Extended Metaphor

I Taste a Liquor Never Brewed is a great example of an extended metaphor. Liquor is constantly compared to aspects of nature throughout the poem. The first reference I noticed was an allusion to the Rhine River in line three. Other aspects of nature discussed are air, dew, and the sky (Molten Blue). Many animals and insects are also mentioned. These include a bee, a fox, and butterflies. This reoccurring theme of nature kind of confused me. I'm not sure what the writer's purpose of it was. One theory I considered was that perhaps he was suggesting that drinking was a natural thing to do.

Figurative vs. Literal

After Apple-Picking was another poem that my original views differed with those in my small group. The other members of my group read this poem very literally. I on the other hand, looked at it completely figuratively. They imagined the scene of a man bored by apple-picking. I imagined a man who was bored and fed up with life.
Sleep is a recurring theme throughout the poem. He specifically mentions a 'long sleep'. I know some people saw this to mean hibernation but I once again disagree. I thought of death. The speaker is weary and is constantly thinking about sleep and rest. He was 'overtired'. These little details caused me to see the poem in a very different way.

No Light Bulb

The Convergence of the Twain kind of frustrated me. I understood that Hardy was talking about the Titanic, but I didn't always understand the meaning of what he was saying. I was especially confused by stanza IV. I spent a long time trying to figure out what "Jewels" stood for or represented. What was even more frustrating was the fact that my classmates did not struggle nearly as much. Many of them actually said they liked it because it was very understandable. It just didn't click with me.
The one part of the poem that I did understand and enjoy was the end. Hardy points out the shock and trauma that this collision caused. I felt as though this was important because it was such an important and tragic event of history.

Theme in One Sentence

The central theme of London by William Blake is a disdain for the city of London, especially its government.

Originally I thought that Blake was only criticizing the government of London. He refers to aspects of London that are controlled by government. One example of this is line one when he mentions a chartered street. He also speaks negatively about the Church. The Church of England is controlled by the government so he is again showing negative political thoughts. While he does focus on the government, he does in fact go much deeper. In the last stanza, he begins to criticize commoners. He refers the young. He speaks negatively of them in order to illustrate what little hope London has for the future.

Tone: "I Felt a Funeral, in my Brain"

This poem confused me a little but I found it very interesting. The tone of the poem was not completely clear to me but I did find an underlying tone: insanity. The author seems like she is on the verge of breaking down. I explored two possible meanings that could also connect to this tone. My first thought was that she was discussing her own funeral. So, the first time I read it, I felt that the tone was full of morbidness and insanity. The title itself made me question the writer's sanity. You can't "feel" a funeral in your brain. That just doesn't work.
Another meaning that my small group discussed was that she was remembering her deceased husband's funeral. This would also relate the tone. If that is a correct reading, then obviously she is caught up in the past and can't get beyond it. She can't move on and she is driving herself crazy by reliving the memories.

Symbol

I think my favorite poem out of the ones we read was The Widow's Lament in Springtime by William Carlos Williams. Originally it was my favorite because it seemed like an easy read compared to the others. I immediately understood that it seemed to be about a widow who was reminded of her deceased husband during Spring. However, when I studied it a little more, I realized it went deeper than that. Not only was she grieving for her husband but she also wanted to join him.
I primarily saw this in the last four lines of the poem:

"I feel that I would like
to go there
and fall into those flowers
and sink into the marsh near them."

I found this to be a symbol of death. A repeated theme throughout the poem is flowers. They are one of the biggest reminder of the speaker's deceased husband. I think they represent his death specifically. By saying she wants to fall into these flowers, she implies that she wants to die herself so she can be reunited with her husband.

Perrine's "The Nature of Proof in the Interpretation of Poetry"

The aspect of this article that I found most interesting was the quote by E. A. Robinson. He stated that "A writer should not be his own interpreter." Yeats also said that "If an author interprets a poem of his own he limits its suggestibility." I think this is definitely a good way to approach poetry. When I wrote poetry, I always have some sort of story in my head. But the purpose of a poem is not to tell a story. Poetry should be different for each person, I think. Poetry starts as the thoughts of a poet but it is transformed into a readers own reflections.

Due to this opinion, I did not like Perrine's theory that there is an incorrect reading of a poem. I think there are a million different ways that a poem could be interpreted. It all depends on the person reading the poem. Like the quotes above state, an author does not write a poem with a specific interpretation in mind. Therefore, who has the right to say whether a reading of a poem is correct or incorrect? The only person I would give this power to is the author and the quotes contradict that. So I definitely disagree with Perrine. Poetry is personal and different for each individual.