Sunday, February 22, 2004

the best poem yet!

my favorite poem in this anthology is "the poem you asked for" by larry levis. this poem reads almost as though in prose, yet the poetic beat is an underlying theme throughout. i love the idea of a peice of writing coming to life in this humaneque way. this poem actually reminded me instantly of the musical "little shop of horrors" in which a huge plant eats blood in order to grow and survive. in a similar way this poem is personified into an animate object. i love the simile, "sullen, like a toad through with being teased." i can picture perfectly a little fat brown- green toad that looks angry because he's been made fun of! In the end, the poem comes to life and goes "over to your place" and beats the poet up and etc, i LOVE that image. i love the idea of a poem swearing. i never have imagined what a poem would look like if alive, but now i see one as a "john travolta" sort of character.... a greaser! i love poetry that makes me feel that i am NOT reading poetry... in other words... not dry, old english, poetry. i know that sounds very sophomoric, but its true. and i love Levis for allowing me to lose myself and my imagination in this poem. Posted by Beth Williams on 2/22/04; 8:56:36 PM from the dept. Discuss

commentary on "sonnet 130" by williams shakespeare

i really enjoyed this sonnet! it was entirely unexpected and i loved what i found! i felt that for all the love poems and sonnets out there, this one said most correctly how one feels when in love. it does not seem to matter if eyes are dull, lips aren't red, breasts aren't white, hair is wiry, or cheeks are pale! shakespeare says that since the person is his lover, she is beautiful to him no matter what. my favorite line from this poem is, "I love to hear her speak, yet well i KNOw/ That music hath a far more pleasing sound." these lines really crack me up. i picture shakespeare is writing about a woman whose voice is creaky and squeaky, yet he loves to have his ears filled with the noise of her despite that. one other detail that i really like about shakespeare is that he numbers his sonnets.... or did someone else come and number his sonnets? either way, its amazing to think that before this funny sonnet, 129 others were written by THE SAME MAN! wow. what a feat! Posted by Beth Williams on 2/22/04; 8:50:24 PM from the dept. Discuss

sdie note to mr. lovas and other people who visit!

i heard that it looks as though i only recently began posting. rest assured that this is not the case! if you are looking for older postings they are under "discussions" because i was not blog- savvy. thanks, and i hope you find those insightful postings! Posted by Beth Williams on 2/22/04; 8:44:47 PM from the dept. Discuss