Iamb: aloof, rewrote, a dove, in love, unhappy, my heart, atop, italic, in meter.
Trochee: Must be, curiously, mocking, steady, lucky, trouble, double.
Dactyl: marketing, trust in me, soon you'll see, robbery, praise the sea.
Anapest: interrupt, in my mug, eat a duck, in a fuss, feel the thud.
spondee: smiling, shotgun, home sick, bleeding thick.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
#6: Redoing Poems
Original:
The Lemons
In April they were still tough and green,
strangely proud in the cold sun.
And all around the garden the leaves
conspiring in green on green on green.
By June they turned. The branches sunk
in the wind. The lemons shone with dust.
Some of them fell and rolled down
the hill to the town bellow us.
Packed tight against the sea's
wind, the town was abandoned now.
The roofs fallen away. The setting sun
cutting its way among the rubble.
At night we'd walk down
the big hill and look back up.
We couldn't see the house where we slept,
where our lives were decided.
But the lemons hit the black hill.
By their marks we found our way home.
The winds and the lemons wedded in August,
and the lemons dropped to the cool ground.
A crisp mist settled on the town.
The rains swarmed in from the sea.
All of it became inseparable in our minds.
Walking down the hill and back
again, your hand would fall
into my hand and stay there.
Redone:
In April they were still tough and green,
strangely proud in the cold sun.
And all around the garden the leaves
conspiring in the green on green on green.
By June they turned. The branches sunk
in the wind. The lemons shone with dust.
Some of them fell and rolled down
the hill to the town below us.
Packed tight against the sea's
wind, the town was abandoned now.
The roofs fallen away. The setting sun
cutting its way among the rubble.
At night we'd walk down
the big hill and look back up.
We couldn't see the house where we slept,
where our lives were decided.
But the lemons lit the black hill.
By their marks we found our way home.
The winds and the lemons wedded in August,
and the lemons dropped to the cool ground.
A crisp mist settled on the town.
The rains swarmed in from the sea.
All of it became inseparable in our minds.
Walking down the hill and back
again, your hand would fall
into my hand and stay there.
When you change the stanzas in The Lemons, it takes a different meaning. When the poem is written in couplets, you can see that the poem seems to be telling a story about aging. The couplets help her to present the stages of life individually, then allows them to come together so that they create a pattern and a flow. When the poem is put into quatrains, it doesn't give you that necessary pause between stanzas. The quatrain is comfortable, and "easier on the eyes," so to speak, but it also prevents the poet from giving the reader a series of events that must be separate to be understood. Also, when the poem is changed to a quatrain, the poem seems to be more about lemons, or growing up around lemons, and takes away from the deeper meaning that a reader could get out of the poem.
The Lemons
In April they were still tough and green,
strangely proud in the cold sun.
And all around the garden the leaves
conspiring in green on green on green.
By June they turned. The branches sunk
in the wind. The lemons shone with dust.
Some of them fell and rolled down
the hill to the town bellow us.
Packed tight against the sea's
wind, the town was abandoned now.
The roofs fallen away. The setting sun
cutting its way among the rubble.
At night we'd walk down
the big hill and look back up.
We couldn't see the house where we slept,
where our lives were decided.
But the lemons hit the black hill.
By their marks we found our way home.
The winds and the lemons wedded in August,
and the lemons dropped to the cool ground.
A crisp mist settled on the town.
The rains swarmed in from the sea.
All of it became inseparable in our minds.
Walking down the hill and back
again, your hand would fall
into my hand and stay there.
Redone:
In April they were still tough and green,
strangely proud in the cold sun.
And all around the garden the leaves
conspiring in the green on green on green.
By June they turned. The branches sunk
in the wind. The lemons shone with dust.
Some of them fell and rolled down
the hill to the town below us.
Packed tight against the sea's
wind, the town was abandoned now.
The roofs fallen away. The setting sun
cutting its way among the rubble.
At night we'd walk down
the big hill and look back up.
We couldn't see the house where we slept,
where our lives were decided.
But the lemons lit the black hill.
By their marks we found our way home.
The winds and the lemons wedded in August,
and the lemons dropped to the cool ground.
A crisp mist settled on the town.
The rains swarmed in from the sea.
All of it became inseparable in our minds.
Walking down the hill and back
again, your hand would fall
into my hand and stay there.
When you change the stanzas in The Lemons, it takes a different meaning. When the poem is written in couplets, you can see that the poem seems to be telling a story about aging. The couplets help her to present the stages of life individually, then allows them to come together so that they create a pattern and a flow. When the poem is put into quatrains, it doesn't give you that necessary pause between stanzas. The quatrain is comfortable, and "easier on the eyes," so to speak, but it also prevents the poet from giving the reader a series of events that must be separate to be understood. Also, when the poem is changed to a quatrain, the poem seems to be more about lemons, or growing up around lemons, and takes away from the deeper meaning that a reader could get out of the poem.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
#5: Interesting Facts about the Ballad Stanza
Some facts about the Ballad Stanza:
-In the form of a song.
-Usually deals with folklore or legends.
-Written in the rhyme scheme ABAB or ABBA.
-Usually a four to six line form.
-Used in The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner.
-Used in early historic tales, such as Beowulf.
http://personal.georgiasouthern.edu/~dougt/terms.htm
http://www.freebase.com/view/en/ballad_stanza
http://www.writing-world.com/poetry/ballad.shtml
What I found interesting about my research was the different ways that ballad forms are used. I know that I really should know better, but often times when I think of a ballad, I think of sappy love songs and what-not. I didn't know that Beowulf or The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner were written in ballads, or that people use ballads for story telling. I like how the ballad can be used for many different things as well. You can use a ballad to tell a tragic tale, a funny story, or to mock something. I just never knew ballads could be so interesting!
-In the form of a song.
-Usually deals with folklore or legends.
-Written in the rhyme scheme ABAB or ABBA.
-Usually a four to six line form.
-Used in The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner.
-Used in early historic tales, such as Beowulf.
http://personal.georgiasouthern.edu/~dougt/terms.htm
http://www.freebase.com/view/en/ballad_stanza
http://www.writing-world.com/poetry/ballad.shtml
What I found interesting about my research was the different ways that ballad forms are used. I know that I really should know better, but often times when I think of a ballad, I think of sappy love songs and what-not. I didn't know that Beowulf or The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner were written in ballads, or that people use ballads for story telling. I like how the ballad can be used for many different things as well. You can use a ballad to tell a tragic tale, a funny story, or to mock something. I just never knew ballads could be so interesting!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
#4 A Pretty Picture
I took this picture when I was in Salt Lake City, Utah over Thanksgiving. I was in Temple Square, and I looked to my left and saw this really beautiful berry tree. When I looked down, I noticed that the berries were mixed in with these dainty purple flowers.
The first thing that pops out to me in my photo is the contrast in the colors. The way the light hits the berries makes them this brilliant color, almost fuchsia, and I love how that vibrant color contrast with the dull, brown dirt. Also, I feel like the flowers really make this picture. Everything seems to blend in to me, yet it doesn't at the same time, if that makes any sense. I love this photo because it seems designed, but there is no design.
The best part about the picture is that everything was put in the order nature intended. True, the flowers bordering the wall that held the tree were placed there by man, but as you can see in the photo, the flowers began to grow on their own terms. You can see a couple of flowers mixed in with the berries, deciding for themselves where they want to go. Everything in nature seems to come together to create this work of art. The sun is in the perfect place so that you not only see the eye-catching colors of the flowers and the berries, but the sun also shows us the shadow of the tree itself.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
#3: Free Thought
A list of my favorite words:
-Yeoman
-Metamorphosis
-Rue
-Articulate
-Billowy
-Populace
-Joviale
-Bastardize
-Blithe
I think most words can be used in poetry, and any subject typically can, if the poet knows what they are doing. However, I do think that words should make the reader think. I do have a list of words and themes that I believe do not make for good poetry.
-Shall: I am guilty of this one, I used this word a lot back in my younger days. Sounds nice, but it doesn't mean that you are being poetic.
-Your boyfriend who broke your heart in the 5th grade.
-Celebrity worship poems: i.e. ones about Josh Hartnett.
-Overly vulgar words: Poop, turds, snot, fart, ham wallet, toe jam, and well...you get the point.
Some puns, most of them I laughed at because I am that lame.
-Why does Joe go to the fish market every Saturday? For the Halibut!!!
-Police were called to a daycare where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.
-There was a sign on the lawn at a drug re-hab center that said 'Keep off the Grass'.
-Two boll weevils grew up in South Carolina. One went to Hollywood and became a famous actor. The other stayed behind in the cotton fields and never amounted to much.
The second one, naturally, became known as the lesser of two weevils.
-Yeoman
-Metamorphosis
-Rue
-Articulate
-Billowy
-Populace
-Joviale
-Bastardize
-Blithe
I think most words can be used in poetry, and any subject typically can, if the poet knows what they are doing. However, I do think that words should make the reader think. I do have a list of words and themes that I believe do not make for good poetry.
-Shall: I am guilty of this one, I used this word a lot back in my younger days. Sounds nice, but it doesn't mean that you are being poetic.
-Your boyfriend who broke your heart in the 5th grade.
-Celebrity worship poems: i.e. ones about Josh Hartnett.
-Overly vulgar words: Poop, turds, snot, fart, ham wallet, toe jam, and well...you get the point.
Some puns, most of them I laughed at because I am that lame.
-Why does Joe go to the fish market every Saturday? For the Halibut!!!
-Police were called to a daycare where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.
-There was a sign on the lawn at a drug re-hab center that said 'Keep off the Grass'.
-Two boll weevils grew up in South Carolina. One went to Hollywood and became a famous actor. The other stayed behind in the cotton fields and never amounted to much.
The second one, naturally, became known as the lesser of two weevils.
Friday, January 15, 2010
One Art
By: Elizabeth Bishop
The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.
I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.
--Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
I first heard this poem in the movie In Her Shoes, and I instantly connected with it. I can relate to how Bishop feels about losing, especially when it comes to losing a dear friend, or a loved one. I feel like Bishop's poem is beautifully crafted, and incredibly intimate. Whenever I read this poem, I feel like Bishop is taking me by the hand, and guiding me into her inner thoughts and emotions. I love how she starts out with simple losses, and relates to the reader when talking about accepting "the fluster of lost door keys" or "the hour badly spent" (lines 4-5). Then, the losses gradually become greater, until they feel almost overwhelming to the reader. By creating such overwhelming losses, she leads us into how much more painful it is to lose a loved one. I think it is a wonderful poem.
There are many things that I could learn from "One Art." First of all, I am not very good at order and form. I have ideas, but it is very hard for me to construct them poetically, or delicately lead the reader into what I am trying to say. Sometimes, I "jump the gun," and begin to lay everything out too quickly, before the reader can understand what I am trying to say. Bishop, on the other hand, very meticulously takes the reader where she wants them to go, and where she does not want them to go. I could defiantly learn how to craft my poems better by studying hers. Also, I really like how Bishop puts words together. The last stanza of the poem is excellent, and I would love to be able to strike the same emotion in my work. I think that if I thought outside of the box, or used different methods to in my work, like Bishop, that I would become a better writer.
By: Elizabeth Bishop
The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.
I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.
--Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
I first heard this poem in the movie In Her Shoes, and I instantly connected with it. I can relate to how Bishop feels about losing, especially when it comes to losing a dear friend, or a loved one. I feel like Bishop's poem is beautifully crafted, and incredibly intimate. Whenever I read this poem, I feel like Bishop is taking me by the hand, and guiding me into her inner thoughts and emotions. I love how she starts out with simple losses, and relates to the reader when talking about accepting "the fluster of lost door keys" or "the hour badly spent" (lines 4-5). Then, the losses gradually become greater, until they feel almost overwhelming to the reader. By creating such overwhelming losses, she leads us into how much more painful it is to lose a loved one. I think it is a wonderful poem.
There are many things that I could learn from "One Art." First of all, I am not very good at order and form. I have ideas, but it is very hard for me to construct them poetically, or delicately lead the reader into what I am trying to say. Sometimes, I "jump the gun," and begin to lay everything out too quickly, before the reader can understand what I am trying to say. Bishop, on the other hand, very meticulously takes the reader where she wants them to go, and where she does not want them to go. I could defiantly learn how to craft my poems better by studying hers. Also, I really like how Bishop puts words together. The last stanza of the poem is excellent, and I would love to be able to strike the same emotion in my work. I think that if I thought outside of the box, or used different methods to in my work, like Bishop, that I would become a better writer.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
#1: Introduction
My name is Deborah Bedell and I am an English major with a minor in History. I am really passionate about school, it has shaped me into the person that I am today! In the future, I hope to become a college professor so that I can teach people how to tap into their creative sides and grow through language. I am really big into cultural studies, and I thoroughly enjoy exploring how art and literature ties into the world around us. I am hoping to become a better writer through this class, and to learn how to become a more creative individual.
I am currently a bartender, and though it has its ups and downs, I enjoy getting to know new people. My boyfriend is a soldier in the National Guard, and he is a big part of my life. He will be going to Iraq in February for a year, and I will miss him dearly! I am almost done with school, and I am trying to graduate by the time he gets back so we can start a life together. We are planning on going to Europe when he gets his two weeks of leave, and I am very excited; I have always been very interested in European culture! I love to write, bake, and do Kung Fu. I have been in Chi Ling Pai for 2 years; Participating in the martial arts was one of the best moves I have ever made in my life (besides starting school).
I am really looking forward to getting to know everybody! I look forward to reading your posts!
I am currently a bartender, and though it has its ups and downs, I enjoy getting to know new people. My boyfriend is a soldier in the National Guard, and he is a big part of my life. He will be going to Iraq in February for a year, and I will miss him dearly! I am almost done with school, and I am trying to graduate by the time he gets back so we can start a life together. We are planning on going to Europe when he gets his two weeks of leave, and I am very excited; I have always been very interested in European culture! I love to write, bake, and do Kung Fu. I have been in Chi Ling Pai for 2 years; Participating in the martial arts was one of the best moves I have ever made in my life (besides starting school).
I am really looking forward to getting to know everybody! I look forward to reading your posts!
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