"A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning"

Although this poem does not include many examples of figurative language, one example sticks out to clarify the meaning of the poem. The last stanza of the poem is a metaphor that explains where the speaker is actually going. He is not dying, just going on a long journey where he will be away from his lover for a substantial amount of time. In the last stanza, it states "like th' other foot, obliquely run; thy firmness make my circle just and makes me end, where I began." These lines are a metaphor comparing his love and lover to a compass. He is the foot that is going to go in many different during his journey. She is the firmness that hold him in place and steers him in the right direction, eventually leading him back to her, back where he began.

"London"

"London" has a very dark and cynical tone. The author mentions cries of various people and "marks of woe" (4). It seems like this poem describes a time after a period of darkness (but not necessarily the Dark Ages). "And the hapless Soldier's sigh runs in blood down Palace walls" (11-12). These lines stuck out to me like some time after a battle. It seems fitting because the inhabitants seem to be in despair. The part about the chimney sweeper and the blackening church means that there can be an actual black cloud over the city, or a black cloud of despair over the city. Either way, London is not in good shape.

"The Widow's Lament in Springtime"

After reading this poem, I found it sort of sad. The woman was obviously sad about the death of her husband and could not enjoy the beauty of springtime. The beautiful white flowers reminded her of the times she used to have with her husband (19). When her son told her about the meadow at the edge of the dark trees, she thought about going there, but didn't. She wanted to "fall into those flowers and sink into the marsh near them" (26-27). I took that as wanting to die to be with her love. After thirty-five years of being with the same person, I can understand how she would feel that way. Her son was trying to help her cope with her loss, but his plan did just the opposite. After spring, I think she will be able to deal with her husband's death and move on with her life.

"I fealt a Funeral, in my Brain"

Although poems can be interpreted in numerous ways, I decided that this poem was not about an actual funeral, but an internal conflict. The central purpose was to get over all the conflicts in this person's life and let go. In line 3, the author writes "kept treading-treading..." This line reminds me of a short speech in the movie "The Replacements." In this football movie, the coach asks the players what they are afraid of. At first, they throw out things like spiders and bugs, but that was not what the coach was really talking about. The quarterback says "Quicksand" and the rest of the players take it literally and agree, but there was a deeper meaning behind it. He compared quicksand to a situation in a game where everything seems to be going great until one wrong mistake. Then another happens, and another. You keep fighting back but the more you fight, the farther you sink until you are completely stuck. "I felt a Funeral, in my Brain" seems to be parallel to that story, except in a mental way. The person keeps thinking about their problems until "I thought my Mind was going numb" (6-7). Finally, you just have to stop fighting ("and then a Plank of Reason, broke") and you eventually get out.

"Those Winter Sundays"

After reading this poem, a reader can easily tell the tone of the piece. Through words like "cracked hands" (3) and "blueblack cold" (2), the tone is one of harshness and working. The narrator of this poem grew up in a household of "chronic angers" (9). The father obviously worked hard, but no one thanked him. It seems like the father cared for his children but maybe had some sort of problem with dealing with them since they were slow to rise in the mornings. He kept his relationships distant. The narrator seems to be putting pain, anger, and maybe being regretful in this poem as well. Pain (maybe mental pain) for dealing with everything his father put him through. Anger towards his father. Being regretful for not caring about anything nice the father did, like shine his shoes or make the house warm in the morning. The poem ends with the rhetorical question "What did I know...?" At the time, the narrator did not realize what the father was actually doing for him.

"Spring"

In the poem "Spring", there are a few different sound repetitions. The first two examples can be found in the second line: "When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush..." Both of these examples of alliteration adds to the imagery of actual spring time and new, abundant life. Another, in line four, states "rinse and wring." In line 8, "fair their fling", line 10 "being in the beginning", line 12 "sour with sinning" and in line 14, "worth the winning." Each of these sound repetitions end the lines of the poem.

Not only do the first letters of the words sound alike, but the words in general also sound similar. The author ends each line with a word that rhymes with another word above it. This added rhyming makes the poem softer and tells the readers of the joy of spring. It also helps the poem flow.

Perrine Poetry

In my opinion, I don't believe that there are right and wrong ways to interpret a poem. I agree with Perrine's statement that "there are only readings which differ more or less widely from a statistical norm." Who is to judge if an interpretation is right or wrong? A reader has that freedom to describe a poem any way he or she believes is correct. The only criteria the interpretation must fall into is that it "must be able to account satisfactorily for any detail of the poem" and the interpretation must rely "on the fewest assumptions nor grounded in the poem itself." The account cannot be too far-fetched and ridiculous. It must account for as many known facts without being contradicted by a fact. Although this may seem restricting, I think it is an excellent way to stay on track when trying to interpret the meaning of a poem.

This article gave me a new insight on how to analyze poems. I need to look deeper into the meaning and not go for the obvious answer. For example, I took the Melville poem to be about an army march through the darkness when it is actually about the stars and the night sky. When Perrine first mentioned this, I was shocked and could not believe how far-fetched he sounded. But when he started to explain the poem and provided examples of the words used ("bright", "beaming", etc.) I began to understand. If I never read this article, I would have never guessed that poem was about the stars. Now, I understand that I must look at the symbols and all the different meanings of words to interpret the real meaning of a poem. It may take a long time, but I believe that will be able to analyze the real meanings of poems.