Blog about your favorite song. Type out the lyrics and explain how the sound and rhythm of the song work to enhance the meaning. Explain why the song is important to you.
My favorite song is "Show Me What I'm Looking For" by Carolina Liar. It has never been particularly important to me; I just love how the song sounds. However, it has become more meaningful to me these past few weeks, what with the stress applying to transfer to universities. The lyrics "show me what I'm looking for" describes the roadblock in my life where I have to decide what is it I want to major in and what direction I'm seeking for my future. The line "Mistakes become regrets" is one of my favorite lines in the song because I've come to regret the B in a Philosophy class that completely skewered my GPA. On a serious note however, the line reminds me that any time I procrastinate, it will come back to haunt me.
The song sounds a bit wistful, but not wistful enough to be sad - I have never liked sad songs. Like a poem, songs have rimes, and this song has rimes as well. There's a rime in almost every other line. There is no fixed rhythm, although the last words in the lines are stressed. The rimes are mostly masculine rimes, where there is a stress on the final syllable, and where most of the rimes are one-syllable. Like in this part,
"Wait, I'm wrong,
Should have done better than this
Please, I'll be strong, I'm finding it hard to resist
Show me what I'm looking for"
The song is about how a person is not sure how to proceed in his/her life. Confused and feeling lost, the person decides to turn to God for an answer (of course, the part "Oh Lord" in the song could just be used because it sounds good, but I like to think that it is a true reference to God).
There are discernible pauses in the song which enhances the singer's plight. If he sang the song without pauses, the lines would not have as much meaning. There is a pause at the end of every line as well, including the lines in the chorus. They are somewhere in between run-on lines and end-stopped lines - the pauses are not complete stops, but they are not too short either.
Show Me What I'm Looking For - Carolina Liar
Wait, I'm wrong
Should've done better than this
Please, I'll be strong
I'm finding it hard to resist
So show me what I'm looking for
Save me, I'm lost
Oh Lord I've been waiting for you
I'll pay any cost
Save me from being confused
Show me what I'm looking for
Show me what I'm looking for
Oh Lord
Don't let go
I've wanted this far too long
Mistakes become regrets
I've learned to love abuse
Please show me what I'm looking for
Save me, I'm lost
Oh Lord I've been waiting for you
I'll pay any cost
Save me from being confused
Show me what I'm looking for
Show me what I'm looking for
Oh Lord
Show me what I'm looking for
Show me what I'm looking for
Show me what I'm looking for
Save me, I'm lost
Oh Lord I've been waiting for you
I'll pay any cost
To save me from being confused
Wait, I'm wrong
I can't do better than this
I'll pay any cost
Save me from being confused
Show me what I'm looking for
Show me what I'm looking for
Show me what I'm looking for
Show me what I'm looking for
Oh Lord
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Root Cellar by Theodore Roethke
Blog about one poem that you read for today. Explain its denotative and connotative meaning. Discuss its use of imagery and/or figures of speech. Use the checklists to help you think of what to analyze about the poem you selected. Make sure you include specific quotes from the poem.
Theodore Roethke's poem "Root Cellar" is full of imagery and metaphors. This rich imagery provided insight into how the poet may have intended the poem to be imagined by the reader. The poet apparently spent a lot of time in a large commercial greenhouse run by his family, and the "root cellar" could either be about a greenhouse or literally a cellar. It seems to me that it is about a greenhouse though. The word "root" in the title means plant root, so a root cellar could be a room full of plants. A cellar is used for storage; and what storage room is stuffed full of plants? A greenhouse, of course.
Theodore Roethke's poem "Root Cellar" is full of imagery and metaphors. This rich imagery provided insight into how the poet may have intended the poem to be imagined by the reader. The poet apparently spent a lot of time in a large commercial greenhouse run by his family, and the "root cellar" could either be about a greenhouse or literally a cellar. It seems to me that it is about a greenhouse though. The word "root" in the title means plant root, so a root cellar could be a room full of plants. A cellar is used for storage; and what storage room is stuffed full of plants? A greenhouse, of course.
The poem is about the unpleasant surroundings in a greenhouse. The poem evokes a kind of claustrophobic mood - the word "cellar" in the title contributes to this as well. When I imagine a cellar, I imagine a dark, damp place. The last line, "Even the dirt kept breathing a small breath" is a metaphor for the way dirt absorbs oxygen and carbon dioxide from the air. The usage of a metaphor in this line dramatizes the dirt's will for life in the dark, claustrophobic greenhouse full of plants which are also competing for life. The second line "Bulbs broke out of boxes hunting for chinks in the dark" (455) sounds like a metaphor, although plant bulbs really DO hunt for spots of light in darkness.
"Shoots dangled and drooped
Lolling obscenely from mildewed crates
Hung down long yellow evil necks, like tropical snakes. (455)"
These three lines in the poem are rather sinister and recalled to my mind a haunted house. Shoots dangled and drooped evokes a hopeless feeling, like how drooping plants signify its imminent death. "Long yellow evil necks, like tropical snakes" is a simile of plant winding plant stalks and snakes.
When I came to the line "And what a congress of stinks!" (455) the smells that automatically came to mind were of plant compost and fertilizer. This created an unpleasant effect in my mind where a whole jungle of plants are aggressively jostling for space in a small greenhouse and releasing a variety of disgusting smells.
Roethke used described the scene with words like "leaf-mold, manure, lime" - these are words that emphasized the age and the filth of the greenhouse. It is possible that the greenhouse is either not very well kept or has been abandoned for a long time.
Lastly, I noticed that there are lots of slippery "sss" sounds in the poem, like in the last word in some lines - crates, snakes, stinks, planks. Reading the poem, I felt like those words were chosen because they emphasized the words; the sound effects are those that sound indignant and sickened. I could almost imagine the poet's disgust of the greenhouse.
Although I took the poem in the most literal sense, the last two lines in the poem,
"Nothing would give up life;
Even the dirt kept breathing a small breath."
is rather wistful and full of meaning. The poet may not entirely hate the root cellar; he may have some sort of respect for the plants' love of life.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Hopeless Teenage Dream
Walking home from school one night, my friend Hopeful turns to me
"What is it about that girl that haunts me in all my dreams...?
Is it her wit, her looks, or her smile that shines like sunbeams
A teenage dream! and like a dream she's better than she seems..."
"You sound so much in love, Hopeful," I tentatively say
"But she's my best friend, and please, I don't want to cause you pain
"Because I know her heart, and when I talk to her it's plain
Your love for her is doomed for naught but rainy skies of gray."
Hopeful looks down at the floor and heaves a heavy sigh
"I know, but like a fool I cannot stop this love for her...
"My friends call it infatuation, but I know better!
It must be love if this drives ME, a guy, to even cry."
What to say to Hopeful? That his new "love" for her is great?
It's sad but true, that it takes two, to seal a happy fate.
"What is it about that girl that haunts me in all my dreams...?
Is it her wit, her looks, or her smile that shines like sunbeams
A teenage dream! and like a dream she's better than she seems..."
"You sound so much in love, Hopeful," I tentatively say
"But she's my best friend, and please, I don't want to cause you pain
"Because I know her heart, and when I talk to her it's plain
Your love for her is doomed for naught but rainy skies of gray."
Hopeful looks down at the floor and heaves a heavy sigh
"I know, but like a fool I cannot stop this love for her...
"My friends call it infatuation, but I know better!
It must be love if this drives ME, a guy, to even cry."
What to say to Hopeful? That his new "love" for her is great?
It's sad but true, that it takes two, to seal a happy fate.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Response to Poem
For the sake of my friends' privacy (and my livelihood) the friends I have sent this poem to will be known as Jack and Jill in this post. I did not intend to have such a poem sent to Jack and Jill. I have never been the poetic type, so I went for the knee-jerk reaction and chose the sadly predictable theme of friendship. To be honest, I did not expect much, no disrespect to the great poets out there intended. Needless to say I was excited to find the poem "After The Movie" by Marie Howe. What makes this poem so special is that there is nothing about the lovely perks of friendship, no hand holding, no skipping around the park singing wonderfully innocuous songs. This poem was different. It described the complex relationship between Jack and Jill perfectly. Without giving too much away, Jack is infatuated with Jill, but Jill does not return the favor. Jack and Jill are my best friends, and used to be best friends too.
The poem is about a conversation between the narrator and Michael. Michael believes that a person is capable of both loving and murdering someone. The poem ends with "we both know the winter has only begun." This signifies the shift in their relationship - the beginning metaphorical frost that has sprung between the former bosom buddies. Although murdering might be pushing it a little (I am pretty sure that Jill is not the murderous type), she is oftentimes frustrated by my Jack's open infatuation with her. Being the cold type, things can get pretty frosty when Jack becomes too bold with his infatuation.
I sent the poem to Jack. He replied almost immediately. The first word is too graphic for an English blog, so I am not going to write that down here. He then makes light of the whole matter and thoughtfully observed that Michael is the name of Jill's ex-boyfriend. I asked him if he's aware of his infatuation for Jill, because what he is feeling is definitely not love. His surprising answer was that he knows this already, thank you very much. But he cannot help his desire for her. I told him that's really sad. I wish I could have seen Jack's expression, but I can only summarize his verbal response. Jack also said that Michael is nuts, and that only poets can come up with these things. He is also interested in what movie they saw, because as according to him, the plot is "sicko." Jack also points out the line in the poem "Simone Weil says that when you really love you are able to look at someone you want to eat and not eat them." and cries out in disgust, "OMG, a Twilight reference!" before I told him that the poem was written before the immensely popular vampire novels were published.
I wish I could say that Jack had some sort of epiphany about this futile infatuation, and said something insightful and maybe even poetic. However, as you probably know by now, my friends are not wired for poetry.
The poem is about a conversation between the narrator and Michael. Michael believes that a person is capable of both loving and murdering someone. The poem ends with "we both know the winter has only begun." This signifies the shift in their relationship - the beginning metaphorical frost that has sprung between the former bosom buddies. Although murdering might be pushing it a little (I am pretty sure that Jill is not the murderous type), she is oftentimes frustrated by my Jack's open infatuation with her. Being the cold type, things can get pretty frosty when Jack becomes too bold with his infatuation.
I sent the poem to Jack. He replied almost immediately. The first word is too graphic for an English blog, so I am not going to write that down here. He then makes light of the whole matter and thoughtfully observed that Michael is the name of Jill's ex-boyfriend. I asked him if he's aware of his infatuation for Jill, because what he is feeling is definitely not love. His surprising answer was that he knows this already, thank you very much. But he cannot help his desire for her. I told him that's really sad. I wish I could have seen Jack's expression, but I can only summarize his verbal response. Jack also said that Michael is nuts, and that only poets can come up with these things. He is also interested in what movie they saw, because as according to him, the plot is "sicko." Jack also points out the line in the poem "Simone Weil says that when you really love you are able to look at someone you want to eat and not eat them." and cries out in disgust, "OMG, a Twilight reference!" before I told him that the poem was written before the immensely popular vampire novels were published.
I wish I could say that Jack had some sort of epiphany about this futile infatuation, and said something insightful and maybe even poetic. However, as you probably know by now, my friends are not wired for poetry.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)