Poetry Revisited

The 18th morning of October, in the year 2010 A.D.

Nearly a month ago, I began a poetry class which I had enrolled in the previous spring. Eagerly, I jumped right into the readings, and was instantly overcome with nostalgia. We convene in a circle to discuss “The Red Wheel Barrow,” “Metaphors,” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” I couldn’t help but reminisce about days long past. And thus, I set out on a journey to visit the roots of my poetic education; the AP Literature blog.

It is empty. Once filled with the lively discussions of intelligent youths, the blog is abandoned. Massive cobwebs adorn each nook and cranny, and with every step I take, a plume of dust erupts around me. As my foot bumps a loose stone, echoes reverberate throughout the chamber, and for a moment I can close my eyes and image the multitudes of students, who once spent late nights and early mornings frantically typing up their latest posts.

All are gone now, moved on to new places, to experience new things. Alone, I brush the dust from the pages of past works. I reread “Valediction Forbidding Mourning” and “Spinster,” refreshing my memories. Oh, how the years seem to slip away! And, before I slip away, back to college, permitting the dust to erase my footprints, I would leave a poem. Something new, in a blog long abandoned.

Autumn-slain
A dense fog of billowing cold
Sweeps across a bed of gold.
Mounds of bodies with deaths unsaid;
The leaves which all the trees have shed.
Their ghosts still whisper in the wind;
Brittle voices confess to sins
From their youths when they were green;
That’s when I woke and saw the scene.

Chill air gusts through the window,
Crisp as golden-red apples
(their skin taut and swollen with sweet autumn nectar).
It’s tinged with the smell
of late blooming roses,
And filled with the scent of dead leaves.

Hash over your ideas with your fellow poetry aficionados

Here I invite you to discuss questions, ask questions, make comments and exchange ideas with your colleagues. For "Ulysses" especially I think you need to do this—it's a very dense poem that makes of the familiar figure of Ulysses a symbol…of what?

We'll discuss at the top of class and attempt to deepen and broaden your responses.

Questions for "Curiosity"

1. On the surface, this poem is a dissertation on cats. What deeper comments does the speaker make or imply? Of what are cats and dogs—in this poem at least—symbols?
2. In what different senses are the words death, die, and dying here used?
3. Compare and contrast this poem in meaning and manner with “Ulysses.”

On This Glorious Day...

Today is a day to remember. Today is a day all peoples should mark on their calenders. A day everyone should look forward to year-round. A day to count down to by making one of those paper chains where each link represents a day, and as you cut one link off every day, your excitement grows as the chain gets shorter and shorter. Would you like to know why? Do I really have to tell you why on this magnificent, wonderful, joyous day you should celebrate? Isn't it obvious? On this day, exactly 19 years ago, President Bush Sr. declared the end of the Gulf War, saying "Aggression is defeated. This war is over."

Indeed, the ending of any conflict is cause to celebrate. Let the revelries commence! I call upon all who read this to feast and be merry. As if that wasn't enough, Ghana celebrates their independence from Britain on this date! So three cheers for Ghana! Three cheers for the end of the Gulf War! That's six cheers (for those of you keeping score at home) for March 6th!

Claudius, Gertrude and King Hamlet

Hamlet draws his general condemnation of women's fidelity from his mother Gertrude's "incestuous" marriage with the despised Claudius. I think we can assume that the Prince never cared much for his uncle, but by now has grown to hate the man who replaced his idolized and adored father both as King and as husband to Gertrude.

The Ghost complains of "my most seeming-virtuous Queen," who fell for the blandishments of an "adulterate beast" of a brother whose "witchcraft of wit" and "traitorous gifts" stole her heart and loyalty away. Young Hamlet also takes a share in the Ghost's assessment of Claudius: a satyr in comparison with the Hyperion that was King Hamlet.

Let's examine the evidence in the play to build a character study of the late King of Denmark. Look at the Ghost's words, Horatio's dialogue with Marcellus, Hamlet's private thoughts in his first soliloquy and brief exchange with Horatio…etc. What sort of man, King, husband and father was King Hamlet?

Look then at what you know of Claudius beyond Hamlet's disdain and loathing: what qualities in him attracted Gertrude in the first place, and why? Why did she not adore King Hamlet as his son did?

This will take some thought. You might be smart to make a first entry assessing King Hamlet, then return a day later and post a comment on Gertrude and Claudius.

We'll have a lot to talk about on Wednesday.