say, I am the mayor. I live in the white colonial at Maple and Main. I rarely leave the house. The car deflates in the driveway. VInes twirl around the porchswing." (Collins, 643) He most likely is not the mayor and kids dont still come to his house with late assignments asking him questions. I think that he misses the way his life was when he was young and he misses being able to teach children and know them all by name.
"Sir Patrick Spens" is the poem that I didnt really like. It is very outdated (from the 15th century) and the language in it is old and almost like another language. I am not a big fan of this style which is why this isnt my favorite poem. "O who is this has done this deed, this ill deed done to me, to send me out this time o' the year, to sail upon the sea?" (Anon, 650) This quote shows the antiquity in the langauge and the time setting as well.
Ashley, I like "Schoolsville" because it is easy to read and it kept me interested. I feel that the speaker is old and forgets the names of his students because there are so many that have been in and out of his class.The way that he remembers them is by what they did in class. For example when he states, "But the boy who always had his handup/is an alderman and owns the haberdashery./The girl who signed her papers in lipstick/brushing her hair like a machine" (15-19). He is saying that the boy that asked questions all the time made something of his life where as the girl who signed her papers in lipstick; smoking and brushing her hair over and over, gives me the feeling that there is some repetition in her life and she didn't go anywhere. I get the feeling that the man speaking is now senile. For example when he says, "And sometimes one will apperar in a window pane/to watch me lecture the wall paper,/quizzing the chandelier, reprimanding the air"(33-35). I would think if one of his former students were to watch him from a window pane doing those things by himself they would think that he was crazy.
ReplyDelete