Poetry: Tone and Irony
Good job on identifying tone in the works we studied today. You guys are really getting the hang of it. Here are your tasks for the weekend:
1) Read "Piano" and "Those Winter Sundays." Identify the tone(s) in each of the poems as you read it, and support your response with specific words or phrases. Then compare/contrast the "speaker" in each of the poems (remember how we were looking for the "person in the poem" today); how are they similar? different? What is your impression of the poems themselves? Post responses here -- 10 pts.
2) Read "I Stop Writing the Poem" by Tess Gallagher (on your handout from Friday) and identify how the author suggests irony. What words or phrases lead you to this conclusion? What might be the message in the poem? Post response -- 5 pts.
3) Reply to someone else's response, preferably a classmate whose analysis is somewhat different from your own. 5 pts.
Due Tuesday midnight.
p.s. just as an added thought: which of the other poems that we read did you like and why?
(Post a new comment)
 | Daniel Gutierrez 
(Anonymous)
2004-10-24 16:13
(link) | |
In the poem "Piano" it seemed to be a rememberance poem because the line "Taking me back down the vista of years,till I see a child sitting under the piano" makes it sound like he going back into the past and seeing himself as a young child. The other poem "Those Winter Sundays" seemed to have a rememberance tone as well as a love and thankful tone towards the end. Both of the speakers are remembering there winter Sundays as a child and how they spent them. The difference between the two speakers is that one of the speakers was remebering only himself and the other speaker was remembering her and her father. In the poem "I Stop Writing the Poem" the author suggest irony by explaining the life of a woman. What leads me to this is her sarcasm of folding the shirt. The message of this poem is that woman have too much to do in life that they can't really be a woman. (Reply to this) (Thread) |
| JiNGER RUbi0
(Anonymous)
2004-10-24 17:01
(link) |
"Piano" - I would say in this poem, the writer is reminiscing about the past as the piano plays with a specific emotion about how the writer feels. "To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside and hymns in the cozy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide."
"Those Winter Sundays" - The tone of this poem to me seems like the person is wondering. I really didn't understand the poem but I came up with a father whom is always working and never getting thanked for and the son/daughter is speaking in the poem is wondering why he does all this work. "What did I know, what did I know of love's autere and lonely offices?"
The speaker in these both poems are similar because they are both looking for something. In the "Piano" he/she is looking back into the past as the piano plays with passionate emotion. And as for "Those Winter Days" he is trying to find out why his/her father does all this work. These poems are different because in the "Piano" as the piano plays, it reminisces about the past and the poem "Those Winter Days" while the speaker speaks it is happening.
I liked the "Piano" better than "Those Winter Days" because I understood it better and I like how the writer takes the reader to the past while the piano is playing with the different emotions of the piano.
"I Stop Writing the Poem" - The author suggests irony by saying she stopped writing the poem because she was unfolding clothes; which really she wasn't. Life goes on and she'll always have time to finish the poem. "No matter who lives or who dies, I'm still a woman...I'll get back to the poem" When she stops writing the poem she's still the person she is and nothing changes, so unfolding a shirt of this man will make no difference. The message in this poem might be; if you start something and stop life goes on and that something you started won't be finished until you get back to it.
Daniel's reponse for "Those Winter Sundays" is different from mine because he said that it was also a rememberance poem and being thankful but mine was about a son/daughter trying to figure out why his/her dad is working so much. Also his response about "I Stop Writing the Poem" is way different form mine. (I really didn't understand the poem but I tried to.)
The poem I really liked was "Funeral Blues" by W.H. Auden because I like the way the author describes how he feels and I liked it because at first I thought it was a woman writing about her husband which really was a man writing about his best friend. You can always have love for someone.(Reply to this) (Thread) |
| melinda - (Anonymous), 2004-10-25 20:04:15 |
| chrisma - (Anonymous), 2004-10-26 01:07:15 |
| Don't like Poetry - HaNg L00se 
(Anonymous)
2004-10-24 18:15
(link) |
SIA, BARON (October 24, “04”) Sunday 3:15pm
1) Piano by D. H. Lawrence
Tone(s) in the poem: remorse, regret
- Reminiscent, passionate, longing for the past:
Support: “Taking me down the vista of years…” and “Down in the flood of remembrance…”
Explanation: Shows how the speaker reminisces of the past, and how he/she is passionate about his past/history (longs for the past).
- Remorse, regret:
Support: “Down in the flood of remembrance I weep like a child for the past.” and “Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong…”
Explanation: Expresses how he regrets maturing and tells how desires to live that particular moment in history once more. Feels remorse and regretful because of a possible unfortunate event that had occurred.
2) Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden
Tone(s) in the poem:
- Honest, appreciative, prudent recount of years past:
* Support: Whole poem (all 14 lines, 3 stanzas) but this stands out as an “appreciative” tone, “Sundays too my father got up early and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold, then with cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday weather made banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.”
* Explanation: Exhibits child’s appreciation for father’s hard work and continues in the poem to tell of an honest recount of a memory he/she remembers in the past.
***I did not find any similarity whatsoever based on the tones that I personally saw; they are different in tones and in the theme of the poem as well as different other aspects. I felt more emotionally and mentally connected to the “Piano” poem as opposed to the other poem because of its tone and the interesting concepts it triggers.
(Reply to this) (Thread) |
| I Want to Stop Poetry - HanG L00se
(Anonymous)
2004-10-24 18:25
(link) |
SIA, BARON (OCTOBER 24, "04") SUNDAY 3:26PM
The irony in this particular poem is the fact that she says that "I'll get back to the poem. I'll get back to beiong a woman" when in reality she is achieving those things at the very moment ( she is "writing the poem" and she is "being the woman" as she speaks). The message that could possibly come from this poem is: "No matter what happens, who dies, or who lives, you will always be the same person or the person that you desire to be." (Reply to this) (Thread) |
| jourdan mission
(Anonymous)
2004-10-24 18:34
(link) |
Piano: It's always about wishing you were a kid again huh? I think the poet valued the simplicity of his childhood as compared ot what is currently happening in his or her life.More of less, it could originate form the idea that the period of childhood is the most innocent because you don't experience the hardships of the world at such a magnitude as if you were an adult (in most cases). IT's the feeling of lonliness and the heart wrenching feeling that you want to turn back time to feel an emotion that your heart wants the most, and since you can't have it, the impact of pain is multiplied.
Those winter sundays: I presume that the poet wants to express a moment of gratitude and as well as not exactly pity, but i suppose to magnify the father's heroism. The simplicity of working hard daily at work, and buildin gfires during winter symbolizes preserverance, which most heroes have. I have a little bitog a sad feel to it because liek I said, it seemd like the poet wanted the reader to feel soem sort of pity for the father.
these two poems both have a sort of gloomy environment. I think both poems have a similar setting also. It seems like a lower class perspective. And with this position, the poets seem to display more appreciation for the little things in life. The deeper meaning of little favors done. The first poem was wishing for the childhood back so the perosn could be protected and in the second poem, the person was protected by his father.
I stop writing the poem; my first response is WHAT? this poem still perplexes my mind but hey, I can always try. I thinkt he irony of the poem is that its not in poem formet nor does it stay to one subject. It's like, not porper and it goes off subject. to liek being a woman and to a shirt and so on.And maybe another irony is the explanation of a massaganistic world.. The author talks about the chores of women and such and in the last liem a little girl is watching. It's liek the status quo of women. It doesnt happen as much as before,, but it's tieing back to the ideas that we do what we see. For a time we have a religion because our parents practice it. It';s almost the same idea. women were made to be housewives because that was an ongoing tradition.(Reply to this) (Thread) |
| my response- bruno
(Anonymous)
2004-10-24 19:16
(link) |
1)"piano" has a few tones but to me they are all similar. the speaker, which i think is a grown man refecting on his childhood life, seems to miss his old life. he is sad and is remembering the good times he had before as a child. there is a sad tone because of the poem as a whole. the speaker is sad and wants to e taken backto his old life. the rememberence tone is suggested by the quote that says:"taking me back down the vista of years".
"the winter sundays" has more tones and they are: thankfulness, regretfulness, and aprteciativeness. <--i think thats how you spell it. this poem has a speaker that's a child that is remembering his day on sunday morings during the winter. there is a regretful tone because the quote:"no one ever thanked him". the child probably regreted not thanking his father. the poem also has a thankful poem as a whole along with an appreciative tone because he describes his fathers actions and all the things that his father did for him. the speaker was thankful for having his father.
the speakers from the two poems have things in common and some differences as well. the two speakers are remembering something that meant alot to them. the difference is that in "piano" the speaker is an older person remembering alot himself as a younger child. in "the winter sundays" the speaker is a child remembering about his father.
2) in "I Stop Writing the Poem" by Tess Gallagher i think that the irony is that the speaker is a wife and her husban recently passed. even tough her husband is dead she is still folding his clothes and is as bussy as when he was alive. the quote:"no matter who lives or dies, im still a woman. ill always have plenty to do" makes me think about a woman that has a husband to die and instead of having free time, she has more to do the message of the poem might be that women are always bus?
3) i replied to daniel's response.(Reply to this) (Thread) |
| Cheri Crisostomo
(Anonymous)
2004-10-24 23:47
(link) |
I think that the speaker in “Piano” is a man who is maybe middle-aged or older. His tone seems a bit somber. When reading it, I felt that maybe there was a feeling of yearning or wanting in his voice. I think these things are true because of line 6, which says “…till the heart of me weeps to belong To the old Sunday evenings at home…” The weeping of his heart tells me that he’s sad, and the part about belonging hinted the yearning. The other poem, “Those Winter Sundays” was more difficult for me to understand. My guess is that the speaker is another grown person thinking about their father, or a kid whose dad just died. The tones used here were more regretful and apologetic – the speaker regrets not taking the time to thanks his father, and wants to say sorry for that, and tell him how thankful they were for him doing all those things. The last stanza supports this because it says “Speaking indifferently to him…What did I know, what did I know of love’s austere and lonely offices?” Here, the speaker regrets not knowing what love was then. An obvious similarity between the two poems would be that both involve a memory that occurred every Sunday. Also, both poems are mainly about someone looking back on their life, and both poems are about wanting. The speaker in “Piano” wanted simply just to go back and relive the days of he and his mother, and the speaker in “Those Winter Sundays” wanted to let their father know how much he appreciated his actions. However, the memory in “Piano” was much sweeter than that of “Those Winter Sundays”. The second poem discussed getting up every freezing morning to do somekind of work, and the first was just all about spending your free time enjoying each other’s company. “Those Winter Sundays” is much more complex and involves many more emotions and feelings than “Piano” did. My impressions of the poems themselves was that they were kind of unusual. I've heard of poems about reliving memories, but unlike these two, they were depicted in a positive way.
The irony in “I Stop Writing the Poem” was hard to find for me. I think it’s because some of the lines in there were just totally random. What I thought was ironic about this poem was that the author said that she’d get back to the poem, when in reality she never really left it because she just keeps writing on. If she were to stop writing it, then wouldn’t she have just ‘ended’ the poem there? I think that the message of this poem was no matter how busy you might be sometimes, you can always put something on pause to make things just a little easier, and then come back to it later. The line that said “I’ll get back to the poem” helped me to try to figure this all out.
(Reply to this) (Thread) |
| melinda salvatera
(Anonymous)
2004-10-25 19:57
(link) |
In the poem The Piano, I would describe the tone of the speaker as sad, depressing, lonely, begging, and regretful. The speaker is a son who asks to rewind time so that he can spend time with his mother again as she plays lovely music on the piano. In the poem Those Winter Sundays, the tone of the speaker is pittyful, clueless, and wondering. The speaker ia child who understands how hard her father works for the family and realize that he does not get any thanks and praises for the hard work he does. They are similar by the way how both are thinking about their parents. The difference is that the son in The Piano wants his mother back and it seems like he regrets not spending enough time with her. The child in Those Winter Sundays wants to change how things are at home and wants to start appreciating the work that her father does for the family. I hope I have the right idea of both poems, because it seemed a little confusing with the usage of words...because I'm not really sure what they mean. I think the poems are trying to say that you should spend time with your parents because they are not going to be there forever and you will wish to turn back time to spend more time with them if you haven't. I think that is true and it makes me think about how the way I treat my parents.
In the poem I Stop Writing The Poem", I think the line that confuses me is the first line "I'll get back to thepoem. I'll get back to being a woman." I think the message of the poem is that whatever is started has to be finished. You can't leave anything let undone.
--MELinDA=)(Reply to this) (Thread) |
| whoops - (Anonymous), 2004-10-25 20:01:00 |
| ALiSHBA'S RESP0NSE
(Anonymous)
2004-10-25 20:24
(link) |
"piano"- i liked this poem a lot. i think the tone is REMiNiSCiNG. the speaker in the poem reminisces a lot. some supporting phrases of this tone is line 2 ("taking me back the vista of years...") and lines 10-11 (the glamour of childish days is upon me...").
"those winter sundays"- this poem was "alright". tee hee i was kind of confused about the tone but i think that it is FEARFUL. i think that the tone is fearful because some of the lines in the poem refer to the speaker as being afraid (to me). some supporting phrases of this tone is line 9 ("...fearing the chronic angers of that house,...") and line 10 ("speaking indifferently to him...").
Both poems have a different meaning hidden inside them. They are trying to convey a point to the readers and both poems also reminisce something at one point or another. althought the tones are different, they share some alike concepts.
my impression of the poems- i like the "piano" poem because the speaker was reminiscing in a good way and the poem was being written in way you could understand it. i didn't really like the poem "those winter sundays". i was confused about the tone and i mean as i saw in the blurtys, everyone had a different interpretation of it.
"i stop writing the poem "-- irony: the speaker is a woman and i think her husband passed away. i agree with bruno on how he said that she's still a woman and she has plenty to do. this means that despite the death of her husband, she still has duties to fulfill. she still has love for him even though he is gone. the message of the poem might be that despite whatever hard times you go through, there's still something to be finished at the end.(Reply to this) (Thread) |
| I like Swords-Nick Bergman
(Anonymous)
2004-10-25 21:34
(link) |
The tone in the poem Piano is very sad and also seems like the speaker is yernig to go back to his days as a child and can not do it. That is shown with the line " Down in the flood of remeberence, I weep like a child for the past. The tone in Those Winter Sundays seem to be of a child whos father always wakes up early and is very strict. Also it seems that the speaker is afraid of what his would do if he did not get up with the line "fearing the chronic angers of that house." The speaker in Piano seems to be an adult remebering the way things were when he was a child and how he wanted it back. The speaker in Those Winter Sundays seems to be that of a little child about 10. They both seem to have remeberence of one of their parental figures. My impression on the poems is that they are about people when they are at two different stages in life and are remebering their moms and dads also they are rembeing a time when it was cold and very dark in the morings.
I get the sense of irony from how she says that she still is a woman and also that she will get back to being a woman. Also there is the part at the beginning were she says to unfold the clothes and then the little girl watching how to learn to fold shirts. The message of the poem I think is how she rembers as a girl watching her mom fold shirts and how now her little girl is watching her do the exact same thing.(Reply to this) (Thread) |
| Samantha Bertulano
(Anonymous)
2004-10-25 22:22
(link) |
Piano by D.H. Lawrence - reminince, regret
"Taking me back down the vista of years..."
"Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past"
The author seems to value his childhood, when his mother, or some woman parental figure was still alive. He remembers as if it was yesterday he was playing the piano with her. It seems he just died and he's going down the path of his life, replaying everything, missing his childhood years the most.
Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden - thankful, wonder
"What did I know, what did I know of love's austere and lonely offices?"
The author seems to not know much about the hard work his father does, yet he knew he had to wake up every cold Sunday morning for the family and that already meant a lot to the author.
Both poems deal with a child looking up to a parental figure. Each parental figure had a special meaning in each of the children's lives. The difference between these two poems is that the "Piano" involves reminincing while the other poem revolves around wonder.
"I Stop Writing the Poem" by Tess Gallagher
The irony seems to be that in order to be a woman, you have to express yourself; be yourself. Doing a man's job is no way of showing you are a true woman. This comes from the line "I'll get back to the poem. I'll get back to being a woman." and then she started doing the laudry once more. It seems that even though she may be doing a man's job, she would not forget she's a woman.
I found "The Unknown Citizen" my favorite poem out of the poems we read in class. When I first read it, I thought of a large golden statue everyone admired. Everybody knew this man who was being honored, and they were honoring him by building him a monument or something for being such a good person... I found it unlikely that this poem was for a grave stone, and this citizen was actually unknown. He was ordinary and I never expected that. (Reply to this) (Thread) |
| Poems
(Anonymous)
2004-10-25 22:47
(link) |
I think THE PIANO is about this one guy who wishes he had a piano...either he wants one or he misses his old one...like he probably used to play the piano and was really good at it. I think the second poem was about this one guy who worked a lot to help others and he never got thanked or whatever...even for all the hard work he put in to it. I thinnk the ironic thing about the last poem is that it doesn't matter how much work you do or how much pain you have...you can always do dsomething abou tit to make your life easier....maybe like forget nothing's wrong............
>>>Jon(Reply to this) (Thread) |
| Lailani, M
(Anonymous)
2004-10-25 23:53
(link) |
Piano..
The Piano was truly an amazing poem. The tone of it sounds like a depressing and sad written poem. Especially since it reflects back on the past. To me, when I look back on my past, I usually go in a depressing mood because it makes me realize how I miss things so much and how they used to be. When I read the poem, I had to read a few times in order to figure out the tone. The words and sentences that are used can obviously tell me that it is a depressing tone.
Those Winter Sundays..
In this poem, I honestly couldn't understand it. When I read it however, I just thought of a loving parent/guardian who was always working and taking good care of his family. But the one telling the story never really thanked him for what he did. The tone of the poem sounded more like a child talking about his father. I have to say that I felt the poem in a way. How my parents work so hard just so I could get a good education and have a great future, but sometimes kids like me take it for granted that we even forget to tell our parents "thank you" until they're completely gone. The tone sounded more of like a regret from the past. Making it seem like he/she wanted to go back and change what he did.
Comparing & Contrasting..
Overall I'll have to say that these two poems were truly just amazing. So breath taking. I loved both of them, but especially "Piano" because it was easier to comprehend. It was easier to tell the tone, but "Thoe Winter Sundays" was beautiful too. I loved both of this poems. I just loved the melancholy tone.
I Stop Writing The Poem..
This was another poem that in a way twisted my thinking. I had to read it at least like 3 times in order to be able to comprehend it more. I think this is about a woman who tries to express herself, but she's so busy that she doesn't even have the time to do so. She's trying to get back to what she wants to do, but she'll have to finish what she's trying to accomplish first. Just another awesome poem.
Replying To Another Classmate..
Samantha's response on "Piano" helped me understand it even more. I like how she phrased her sentences. I also do agree on the thoughts and comments that she said about that poem. But I don't agree in the part where she thinks he seems dead going down a trail of memories, I just think he's just looking back at it as he grows older.(Reply to this) (Thread) |
| Jose Velazquez 
(Anonymous)
2004-10-26 00:05
(link) |
For the first poem "Piano it really makes me think it's a sad remembrance poem. In the beginning it sounds like a poem of a nice and happy memory. But after the first four lines pass the poem has a tone of regret, depression, and sadness. Since in the end the writer talks about how he/she longs for the memoires he had. As for "Those Winter Sundays" the poem sounds altogether like a forgiving poem. The writer talks about how he saw his father. It seemed as if the writer was ashamed of how he saw his father. But in the end the writer realizes that he/she should've never been ashamed of his father. Even though the father wasn't recognized as a great worker by anyone, he worked to give warmth to his family and to other people. In the two last lines of this poem, the writer talks about he wished he had known better when he was younger. Regreting the fact that he/she seemed ashamed of his father. Both poems have some similarities. Both poems are about the memoires of the writers and plus both poems use the word Sunday in them. But the first poem talks about the happy memories the writer had as a child and how he regrets the fact that he will never experience the feelings he had in his memoires. The other poem talks about a memory the writer wished he appreciated.
The poem "I Stopped Writing The Poem" looked like it was talking about the false hope of a woman who has become a wife/mother. The woman of the poem seems to give herself false hope in what she wants to become i think. The woman wants to become dependent and wants to liveo n her own. She gives herself falso hope that one day it'll come again. But it doesn't seem like it will when you hear about what she does in the poem. How the woman in the poem says she'll become a woman again when she has to take care of her daughter/husband. I don't really know what the message in this poem is. It's hard to describe. I don't want to say that no one should get married or anything like that. I guess i would say that a woman shouldn't get married to the wrong man. That still doesn't sound right. (Reply to this) (Thread) |
| c. singian
(Anonymous)
2004-10-26 00:58
(link) |
"The Piano"- the speaker in this poem has a sad tone because he is reminiscing about his past. the tone seems especially sad because he is crying for days long gone. "The glamour of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast down in the flood of remembrance, i weep like a child for the past." this poem makes the readers feel depressed because the speaker talks about things that used to be.
"Those Winter Sundays"- this poem to like like mostly everyone else who read it was hard to understand. the speaker in this poem seems to acknowledge his father who is a very hardworking and strong person. in some parts of the poem, it minded me of my grandmother who had just passed away. she has done many things for my family and was such a great person. "no one ever thanked him" this phrase hurts me because it makes me think about the times that i wasn't thankful to my have grandmother.
in both poems, the speakers in these poems seem to appreciate things more. in "piano" the speaker remembers how it was like as a child and how it feels to want to be that child again. to also live life especially while we are young. in "those winter sundays" the speaker is being more appreciative torward his father by recognizing all of the things that his father has done for his family. another similarity is that the poems both have a somewhat dark and depressed setting. in contrast, i found that the first speaker in "piano" was reminiscing while the second speaker in "those winter days" was thanking someone. another difference would be the ages of the speaker; the first may be an adult while the second one is a child.
"I Stop Writing the Poem"- this poem suggests irony for a few reasons. for one thing, the woman says that she is unfolding clothes, when she really isn't. this poem was sort of hard to understand but what the speaker may be trying to tell it's readers is that when something happens, you stop and think for awhile, and even though our lives go on, we eventually have to come to closure with that event.
the poem that i like the most was "I Stop Writing the Poem" because in a sense, it describes perfectly how i feel right now. even though, there's this huge roadblock in my path, i'll eventually go around it and get on with my life. it's just that for now, i want to take another path until i reach that roadblock one more time.. maybe by then i'll have closure. i'm just not sure.
-chrisma(Reply to this) (Thread) |
| Poems-Salvador Del Toro
(Anonymous)
2004-10-26 01:08
(link) |
Piano=Tone:Pain - "till the heart of me weeps to belong"
Sadness - "So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour."
Rememberance
Inspiring
Those Winter Sundays=Tone:Pain - "No one ever thanked him."
Regret - "Sundays too my father got up early."
Struggling - "then with cracked handsthat ached."
Compare=-Both of the poems' tones include pain. Contrast=-"Those Winter Sundays" talked about how a
-Both are a little confusing. father (even on Sundays) worked for the love and
-Both talk about a past time. care of his family and no one ever thanked him.
-Both talk about winter Sunday. -"Piano" talked about how someone enjoyed
the past better than the present.
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"I Stop Writing the Poem" =The author suggest irony by having the character in the poem stop writing the poem because she has errands and chores to do.
"I'll get back to being a woman."
"But for now there's a shirt, a giant shirt, in my hands."
The poem was trying to show how busy a woman is , too busy to even write a poem. Also when she says, "But for now there's a shirt, a giant shirt, in my hands", the author was implying that there's a big man kind of controlling her life a little bit.(Reply to this) (Thread) |
| JerYLL SauL
(Anonymous)
2004-10-26 01:16
(link) |
"PIANO" by D.H. LAWRENCE- regret
This peoms only have a very few tones and I think they're all the same. I think the speaker is very sad and trying to remember the good times he had before back when he was a child.
"Taking me back down the vista of years."
"THOSE WINTER SUNDAYS" by Robert Hayden- thankfulness, regretfulness
I think this poem has more tone. He regrets that he never thanked his father. But he appreaciated all the thing that his dad did for him and he's very thankful.
They both remember something very important and something that meant a lot to them. The difference is that in "PIANO" it's an old person tyring to remember something important, while in "THOSE WINTER SUNDAYS" it's a child trying to remember some important memories.
"I STOP WRITING THE POEM" by Tess Gallagher
The irony is that the speaker is a woman and her husband passed away. This shows that in order to be a woman you have to express yourself and doing a man's job is not showing that you are a TRUE woman.(Reply to this) (Thread) |
| Re: Red - (Anonymous), 2004-10-27 01:22:17 |
| --->shanice aiken 
(Anonymous)
2004-10-26 18:40
(link) |
piano
this poem seem like the tone was "longing" to be a kid again listening to his mother longing or missing her because she was died. "i weep like a child for the past". this seem to be saying he crys because he misses her or the thinks they use to do.
Those winter sundays
This poems tone was being thankful. i think he was thankful that his father would warm the house for them and shine there shoes. the fact that he was a child the took it as a requirement and not a nice gesture. now that he is older he realizes that his father did a lot for them and wants to thank him
I stop to write the poem
this poem was different. it confused me and to reread it several times. i argee with what sammie b sed. that the woman thinks that she is only a woman when she is doing womanly things."iLL get back to the poem. iLL get back to being a woman." and that girl learn how to act from watching there mothers.(Reply to this) (Thread) |
| michelle papilla
(Anonymous)
2004-10-26 20:22
(link) |
"Piano" I think the speaker of this poem is reminiscing the past. "Taking me back down the vista of years..." I guess we all take a stroll down memory lane once in awhile, huh?
"Those Winter Sundays" I had to read this poem a couple of times before I figured it out. I would say that this poem too, in some sense, reminsces the past. The writer thinks of his father and everything he did, and how no one was grateful for his work. Maybe how he wishes he had treated his father differently and thanked him for everything he's done.
I think the speakers of these poems are similar because of them reminscing the past. The speaker in "Piano" reminsces the past in general, the speaker realizes how he should appreciate his father and what not.
"I stop writing the poem"- wow. this poem confused me more than ever. I had to read it several times before I got even the slightest idea what it is about. I think the irony of the poem is that the speaker says that "I'll get back to the poem." because in reality, she wouldn't have to get back to the poem, she had been writing all along. Also, there's irony that the speaker jumps from different subjects, there's not one real subject of the poem, it jumps from being a woman, to folding clothes.
I liked the poems "Funeral Blues" and "The Unknown Citizen" best. I like Funeral blues because the love the speaker has for his best friend, and "The Unknown Citizen" because it's so typical. There are plenty of people who do the right thing, but don't get recognized for it.(Reply to this) (Thread) |
| Poems
(Anonymous)
2004-10-26 20:50
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Piano:
The tone of this poem is like sadness. This is because this poem is talking about the past in which the speaker remembers events that happened before. The part of the poem, "... taking me back down the vista of years..." shows that the speaker is moving back in time through memory. The ending line, "... down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past." shows that the speaker became sad when remembering childhood memories.
Those Winter Sundays:
The tone of this poem sounds like regret and thankfullness mixed together. The speaker seems thankful for his father is a hard worker, yet regrets not being able to thank his father for the things he's father has done. In line 5, it proves that no one thanked his father for warming up the house for the family. In line 7, it shows that his father woke up the sleeping people when the house was warm, and not cold anymore.
Speakers:
The speakers in both poems are similar because they are both remembering either a certain event, or an event that occured to them in the past. For the first poem, it was the singing, and for the second poem, it was remembering his father for the things he did. The difference between the speakers of the poem is that in the first poem, the speaker is remembering an event, whereas in the second poem, the speaker is more regretting the event than really remembering it.
I Stop Writing the Poem:
This poem was really confusing and I didn't really understand it. But I would have to say that the irony would be the fact that the author doesn't get back to the poem. She says that she'll get back to the poem, but she ends up talking about something else. For example, "I'll get back to writing this poem. I'll get back to being a woman." It's like she says that she'll get back to the poem, but she changes the subject and instead says that she'll get back to being a woman. Another message is sent out is that, before you can actually grow up; you still have a lot to learn about life.
Comment to Another Student's Comment:
My comment was different from Bruno's. He looked at the poem, I Stop Writing the Poem, as the point of view of a lady who has just lost her husband. The way I looked at it was just the fact that the author kept switching subjects. By mixing both views, it changes the meaning of the poem to me. Maybe the poem is about a lady losing her husband, and since she has more responsibilites now, she can't focus on one subject.
Favorite Poem- Funeral Blues:
From the poems we read, I liked Funeral Blues. I liked this poem because when we were reading it in class, it just triggered a lot of memories. My memory may have not been the same as what the author tried to send. But for me, it just reminded me of friends that I've lost, not to death but stupid reasons. This poem summed up my feelings of losing close friends for either reasons I don't know or for stupid reasons.(Reply to this) (Thread) |
| POEMS- HAJA JALLAH 
(Anonymous)
2004-10-26 21:21
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I thought “Piano” was a very good poem. The tone that I thought the author was using a sad one; of remembrance. He is sad because he misses his childhood where he could sit with his mother and play the piano. “Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.” He is probably having problems or not happy with his life. The speaker of this poem is a man, and he is also the narrator.
“The winter Sundays” was a hard poem, for me. It was hard for me to find the author’s tone. But after much analyzing, I reached a conclusion. I think that the author’s tone at first is maybe a little anger, because he said, “No one ever thanked him.” But as the poem continued the tone absolutely changed to love. He loved his father a lot and although he sometimes was actually afraid of him.
COMPARE/ CONTRAST “SPEAKER”
The fist poem written by D.H. Lawrence; the speaker was the narrator himself. And also in “those winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden; he was the speaker too. These two poems however are very different from one another. The “piano” speaker’s tone was filled with remembrance and sadness. “Those winter Sunday”, speaker’s tone was angry at first, but was filled with love in the end. Both speakers shared love. The “pianos” speaker loved his matter and “Those winter Sundays”, speaker loved his father.
The poem, “I stop writing the poem,” by Tess Gallagher was actually really confusing just by the way it started. A phrase that showed that she was being ironic was: women are tender. That is the way the society wants women to be, but not all women are tender and no one’s perfect. But somehow, as I read the poem, I felt that she was always going around. What I mean is that she was always talking about two different things. One of them is about being a woman and the other is about folding clothes. And also I think that the little girl that she talks about in the end is herself. Maybe when she as little, she did not know how to fold clothes. I also think that if we had to choose a certain tone other that sarcasm. It would be pride.
(Reply to this) (Thread) |
| EVELYN
(Anonymous)
2004-10-26 21:49
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1) The "Piano" has a tone of a person going back on memories of when he was young by reading the lines:
"taking me back the vista of years"
" flood of remembrance"
" The old Sunday evenings at home"
Also a tone of being sad about having grown up and longing for times to be as they used to:
" I weep like a child for the past"
" The glamour of childish days is upon me"
" Those Winter Sundays" has a tone of sadness for not realizing his father's love as a young person:
His father "Made banked fires no one ever thanked him."
And the author remembers" Speaking indifferently to him"
in addition, now that he looks back he seems appreciative when he says that his father " had driven out he cold and polished [his] good shoes as well" And "when the rooms were warm he'd call"
Another tone found is regret because as mentioned before the author did not seem to realize or appreciate what the father did. " What did i know, what did i know of love's austere and lonely affairs?"
Both authors are having memories of when one is a kid. there is also a sad tone in each poem although it is for different reasons. In the "Piano" the author is sad because he wants to return to those child years. In " those winter sundays" the author is sad becasue of the attitude he had with his father. Also, each poem is referring to a parent, and appreciating the good things the parents have done. My impressions of these poems are that once an individual grows up memories from the past are appreciated more than at the moment it is taking place. Also, as an adult you miss to be a child.
2) Some irony phrases i found in " Istop wirting the poem" are:
" to UNFOLD clothes"
" I'll ALWAYS have plenty to do"
" NOTHING can stop our tenderness"
" a GIANT shirt in my hands"
Although honestly i have no idea what the message of the poem might be, but i'll try. The little girl in the poem might feels as if women are really busy and the time keeps going and there continues to be stuff to do from observing her mother. But the if she's a little girl who would be writing the poem..... boy i dont know , buti hae enjoyed reading the other students thoguhts.
i like too the unknown citizen because i feel as if many of us can fall under hat category because all of us won't go off and become famous. We'll have a jod, how, family, we'll own things, but when we die only our familya nd friends will notice and attend. No one that doesn't know us will know. Unlike movies stais who are a all over the news before and after they die.
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| jackie perez
(Anonymous)
2004-10-26 22:09
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I think the poem “Piano” had a tone of remembrance. “ I weep like a child for the past.” The speaker sounds like he longs to go back to those good old days. “Those winter Sundays” also has a bit of a remembrance tone to it. He is reminiscing about those winter Sundays. “ I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.” The speaker is recalling and remembering the mornings of those winter Sundays. “I stop writing the poem” was the hardest for me to interpret. I guess the irony of all this, is that the author said “I’ll get back to the poem” but she never actually stopped writing it. If she had, It would have just flat out ended. (Reply to this) (Thread) |
| The poems Modesto Bolanos
(Anonymous)
2004-10-26 22:34
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To me the Piano semmed to be a rememberance poem because when the line said that "Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see a child sitting under the piano" makes it sound like he giong back into the past and seeing himself as a young chid. The second poem"Those winter Sundays" was also a rememeberance poem and had a love and thankful tyone towards the end. The diffrences between these two poems are one talks about himself and the other talks about his father. In the poem I Stop Writing a Poem the author suggest iorny by explaning the life of a woman. I find this out by her sarcasm of folding the shirts. This poem states that woman do to much and dont have time to be a woman. (Reply to this) (Thread) |
| Cleo T.
(Anonymous)
2004-10-26 23:37
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In “Piano” the tone seems to be sad and longing. “ Till the heart of me weeps to belong to the old Sunday evening at home.” The man in the poem misses those times when he was still a little boy. It took me a while to figure out the tone for “Those Winter Sundays” but I think that the tone of it is thankful and regret. “Who had driven out the cold and polished my good shoes as well.” I think that the boy in this poem is thankful that his dad did all those things for him. Then there is also another point in him that regrets not actually saying thank you to his father. In comparing the “Piano” and “Those Winter Sundays” both of the poets reminisce about the things that have happened to them. In the “Piano” the man wishes he could go back in time to those good old days while he was still a boy. The boy in “Those Winter Sundays” wants to go back in time, but not for the same reasons as the man in “Piano” wanted to. I think he wants to go back in time to gain more knowledge on why his father did those things for him and he also wants to thank him for doing what he did.
In the poem “I Stop Writing the Poem” I think that the irony of this poem is the line where the woman says, “I’ll get back to being a woman.” The woman in the poem never actually stopped being a woman, I mean she couldn’t have just transformed from a man back to a woman again. I think that the message in this poem is that no matter what happens to us we cannot let it affect our lives. We should try to move forward and not always dawdle on the past.
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