2. For You
Poetry is as free and wild, as it is calm and collected.
You have been here for me, always, like the sun and
moon. You taught me that life can be as complex as it is
simple; that some things are just as they appear while
others have a deeper meaning. You said that each
person’s views on the same poems are all different, it’s
how we read into it. Here you will see how I read into
them. You said that poetry doesn’t have to make sense
all the time, even when I try to make it make sense.
So, even when it seems that I’m not listening when you
say it doesn’t need to make sense, know that I am. This
is my dedication to you… my mom, my hero, my best
friend, my inspiration.
3. In Flanders Field
John McCrae
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
4. In Flanders Field
John McCrae
In Flanders Field is a war poem that was written by John McCrae on May 3, 1915. It was published on
December 8, 1915 in a London-based magazine called Punch and is in a 1919 collection of McCrae’s work In Flanders
Field and Other Poems. John McCrae, a Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel in World War I, wrote the poem
after burying his friend Alexis Helmer on May 2, 1915. The two had fought in the Second Battle of Ypres. The poem was
titled in Flanders Field because the battle had taken place in the Flanders region of Belgium. Today, Flanders Field is a
cemetery and memorial for WWI. McCrae mentions the poppies in the poem, because he was amazed at how fast they
grew around the graves.
The speakers in In Flanders Field are the dead. They speak to the living, sending them a message. Their
message is about a war and about continuing the battle that they have left behind, i.e. “Scarce heard amid the guns
below” and “Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw, The torch; be yours to hold it high.”
This message is the main theme in the poem. Another main theme is centered around death. Though death may not
exactly be mentioned in the poem, the dead are the speakers.
The tone of the poem is one of sorrow, as it is for any poem of death and war. Though the main tone is
sorrowful, there seems to be an underlying of acceptance as well. This acceptance is the dead acknowledging the fact
that they are dead and have left loved ones behind. The last stanza in the poem brings out a third tone; the somber
plea. They plead to the living to continue with their fight. They also plead for the living to not break their faith with
them, because if they do, the dead cannot rest. This request is stated firmly and clearly, as is the rest of the poem.
The structure of the poem is an interesting one. It starts off in the present in the first stanza: “In Flanders field
the poppies blow”. In the second stanza it touches on past of just a few days before: “We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset
glow, Loved and were loved”. The third stanza comes back to the present, telling the living to continue the fight that
they had left behind and the possibly ‘future’ of the dead if the faith is broken: “Take up our quarrel with the foe” and
“If ye break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep”. The rhyme scheme of the poem is a simple one: stanza one has
AABBA, stanza two has AABC, and stanza three has AABBAC.
The poem has several images in it, especially in the middle and ending. In the second stanza, the words “felt
dawn” and “saw sunset glow” are two examples of imagery. No one can ‘feel’, but, like the sunset, they can see it. The
glowing sunset helps you picture the setting sun. The last stanza holds a lot of imagery. The words “failing hands we
throw” and “The torch” symbolizes the dying and the dead and the torch can symbolize life, the rite of passage, or the
fight for freedom. “Break faith with us who die” can symbolize cowardice, because it could represent someone running
away from the battle. “We shall not sleep” is the last symbol of imagery in the poem because the dead no longer need
sleep, although a common phrase the living say to the dead is ‘Rest in Peace’.
5. O Captain! My Captain!
Walt Whitman
O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done; My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor
is won; will;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and and done;
daring: From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object
But O heart! heart! heart! won;
O the bleeding drops of red, Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!
Where on the deck my Captain lies, But I, with mournful tread,
Fallen cold and dead. Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle
trills;
For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths—for you the
shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces
turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head;
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.
6. O Captain! My Captain!
Walt Whitman
O Captain! My Captain! is a poem written by Walt Whitman in 1865. It was written
for the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Throughout the poem, several
references are made to the assassination by John Wilkes Booth and the American Civil War.
The subject of the poem, the ‘Captain’ is President Lincoln. The ‘fearful trip’ and ‘ship’ refer
to the Civil War and the United States of America, respectively. ‘Fallen cold and dead’ refers
to Lincoln’s assassination. The last two images, ‘victor ship’ and ‘object won’, refer to the
Union states and a good outcome of the war, like the end of slavery and the states to be
united under one flag.
The speaker of a poem seems to portray a son, and he is speaking to his captain, his
father. The occasion is the end of a war. The title symbolism in the poem is about leaders. A
captain is a leader, as is a president. The main tone of the poem is sadness. The poem is
spoken mostly with sorrow, but also with hopefulness, especially in the third stanza, when
he talks about rising up for several different reasons. Disbelief is also present in the fourth
stanza, ‘It is some dream that on the deck, You’ve fallen cold and dead’. Three main themes
are present throughout the poem. They are war (‘the fearful trip’), victory (‘the prize we
sought is won’ and ‘the victor ship, comes in with object won’), and death (‘the bleeding
drops of red’ and ‘fallen cold and dead’).
The structure of the poem is simple, yet complex. Each stanza has four lines. Stanzas
one, three, and five are longer. Stanzas two, four, and six are much shorter. Also, stanzas two,
four, and six are indented. The rhyme scheme for this poem doesn’t follow a normal pattern.
The scheme is: stanza 1; AABC, stanza 2; DEFE, stanza 3; GHIJ, stanza 4; KELE, stanza 5;
HHAA, and stanza 6; GEFE.
7. Nature, the Gentlest Mother
Emily Dickinson
Nature, the gentlest mother, Her voice among the aisles
Impatient of no child, Incites the timid prayer
The feeblest or the waywardest,- Of the minutest cricket,
Her admonition mild The most unworthy flower.
In forest and the hill When all the children sleep
By traveller is heard She turns as long away
Restraining rampant squirrel As will suffice to light her lamps;
Or too impetuous bird. The bending from the sky,
How fair her conversation, With infinite affection
A summer afternoon,- And infiniter care,
Her household, her assembly; Her golden finger on her lip,
And when the sun goes down Wills silence everywhere.
8. Nature, the Gentlest Mother
Emily Dickinson
Nature, the Gentlest Mother is a poem written by Emily Dickinson and was published
after her death in 1886. It was also published in Thomas H. Johnson's book The Complete
Poems of Emily Dickinson, published in 1955.
In this poem, there is no prominent speaker. The 'children' of nature are being in
addressed in the poem. The speaker is telling the children about nature and how she loves
her children. The speaker also talks about the passage of daytime to nighttime, by the lines
'A summer afternoon' and 'And when the sun goes down', and what nature does in that
time. Throughout the poem, one central theme keeps showing up. That theme is about
nature nurturing and loving all her children. The term 'Mother Nature' ties in with this
poem.
The tone of this poem is one of affection and caring. It tells of how she cares for even
the tiniest of creatures. The poem is spoken in a manner as if a mother were talking to her
young child: soft-spoken. The structure of the poem is very simple. Each stanza has four lines
in them. There does not seem to be any formal rhyme scheme in the poem, although there
are several words that do rhyme.
Several images are spread throughout the poem. The first image 'Nature, the gentlest
mother' can refer to mother nature. 'How fair her conversation' can be interpreted as
something you can hear when it happens, such as a soft rain or breeze. 'Her household, her
assembly' can be the earth and all that inhabit it. The stars and the moon can represent 'The
bending from the sky' and 'Her golden finger on her lip' can possibly refer to the sun. In the
line that states 'With infinite affection', it says that the affection that nature has is there
forever. The line that below it, 'And infiniter care', is an interesting figure of speech because
it seems to say that nature will care for an even longer time than forever.
9. The Power of Love
Helen Steiner Rice
There is no thinking person So our problems keep on growing
who can stand untouched today every hour of the day
And view the world around us As man vainly tries to solve them
drifting downward to decay in his own SELF-WILLFUL WAY....
Without feeling deep within them But man is powerless alone
a silent unnamed dread, to CLEAN UP THE WORLD OUTSIDE
Wondering how to stem the chaos Until his own polluted soul
that lies frightfully ahead... is CLEAN and FREE INSIDE....
But the problems we are facing For the amazing power of love
cannot humanly be solved is beyond all comprehension
For our diplomatic strategy And it alone can heal this world
only gets us more involved of its hatred and dissension.
And our skillful ingenuity,
our technology and science
Can never change a sinful heart
filled with hatred and defiance....
10. The Power of Love
Helen Steiner Rice
The Power of Love is a poem written by Helen Steiner Rice and is featured in several
of her poetry books, including Someone Cares, published in 1972.
The poem does not seem to have a prominent speaker, but the addressee is mankind.
The speaker talks about the destruction of mankind, 'a sinful heart filled with hatred and
defiance'. It also speaks of a way that mankind can save the decaying world by saying that
man cannot hope to ‘clean up the world outside’ unless his own soul is ‘clean and free
inside’. She also states in the poem that love can heal the world. This means you would have
to learn to love yourself before you can love others and start to change the world. The
theme of the poem is about how the power of love can fix and heal anything.
The tone for most of the poem is somber, but then changes over to hope. The speaker
speaks with sureness and certainty that love can heal all. There is no formal structure of the
poem. It is one long poem that has no actual stanza breaks. The way the poem was
written, however, suggests that stanza breaks are completely possible. Four times through
the poem, some lines end with the intention of being possible stanza breaks. The rhyme
scheme is long and complex: ABCBDEFEGHIHJKLKMBDBNOPOQRSR.
The poem has several images spread throughout. The first image 'Drifting downward
to decay' describes something rotting away or falling apart. 'Silent unnamed dread' can refer
to a foreboding feeling. 'Chaos that lies frightfully ahead' can refer to the uncertainty and
confusion of the future. 'So our problems keep on growing' compares our problems to living
things, since only living things grow. 'Polluted soul is clean and free inside' and 'It alone can
heal this world' refers to how love cannot change anything until our soul is clean and free
and how love alone is the only healing power.
11. If
Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you If you can make one heap of all your winnings
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, And lose, and start again at your beginnings
But make allowance for their doubting too; And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, To serve your turn long after they are gone,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And so hold on when there is nothing in you
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise: Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'
If you can dream - and not make dreams your If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
master; Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
aim; If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster If you can fill the unforgiving minute
And treat those two impostors just the same; With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:
12. If
Rudyard Kipling
If is a poem written by Rudyard Kipling in 1895 and was published in 1910. It was featured in Kipling’s
collection of stories Rewards and Fairies. The poem was written as a brother piece for his story Brother Square
Toes. In Kipling’s autobiography, Something to Myself, published posthumously, he states that the poem was
inspired by Dr. Leander Starr Jameson, who led the British raid on Boers in South Africa in 1895. The speaker in
the poem, a mother or a father, speaks to their son about different scenarios in life he would encounter and
the choices he would have to make with growing up and becoming a man.
The subject of the poem is stated throughout: a person being able to think and do things and not let
them take over or change him. The tones of the poem are certainty and belief. They are spoken with the same
certainty and belief because the speaker believes that if the son makes all the correct choices to the scenarios
that the speaker gives, he will be a man. Throughout the poem, there are many themes. Two of the main
themes are making choices and looking and handling the different scenarios where these choices would occur
in life.
The structure of the poem is simple. There are four stanzas, each broken up into eight lines. Each stanza
has different scenarios, some looking at more than one or two in each. All in all, each deals with something that
the addressee would think or do, what he could do for each, as well as outcome at the end. The rhyme scheme
is also simple: stanza 1; AAAABCBC, stanza 2; DEDEFGFG, stanza 3; HIHIAJAJ, stanza 4; AKAKLMLM.
The poem is all full of images. One image, ‘Or being hated, don’t give way to hating’ means to not to be
bothered by being hated by people, but do not hate others. ‘If you can dream – and not make dreams your
master’ and ‘If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim’ means that you can dream and think, but to
not let them take over your life. ‘If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster/ And treat these two imposters just
the same’ means that through life good and bad things will, but when they happen, you should treat each
occasion the same. ‘Or walk with Kings – nor lose the common touch’ means that you can be around those with
higher status than yourself, but not lose touch with those around you. The last image ‘The Earth is yours and
everything that’s in it’ means that if the addressee can do everything in the poem, he can do anything and
‘have’ everything, which includes the Earth.
13. Winter’s Forest
In a woodland low
The forest is bare and white
All covered in ice and snow
Is illuminated by the moon’s light
There stands the willow trees
In the middle of a stone ruin
Blowing in the breathless, icy breeze
Beneath the cold winter moon
Winter nights are cold and long
In this forest that’s bare and white
The wind sings a sorrowful song
Mourning with the trees of the night
14. Sunset, Sunrise
The sun’s rays are melting
Into orange, red, and purple
Here we will stand
With dreams and faith
As darkness creeps in
The sun’s rays are waking
Into orange, red, and purple
Here we still stand
With hope and promise
As darkness fades away
15. Far Away Yet Near
In the skies you fly with
Stars dancing around you
You are the essence of the night
Your heartbeat is far away
Yet I hear it’s near
Every night you rise
High above to linger
Your light is soft and innocent
Your eyes are far away
Yet I see them near
You are eternity
Ageless and free
You are a spirit of peace
Your wings are far away
Yet I feel them near
16. Petals of Tears
I will try, I will enter your love With petals of tears
Get right to the core From unpicked flowers
Hitch-hiking; I will get straight to the My love will fly
heart
Sorrow will not come Without you
Petals are blooming on Earth
With petals of tears Blooming petals of tears
You will leave with me in earnest
But we will part again Without you
Petals are blooming on the Moon
Our shadows will come together Blooming petals of tears
Instead of us
For a moment, time will turn
towards us
With light coming from the window
17. Spirit
What makes the fire burn
With a controlled or fierce intensity?
What makes the water flow
As a calm stream or raging river?
What makes the air blow
Like a gentle breeze or ferocious wind?
What makes the earth live and die
From the awakening of spring and
summer
To the slumber of autumn and winter?
The answer is as simple
As a spirit of nature.
18. Original Poems: Why did I include
them?
Each of my five original poems that I have included in this project has
sentimental value to me. I added these poems to my project because I was able to
experiment with my poetry on different emotions and different subjects.
In the poem Spirit I asked a question about each element and gave an answer
in the end. I believe that each element is a form of nature and has a spirit. I also
believe that each element has a calm and wild side.
Sunset, Sunrise conveys several things. It hints to a passage of time, without
coming out and saying ‘night has come and gone’. It also shows the similarity
between the sunrise and sunset, such as the colors and the feelings each can have
on a person, as well as a contrast, like the melting and waking of the sun’s rays and
the darkness creeping in and fading away.
Petals of Tears is simply about love and possibly love lost.
Far Away Yet Near is about the moon. Although it is not specifically
mentioned in the poem, there are a few lines that allude to it. I chose this title
because sometimes it seems as if the moon is near enough to touch, even though it
is far away from our reach.
In Winter’s Forest I tried to catch the coldness of winter with describing the
forest, where the willows are at, the wind, and the nights. The reason I chose a
stone ruin for the home of the willows is because when a person thinks of stone, I
think they would normally think of hard and cold.
19. Bibliography
• Dickinson, Emily. "Nature, the Gentlest Mother." Bartleby.com.
(2012): n. page. Web. 20 May. 2012.
<http://www.bartleby.com/113/2001.html>.
• Kipling, Rudyard. "If-." Poetry Foundation. (2011): n. page. Web. 20
May. 2012. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/175772>.
• McCrae, John. "In Flanders Field." Great War 1914-1918. (2009): n.
page. Web. 20 May. 2012.
<http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/john-mccrae-in-flanders-
fields.htm>.
• Rice, Helen Steiner. Someone Cares. New York City: Fleming H.
Revell Company, 1972. 9. Print.
• Whitman, Walt. "O Captain! My Captain!." Library of Congress. n.
page. Web. 20 May. 2012.
<http://www.loc.gov/teachers/lyrical/poems/my_captain.html>.
