Anthology

One Time Ago



Time is something that shapes everything, including poetry. Time and poetry are intertwined and it can be seen in several different ways. For example some poems are about a relatively specific time, such as a past event or memory. A poet might also be describing an event. This can be seen in Sexton’s poem, “And One for My Dame.” A poet might include events in the future as well as in the past. Memories and past experiences are popular topics for poets and it is easy to understand why. These past occurrences shape our lives and that is why poets find them worth describing. Sometimes the influence of the past event can be very insignificant but if the poet can remember it, it must be worth writing about. Time also shapes poetry in that poets will often write about a particular time period. This would include many single events over an extended period of time. Writing about a particular time period is great way to recapture or express a writer’s feelings on past time periods. A good example of this is Koch’s “To My Twenties.” However, writers are not limited to past time periods. A prediction of future times also finds its way into poetry. Poems written about time itself are common as well. An example of this is “Time,” by Valerie Bloom. Another example of time being described can be seen in “The Wheels of Time,” by Jim Foulk. These poets interpret time in a very strict or literal way. This anthology includes poems that are about past times and events. Poems that describe a specific time period and poems about time itself.


The first two poems in this collection are about a specific time or event and they are Anne Sexton’s “And One for My Dame,” and Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “England in 1819.” In these poems a specific time is being described. They are the poets’ description of a past event. In Shelley’s sonnet, “England in 1819,” the social condition of England is being described. This is done by giving a description of the ruler in lines 1 to 4. The poem goes on to describe the condition of the people living under the king’s rule at the point in time.


The second two poems are about a period of time that the writer experienced or is experiencing at the time. These include a poem by Kenneth Koch entitled “To My Twenties”. Followed by, “1990 special,” a poem by Charles Bukowski. “To My Twenties” is a poem about a past time period in the poets life. In this poem Koch is reflecting on his life when he was in his twenties. In lines 22 and 23 he is remembering when he felt like he had plenty of time when he was in his twenties. His enjoyment of the past can be seen in nearly every line. “1990 Special” is another poem that is about a time period in the poet’s life. It seems as if the poet feels he is reaching the end of his life. This is shown in lines 10-12.


The last four poems in this anthology interpret time in a more direct manner, describing time itself. These poems include, “Time,” by Valerie Bloom. In this poem time is described in a very metaphorical way. Another poem in this category is a poem by Jim Faulk entitled, “The Wheels of Time.” This poem describes the unavoidable effects of time. It describes the universal vulnerability of everything with respect to time. This is clear from lines 1-2. The poem goes on to describe an acceptance of the passing of time which can be seen in the last line, “the wheels of time, finally I’ll face it with glee.” The next poem is by Dorothy Fern Fowler entitled, “Who Knows Where Time Goes.” This poem is about the complexity in understanding time. Time is described as something that we do not have unlimited amounts of and how time passes people by at a rapid rate. The final poem in this anthology is by an unknown author that is entitled “To Realize…” This poem helps readers to become aware of time. The poem compares lengths of time and how they are relevant to an average person’s daily life. I think this last poem does a good job at putting time into perspective and demonstrates the clearest example of how time influences our lives which would include the lives of poets as well.


As seen, these poems are all related in the fact that they are shaped by the passing of time. Time plays an important role in poetry. It may help describe an event, or help an author look back on his or her life. It may even be the subject of your poem. A poet may not even be consciously writing about time but it may play an important role when describing an event. Some poems are influenced more than others depending on the poet or the subject. Time is sometimes just a detail in a poem; it may not hold any other significance other than a small detail. A poet may describe a past experience or a memory of the past. Time might just be a minor detail in this case, it may not be relevant to the subject that the poets it’s currently with. A poet may also reflect on a time period of his or her life. This may be a matter of months or maybe even years or decades. It may also include a specific stage in the poet’s life or maybe a trouble time that was experienced. Some even contemplate time itself and how we are all influenced by the passing of time. In this instance time is interpreted more literally. Time is looked at as a force that is inescapable and unavoidable. Some of these poems attempt to explain time while others only go into its presence and how it influences daily life.













And One For My Dame
By Anne Sexton
A born salesman, my father made all his dough by selling wool to Fieldcrest, Woolrich and Faribo.
A born talker, he could sell one hundred wet-down bales of that white stuff. He could clock the miles and the sales
and make it pay. At home each sentence he would utter had first pleased the buyer who'd paid him off in butter.
Each word had been tried over and over, at any rate, on the man who was sold by the man who filled my plate.
My father hovered over the Yorkshire pudding and the beef: a peddler, a hawker, a merchant and an Indian chief.
Roosevelt! Willkie! and war! How suddenly gauche I was with my old-maid heart and my funny teenage applause.
Each night at home my father was in love with maps while the radio fought its battles with Nazis and Japs.
Except when he hid in his bedroom on a three-day drunk, he typed out complex itineraries, packed his trunk,
his matched luggage and pocketed a confirmed reservation, his heart already pushing over the red routes of the nation.
I sit at my desk each night with no place to go, opening thee wrinkled maps of Milwaukee and Buffalo,
the whole U.S., its cemeteries, its arbitrary time zones, through routes like small veins, capitals like small stones.
He died on the road, his heart pushed from neck to back, his white hanky signaling from the window of the Cadillac.
My husband, as blue-eyed as a picture book, sells wool: boxes of card waste, laps and rovings he can pull
to the thread and say Leicester, Rambouillet, Merino, a half-blood, it's greasy and thick, yellow as old snow.
And when you drive off, my darling, Yes, sir! Yes, sir! It's one for my dame, your sample cases branded with my father's name,
your itinerary open, its tolls ticking and greedy, its highways built up like new loves, raw and speedy.

England In 1819
By Percy Bysshe Shelley

An old, mad, blind, despised, and dying king,--
Princes, the dregs of their dull race, who flow
Through public scorn,--mud from a muddy spring,--
Rulers who neither see, nor feel, nor know,
But leech-like to their fainting country cling,
Till they drop, blind in blood, without a blow,--
A people starved and stabbed in the untilled field,--
An army, which liberticide and prey
Makes as a two-edged sword to all who wield,--
Golden and sanguine laws which tempt and slay;
Religion Christless, Godless--a book sealed;
A Senate,--Time's worst statute unrepealed,--
Are graves, from which a glorious Phantom may
Burst, to illumine our tempestous day.

1990 Special
By Charles Bukowski

year-worn
weary to the bone,dancing in the dark with the
dark,the Suicide Kid gone
gray.

ah, the swift summers
over and gone
forever!

is that death
stalking me
now?

no, it’s only my cat,
this
time.


To My Twenties
By Kenneth Koch

How lucky that I ran into you
When everything was possible
For my legs and arms, and with hope in my heart
And so happy to see any woman--
O woman! O my twentieth year!
Basking in you, you
Oasis from both growing and decay
Fantastic unheard of nine- or ten-year oasis
A palm tree, hey! And then another
And another--and water!
I'm still very impressed by you. Whither,
Midst falling decades, have you gone? Oh in what lucky fellow,
For the moment in any case, do you live now?
From my window I drop a nickel
By mistake. With
You I race down to get it
But I fund there on
The street instead, a good friend,
X---------- N---------, who says to me
Kenneth do you have a minute?
And I say yes! I am in my twenties!
I have plenty of time! In you I marry,
In you I first go to France; I make my best friends
In you, and a few enemies. I
Write a lot and am living all the time
And thinking about living. I loved to frequent you
After my teens and before my thirties.
You three together in a bar
I always preferred you because you were midmost
Most lustrous apparently strongest
Although now that I look back on you
What part have you played?
You never, ever, were stingy.
What you gave me you gave whole
But as for telling
Me how best to use it
You weren't a genius at that.
Twenties, my soul
Is yours for the asking
You know that, if you ever come back.


Time
By Valerie Bloom

Time’s a bird, which leaves its footprints
At the corners of your eyes,
Time’s a jockey, racing horses,
The sun and moon across the skies.
Time’s a thief, stealing your beauty,
Leaving you with tears and sighs,
But you waste time trying to catch him,
Time’s a bird and Time just flies.


The Wheels Of Time
By Jim Foulk

The wheels of time roll around,
it dosn't stop for anyone
the wheels of time, for me it's almost done.
The wheels of time rolls around,
changes me with age
the wheels of time for my life a new stage
The wheels of time roll around,
life has passed me by
the wheels of time make me want to cry.
The wheels of time roll around
so many changes they bring
the wheels of time, for me going faster than a train.
The wheels of time roll around
another day gone, another day went by,
the wheels of time, changes in my life, I'll apply.
The wheels of time roll around
changes I need to make,
the wheels of time, chances I have to take
The wheels of time roll around
closing in on me,
the wheels of time, finally I'll face it with glee.

Who Knows Where Time Goes
By Dorothy Fern Fowler

Time is something we don't understand,
It's gone with a hello and a shake of the hand.
Never enough time for those you hold dear
But always, time for sadness and tears.
Time, you can't se it at all
For it passes so quickly --- while you lean on a wall.
Who knows where time goes/
No time for the dreams you have for yourself
Nor time for reading all the books the shelf.
Not enough time to go drifting along
For one has to work eight hours long.
Who knows where time goes?
No time to laugh --- and just be alone,
No time at all for friend or foe.
Time is running out --- people all say,
Who knows where time goes --- each and every day!

To Realize…
By Unknown Author

To realize the value of one year:Ask a student who has failed a final exam.
To realize the value of one month:Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of one week:Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of one hour:Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of one minute:Ask a person who has missed the train, bus or plane.
To realize the value of one second:Ask a person who has survived an accident.
To realize the value of one millisecond:Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.


Bibliography



Margaret, Furguson. The Nortan Anthology of Poetry.
New York: W, W, Norton & Company, 2005.

Margaret, Furguson. The Nortan Anthology of Poetry.
New York: W, W, Norton & Company, 2005.


Bukowski, Charles. "1990 Special". The Academy of American Poets. November 30 2007 .

Margaret, Furguson. The Nortan Anthology of Poetry.
New York: W, W, Norton & Company, 2005.

Bloom, Valerie. "Time". Poetry Archive. November 29 2007 .

Foulk, Jim. "The Wheels of Time by Jim Foulk". Poemhunter.com. November 29 2007 .

Fowler, Dorothy. "Who Knows Where Time Goes". www.poemhunter.com. November 29 2007 .

unknown, "To Realize...". Minerva WebWorks . November 29 2007 .

Sentimentality

Robert Lowell does a good job at provoking emotion without sentimentality. In his poem, “water,” he is describing a memory of a past experience. When reading this poem I noticed that Lowell did not use and adjectives to describe his personal feelings. Instead he created a feeling of despair by writing about a time that cannon be returned to. In line 13 he writes, “Remember? We sat on this slab of rock.” This seems to imply that he is remember times past. Also, in line 29 he writes, “We wished our two souls might return like gulls.” This implies that he is missing someone that is no longer in his life. This creates emotion in the reader while at the same time steering clear of sentimentality, and allows the reader to feel his or her own emotions. Galway Kinnell’s “First song” was also a good example of poetry that avoided sentimentalism. I think that Kinnell accomplishes this by describing someone else’s feeling, although it could have actually been a personal experience. In this piece the descriptions of the sounds of nature create a feeling of peace and contentment without saying it directly. Although the word “joy” was used many times I do not think that created a feeling of sentimentality. Perhaps is more emotions were directly stated it might have come off as a more sentimental. Both of these poems are successful at conveying emotions without coming across as sentimental. This allows the reader to better interpret the writing and experience their own feelings about it.

Beats and NY School

Gregory Corso’s “Marriage” and Kenneth Koch’s “To My Twenties” are two poems that caught my attention with their similarities. While Corso’s work was from the Beats generation and Koch’s from the New York School, they brought about similar emotions when reading. “Marriage” made me think about what will come in the future. My initial reaction was a feeling of uncertainty. I do not know what is in store for me down the road and marriage in particular is something that I have not attempted just yet. This poem also poses many questions that I might not have thought about until I was planning on actually getting married such as, “what will it be like after 10 or 20 years of being married?” By the end of the poem I concluded that I can only imagine these things and I decided that I will just have to find out in the future. “To My Twenties” was very similar in that is made me contemplate a personal time period, more specifically the present. My initial reaction when reading this poem was a feeling of helplessness. In the poem Koch writes as if he wishes he could go back in time to relive the carefree and joyful part of his life. The feeling of helplessness was replaced with a sense of appreciation by the end of the poem. This was due to the fact that unlike Koch, I am still in my twenties. I have never thought of my twenties as being the best time of my life or life to come until reading this piece. I am now hoping that my perspective will continue to evolve so that maybe every decade of my life will be the one that people wish they could go back to. While these poems have many unique qualities they are both pieces that inspired me to consider the future, as well as enjoy the present.

Free Verse

Free verse poetry has very few concrete rhyme schemes and has a less proper format than other forms of poetry. The meter often changes as well as the rhyme scheme. Free verse poems are still very effective because they are often able to accomplish the same thing as a traditionally formed piece of poetry. The use of strict rhyme schemes is not necessary to accomplish what the author might be set out to do. The poems of this week are in fact, just as poetic as traditionally formed poetry in that they convey a relevant message to the reader. A successfully written poem should bring out emotion and provoke thought. The poets of this week seem to accomplish this. The poem “Boy with his hair cut short” is a good example of this. This poem conjures up past memories and really ties the reader into the story. The poem also provokes thought in the readers mind through the description of an even that most of us have experienced but not necessarily in the same way. The realization of the readers own unique experience also leaves him or her with something to remember/think about long after the poem has been read. This poem also gives the story of someone else’s experience with a different level of consideration than the reader might have ever consciously imagined. A poem is a great means of conveyance for poets to put his or her thoughts into writing and I do not think that a strict metrical scale or a concrete rhyme scheme is particularly necessary to successfully do this.

In the poem “Georgia Dusk,” the use of metaphors helps to set the mood and gives the reader a more vivid visualization and really puts the reader in the scene. In the poem, Toomer uses the metaphor, “the pine trees are guitars.” I think that this is an effective metaphor because is gives you the feeling of being surrounded by natures music. Since music was a popular means of conveyance for ideas I believe that this was very appropriate. The metaphor is used very well and puts the reader in the scene, while at the same time not allowing him or her to wonder outside of the ideas of the poem. The second metaphor that I found effective in this poem followed the first. When Toomer writes, “pine-needles fall like sheets of rain,” it gives you the feeling of being engulfed by the sounds of the “guitars.” I think that this also has an underlying meaning of how prevalent music was at that time. This metaphor also gives the reader an idea of what people might have been involved with at that time, whether it is political or cultural. These two metaphors are very effective and are used quite well within the text. I do not think that their musical qualities were coincidental and that the author was giving the reader some background information, while at the same time pulling the reader closer to the message. I think that the use of metaphors is a great way to give the reader not only a visual image, but an emotional image as well.

Similarities is poetry

I would think and hope that poets would be able to use the writings of others to spawn new ideas that would inevitably show similarities. Also many writers probably experience similar events that would inspire similar writings. One example of these similarities, whether is be coincident or not, are the works of A. E. Housman and Robert Frost. Nature is the common theme and further more, the experiences that one encounters by being a part of nature. In Housman’s 1896 poem, “loveliest of trees, cherry now,” a scene of nature is described and what one feels during the changing of natural things. This is similar to Robert Frost in the fact that a natural scene is being described as well as the feeling of the writer. In Frost’s poem, “After apple-picking”, the same type of description is given, although through the use of different words. I am not sure as to who might have potentially influenced the other because they were both writing at about the same time, although with respect to these two particular poems Housman’s was written first. Both of these writers use nature to describe human emotions and use nature at the catalyst for these emotions. Another author that shows similarities to A. E. Housman is Edna St. Vincent Millay. In her poem, “spring”, she describes the changing of the seasons and her wonderment as to why the spring always returns without question. This reoccurring theme of nature seems to be very well diffused amongst writers and this is really not a surprise considering that all writers, no matter what subject matter they prefer, are subject to natures complexity. “Spring” was written after “loveliest of trees, cherry now”, as well as “after apple-picking” so it could be assumed that Edna St. Vincent Millay might have at least read Frost’s and Housman’s works prior to writing hers. These similarities, coincidental or not, are still very prevalent in poetry and reinforce the fact that reading the writings of others helps to inspire new, but slightly different writings.

"The Mill" v "Journey of the Magi"

Edwin Arlington Robinson’s, “The Mill”, and T.S. Eliot’s, “Journey of the Magi” are two pieces that share some of the same poetic elements. “The Mill” is a poem with a rather dark theme. The poem is about a mill worker that loses his job and commits suicide. Eventually his wife also commits suicide from this event. This is the literal theme of the poem, however, the underlying theme may be about the hardships of workers around the time of the depression. “The Mill” is a rather short poem with twenty four lines with two line breaks after the eighth and sixteenth lines. The use of imagery is seen, although, not abundant. “Journey of the Magi” is piece that is about the baptism of the author; T.S. Eliot. The poem describes the “journey” from Eliot’s agnosticism to his baptism. This poem is forty three lines, with line breaks after the twentieth and thirty first lines. These two poems are dissimilar with respect to the way that the authors used line breaks to structure the poems. The use of imagery is also used in both pieces of writing to help further their meanings, although this is seen more in “Journey of the Magi”. The themes however, are quite unrelated and have two very dissimilar tones.

The uses of line breaks in these two poems are quite dissimilar with respect to the authors’ intentions. In “The Mill”, Robinson uses two line breaks. These divide the ideas of the poem rather than showing the passing of time. He uses the two line breaks to give the reader a chance to construct the poem’s meanings into something imaginable. The first line break is used after the eighth line and is used to transition the readers mind from the description of the scene to the thoughts of the miller’s wife. The second line break is after the sixteenth line and moves the poem from the feelings of the wife to her eventual suicide. “Journey of the Magi” uses line breaks in a very different way. Eliot uses two line breaks to show the passing of time. This is seen very clearly after the twentieth and thirty first lines. The twentieth line is the end of the first time period and is followed by the line break. The twenty first line; “then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,” clearly shows the passing of time. Although this might not have been a literal passing of time is represents a different period in the author’s thoughts or mindset. The second line break in Eliot’s poem comes after the thirty first lines and is followed by “All this was a long time ago, I remember.” This line break may have been used to show a more literal passing of time although, still representing the authors past mindset. Though both authors use line breaks to structure their poems, they have two different purposes that can be seen when analyzing the writings.

The themes of Edwin Arlington Robinson’s, “The Mill”, and T.S. Eliot’s, “Journey of the Magi”, are quite different. “The Mill” is a very dark piece that describes a person’s retirement from the hardships of life. This poem is very serious and leaves the reader with a sense of helplessness, if not for themselves, at least the for the mill worker. There is not a clear message that the author is trying to convey but more of a story about the harsh reality of what people can go though. The piece does not make you think differently about a particular situation but rather, opens your eyes to a sad situation. Suicide is naturally a dark topic that is used in the writing and leaves the reader with something to think about that is not pondered on a daily basis. The nature of this poem brings the reader to having feelings of sadness and remorse, while at the same time describing a fact about the capabilities of man. “Journey of the Magi” is a much more inspirational piece that shows the thought process of a person that went from having no belief to someone of faith. The author did not intend to change the readers mind about the topic but rather to explain his journey and transformation to someone that has a belief. Early in the poem the author describes the challenges of someone that is in the process of gaining faith and the issues that one might encounter. It seems as thought the author himself is unsure about his own feelings. This can be seen as he describes the hardships and follies of his “journey”. It makes the reader wonder if the author was second guessing himself as well as his faith. When reading this poem you get a sense of uncertainty that is brought on by description of the troubles and vices than man faces. In this sense the two poems show minute amount similarity to each other. For the most part, the themes are very much unrelated.

The use of imagery can be seen in both pieces of writing but is much more distinguishable in “Journey of the Magi”. The use of imagery in “The Mill” can be seen when the author writes, “The miller’s wife had waited long, the tea was cold, the fire was dead, and their might yet be nothing wrong. Although this is a simple description it gives the reader a sense of loneliness that goes beyond the physical description of the scene. It brings feeling in the poem and brings the reader in so that they might better connect with the poem. Robinson also furthers the description of the plot when he writes, “sick with fear that had no form”. This helps the reader to better understand the actual feeling of the miller’s wife at the time. Eliot also uses imagery in “Journey of the Magi”. It seems a bit more abstract than Robinson but can be seen throughout the poem. When describing his journey to faith he writes “And a hard time we had of it”. This was in reference to the vices and hardships of agnosticism which were described in the previous lines, ten through fifteen. Rather than just listing the evils he describes the everyday situations that they can be found. This really brings the reader into the story as most people are involved in similar situations on a daily basis. The use of imagery in both of these poems can be seen with ease and really put the reader in the story. This is something that can be difficult to achieve with only a description of a scene or event. Even if the reader has not personally experienced either situation it is easy to image the scenario as well as relate to it.

Both Edwin Arlington Robinson’s, “The Mill”, and T.S. Eliot’s, “Journey of the Magi” share many of the same elements while at the same time retaining their individual components that make for great reads. While the themes are quite different the use of their poetic elements including the use of imagery and line breaks are similar. Both use imagery to help put the reader inside the story rather than seeing it only from the outside. This helps to connect the reader and allows the reader to get more understanding of what the author was saying. Both poems use of line breaks, while having different uses, allows the reader to put the story into perspective and better understand how the author wanted the poem to be interpreted. These poems are very different but also share some of the same elements that are used in poetry.