Robert Lowell

I didn't care for Robert Lowell but I also had trouble understanding his poetry. Robert Lowell seemed to write about many of the poeple he knew. I tried "Two Walls" about the death or murder of Martin Luther King and "Robert Frost" who apparently was a good friend. I struggled with the meanings of his poems and wondered why all poets could not have been as clear as Langston Hughes.

Elizabeth Bishop

Elizabeth Bishop is a poet that I was totally unfamiliar with. I read "The Fish". It was extremely descriptive and visual. I'm not sure who I felt more sorry for...the fish at being caught or the fisherman...at catching the fish. Both seem so solemn even when the fisherman feels triumph at his catch. Yet, the end shows a certain amount of joy as the fish is let go. I guess both the fish and the fisherman have overcome. I read a few other poems and in all of them, Elizabeth Bishop is very detailed with her descriptions.

Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes is my kind of poet. I had no problem understanding his works. I loved "Mother to Son", and "I, too". I found humor in several of the poems such as "Morning After". All in all, I had a great time reading Langston Hughes.

Hart Crane

Hmmm! I am back to not knowing what I just read. I tried "Repose of Rivers" thinking, "ok", here we go again with another poem on death but I truly am not sure what I just read. The images I thought I understood....the willows carrying only a slight sound, the slow moving wind...all of that goes with a river at rest. But then I get to phrases such as "in the memory of all things nurse" and I go, "what"? I tried another, "At Melville's Tomb". I actually likes this one and got most of the references.

Marianne Moore

Marianne Moore is kind of plain after reading so many poems with abstract meanings. In "The Fish" a fish is a fish and "The Monkeys" are monkeys...at least I hope so! I didn't have any trouble understanding the verses. it reminded me a great deal of National Geographic. I also tried several of her poems that were not about animals or fish. "A Grave" was pretty straight forward poem.

Frost Continued

"Fire and Ice". Well I tend to like apocalyptic movies, so why not pooetry as well! The poem suggests that the ending of the world is inevitable. Will it end by fire or by ice? It sounds as if it will be emotions such as "hate" that will end it all.

Robert Frost's Poetry

I am starting with one of my favorites and one of his most well known, "The Road Not Taken". It's actually earlier in the book on page 48. I remember studying this poem in college and reading somewhere that his inspiration came from being dragged off on evenings walks with a friend. This poem more than many others has actually spoken to me throughout my life as I have wondered at the roads that I did take as opposed to the roads that I did not take. I can see clearly choices that I made that would have led to a different life and as Frost said, "And that has made all the difference."