"Range-Finding", by Robert Frost

Robert Frost is regarded as one of the greatest American poets. His work usually centered on rural life, in particular the countryside of the New England region. His works won him four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry.

"Range Finding" by Robert Frost

The battle rent a cobweb diamond-strung
And cut a flower beside a ground bird’s nest
Before it stained a single human breast.
The stricken flower bent double and so hung.
And still the bird revisited her young.
A butterfly its fall had dispossessed
A moment sought in air his flower of rest,
Then lightly stooped to it and fluttering clung.

On the bare upland pasture there had spread
O’ernight ‘twixt mullein stalks a wheel of thread
And straining cables wet with silver dew.
A sudden passing bullet shook it dry.
The indwelling spider ran to greet the fly,
But finding nothing, sullenly withdrew.

In Robert Frost's "Range Finding", he explores humanity's effect on nature particularly the effects war has on nature and its creatures.  The poem is written as a sonnet, with 2 separate stanzas, the first with eight lines and the second with six lines, making it a Petrarchan sonnet. In the first lines of the octave, Frost introduces us to a "battle" which can stand for the battle between humans (war) or the battle between humans and nature. In this poem, Frost explores the effects war has on nature by following the path of a bullet.  However, the man's "stained breast" is not the focus of this poem. The poem instead focuses on everything up until that moment of impact.

The octet focuses on the beauty and subtlety of nature in contrast to the bullet.  The reader sees the "stricken flower" and the "dispossessed butterfly" as the bullet whizzes by. However, once the bullet passes, nature remains persistent. Frost juxtaposes nature and man in order to expose the ugliness of man compared to nature. The final stanza, the sextet, switches back to the spider from the first line. Frost emphasizes the beauty of the spider's web with its "silver dew." However, the bullet tears through the web and destroys it. The spider believes it has caught a meal, but is let down when it sees the tear. Here, Frost is commenting on how humans not only destroy their own properties but also  those of nature. As a result, the bullet "stains" both the spider's "diamond-strung" web but also a "single human breast."

"Marks" by Linda Pastan

Linda Pastan is an American poet of Jewish heritage. After settling down with her family, she was encourage to return to her love of poetry. As a result, she has produced famous works that center on marriage, relationships, family and the "anxieties that exist under the surface of everyday life."

"Marks" by Linda Pastan

My husband gives me an A
for last night's supper,
an incomplete for my ironing,
a B plus in bed.
My son says I am average,
an average mother, but if
I put my mind to it
I could improve.
My daughter believes
in Pass/Fail and tells me
I pass.  Wait 'til they learn
I'm dropping out.

Pastan's poem is about a wife and mother who is constantly graded and criticized on everything she does.  Pastan utilizes an extended metaphor in order to convey her message. The mother does everything her family asks of her and yet she still falls short of their high, almost unreachable expectations. Pastan compares the mother's life to the life of a student in which she is graded on everything she does. The woman is obviously irritated by the constant grading of her daily activities. In a sense she becomes a student who has to "learn" but if she has to learn she also has the right to "drop out." 
Reading Pastan's poem through a feminist lens, we realize she makes a valid point. Her metaphor becomes the center of her social commentary.  They, in a sense, take her everyday duties for granted. Considering Paston's common theme of anxieties of everyday life, it is clear to see she is commenting on the tough life of a mother and wife. This woman has enough stress in her life and does not need the added stress of "passing" her husband's and children's "classes." Due to the lack of recognition, she gets the idea of dropping out or leaving the family all together. This would show her family all they take for granted and would persuade them to be less harsh in their grading of her or perhaps stop their grading all together. On the whole, Paston's message is on the lack of respect women get. She believes they are disrespected, to the point where their every action is graded, and are not treated as equal to men. Notice her children don't grade their father or that she doesn't mention her husband's grade in bed. While Paston's poem was written in 1978, it resembles many of the ideas the feminist movement of today works towards. 

[in Just-], E. E. Cummings

E. E. Cummings is regarded as one of the most unique poets ever. His craft is identifiable to almost all readers and his works are easily identifiable.

[in Just-]

BY E. E. CUMMINGS

in Just-

spring          when the world is mud-

luscious the little

lame balloonman

whistles          far          and wee

and eddieandbill come

running from marbles and

piracies and it's

spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer

old balloonman whistles

far          and             wee

and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's

spring

and

         the

                  goat-footed

balloonMan          whistles

far

and

wee

As with all E. E. Cummings' poems, the language is extremely unique and can barely be considered language at all. But that unique style serves a purpose and is important to understanding his message. "[in Just-]" is a poem about the first day of spring and the speaker is a man observing the actions that children partake in on this day. In fact, the poem reads as if it is written from a child's perspective. For example, the speaker refers to spring as "mud-luscious." Luscious usually has a positive connotation while mud is not usually considered to be a good thing much less luscious. Also, most children who play in mud do not have the word luscious in their vocabulary.  As a result, it seems that the man has found beauty in the mud by watching "eddieandbill" find joy in it. Similarly, this spring day is "puddle-wonderful." These children see spring as having endless opportunities. In a sense, this invigorates the man with a feeling a youth in the same way the season of spring brings about new life. The speaker admires the innocence these kids have. 

The language in this poem also builds excitement, coincidentally excitement over something the speaker would not find exciting.  The combining of the children's names illustrate children who can barely contain their excitement with spring and seeing the balloonman. They have waited all winter for this moment and cannot keep in their gleeful "wees." The most interesting piece of this poem is the title.  The language in the title is so unique but also so relevant. It creates a scenario in which the eager children ask to go outside and experience the "puddle-wonderful" scene. Before the mother can respond with "in just a few minutes," the children have cut off their mother and have already burst out the door.  E. E. Cummings'  uses a different style in this poem with creative and suggestive words which help to illustrate the scene the speaker is seeing. 

"Singapore" by Mary Oliver

Mary Oliver is often regarded as "far and away, this country's best poet." Throughout her life she traveled to many different countries and composed poetry based on some of her insights from those countries.

"Singapore" by Mary Oliver

In Singapore, in the airport,

A darkness was ripped from my eyes.
In the women’s restroom, one compartment stood open.
A woman knelt there, washing something in the white bowl.

Disgust argued in my stomach
and I felt, in my pocket, for my ticket.

A poem should always have birds in it.
Kingfishers, say, with their bold eyes and gaudy wings.
Rivers are pleasant, and of course trees.
A waterfall, or if that’s not possible, a fountain rising and falling.
A person wants to stand in a happy place, in a poem.

When the woman turned I could not answer her face.
Her beauty and her embarrassment struggled together,
and neither could win.
She smiled and I smiled. What kind of nonsense is this?Everybody needs a job.

Yes, a person wants to stand in a happy place, in a poem.
But first we must watch her as she stares down at her labor,
which is dull enough.
She is washing the tops of the airport ashtrays, as big as hubcaps,
with a blue rag.
Her small hands turn the metal, scrubbing and rinsing.
She does not work slowly, nor quickly, like a river.Her dark hair is like the wing of a bird.

I don’t doubt for a moment that she loves her life.
And I want her to rise up from the crust and the slop and
fly down to the river.
This probably won’t happen.
But maybe it will.
If the world were only pain and logic, who would want it?

Of course, it isn’t.
Neither do I mean anything miraculous, but only
the light that can shine out of a life. I mean
the way she unfolded and refolded the blue cloth,
The way her smile was only for my sake; I mean
the way this poem is filled with trees, and birds.

The message Oliver hopes to convey in "Singapore" is clearly social. In order to better understand the message of Oliver's poem, we must consider the setting. The speaker of the poem is a woman and so is the woman she sees. However, the similarities between the two end there. The speaker, who is undoubtedly a tourist, is leaving Singapore when she sees a woman "washing the tops of the airport ashtrays." Being the close-minded tourist she is, she immediately is in disgust with this woman's job. Her perspective changes dramatically when this woman smiles back at the her. The speaker immediately is humbled and realizes that while this work may be menial and not for the speaker herself, "everybody needs a job." To the woman living in Singapore, her job means everything. Being able to work as a woman makes life in an oppressive Singapore a little bit better and allow her to hopefully "rise up from the crust." While the tourist knows "that probably won't happen," she knows that this hope allows her to "stand in a happy place."

While this poem takes place in Singapore, it can also take place in numerous other places and still produce the same humbling effect. Oliver was trying to put a perspective on how we live and view life. She challenges us to "rip the darkness that comes from our eyes" that causes us to view those with  menial jobs as inferior to us.  She is reprimanding the culture, perhaps the American culture, that allows that mindset to prevail. Ironically, that mindset is not prevalent in areas like Singapore which is why the woman smiles genuinely at the speaker. Oliver is reminding her readers that an individual's life is filled will "trees and birds" that make them happy and that your own life may be filled with other different "trees and birds." 

"Hanging Fire" by Audre Lorde

Audre Lorde devoted herself to writing against racism and sexism. Lorde saw different races and sexes as a "cause for celebration and growth" and much of her writing embodies those ideals.


"Hanging Fire"

I am fourteen

and my skin has betrayed me   

the boy I cannot live without   

still sucks his thumb

in secret

how come my knees are

always so ashy

what if I die

before morning

and momma's in the bedroom   

with the door closed.

I have to learn how to dance   

in time for the next party   

my room is too small for me   

suppose I die before graduation   

they will sing sad melodies   

but finally

tell the truth about me

There is nothing I want to do   

and too much

that has to be done

and momma's in the bedroom   

with the door closed.

Nobody even stops to think   

about my side of it

I should have been on Math Team   

my marks were better than his   

why do I have to be

the one

wearing braces

I have nothing to wear tomorrow   

will I live long enough

to grow up

and momma's in the bedroom   

with the door closed.

In Lorde's dark and somber poem, the reader sees the world through a fourteen year old's eyes. This young girl, who resembles Lorde, appears alone in her life, with her "momma in the bedroom." While Lorde is the author of this piece, she is speaking through this girl. Clearly this girl has had a rough life with "knees always so ashy" and one can venture to believe Lorde led a similar life as this girl. Through this girl, Lorde is able to explore the larger situation of the poem which is racism and sexism. This poem is not a story about a lonely girl but rather a social commentary on racism and sexism.

While this girl is only fourteen, she has already experienced racism as her "skin has betrayed her." Perhaps this girl has started a new school and she is overwhelmed with everything including racism. As a result, she needs her mother to come out of her room more than ever. Instead she is alone and life is changing all to quickly for her. Here Lorde is commenting on how hard life can be without a proper role model to show her how to cope with these changes. Lorde also targets sexism in this poem. This girl obviously is intelligent, so much so that she believes she should have been put on the Math Team. However, she was left off the team possibly due to a combination of race and sex. The spot on the team could have been a huge confidence boost to this girl but instead she is left in despair. Instead, this girl, like many other young African American girls were, is left as a "hanging fire." She has a burning desire to learn and has high aspirations but is worried her race and sex will drag her down. Lorde uses this girl, who can now only focus on death, to speak on the effects racism and sexism can have psychologically on young teenage girls.

"Begotten" by Andrew Hudgins

Andrew Hudgins moved around the American south often during his childhood. As a result, his poetry reflects the Southern ideals of family and tradition.



In Hudgin's poem, he puts us in the shoes of a not so ordinary child. What makes this child so unique is that he realizes he isn't normal and that he is different. He is begotten.Through what the child says we know he is one of those children that is too smart for his own good.Somehow at his young age, he is able to "discern the features" of his relatives. This is comedic because most children his age would look at their family members and be lucky to remember their names.  The speaker, or the child, does not hate his family by any stretch but rather is merely annoyed by "their high drawls." The speaker doesn't create an angry or outraged tone when regarding his family. Rather he is more patronizing towards his family. This creates an ironic effect because he is patronizing the adults rather than his aunts and uncles belittling him because of his age. This poem is not overly critical in its tone because we get the sense the child enjoys and maybe even likes his family. We get the sense the boy looks forward to his Sunday dinners and "propping his elbows" up on the table to analyze his complex family. The child may never admit to that but he never misses a Sunday dinner for a reason. He may be disappointed he wasn't misplaced by rich parents, but the reader knows the boy would never trade his family for any other family. In this sense, he is like every child who at some time or another wishes they were part of a different family. This poem in its entirety is comedic because the child is wondering why he is a part of this family when it is clear he is just like them.

"The Aim Was Song" by Robert Frost

Robert Frost is regarded as one of the greatest American poets. His work usually centered on rural life, in particular the countryside of the New England region. His works won him four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry.



Before man to blow to right

The wind once blew itself untaught,

And did its loudest day and night

In any rough place where it caught.


Man came to tell it what was wrong:

It hadn't found the place to blow;

It blew too hard -- the aim was song.

And listen -- how it ought to go!


He took a little in his mouth,

And held it long enough for north

To be converted into south,

And then by measure blew it forth.


By measure. It was word and note,

The wind the wind had meant to be --

A little through the lips and throat.

The aim was song -- the wind could see.


Frost's poem is a reflection on poetry and its various forms. Frost is commenting on how poetry changes over time, yet the same purpose always remains. The aim of all poets is to create a song and the different types of poetry allow poets to achieve this universal goal. Songs allow poets to convey a message.  Frost creates his "song" with a structured rhyme scheme that makes his poem melodious.  In a sense, his poem is an ideal song. There is a consistent rhythm and meter throughout the whole  poem. Frost's message is to not lose sight of the true meaning of poetry, which is song. Frost's wind metaphor emphasizes a certain natural quality all poems have. This quality happens to be song. Poets can utilize the different forms of poetry to allow their songs to be heard. All poems, regardless of form, are all songs. The direction of the wind may change over time, but it is still wind. Likewise, the forms of poetry change overtime but it is still poetry.  Frost is also explaining how the beauty of poetry is its freedom. Poets are free to write their songs in a variety of ways and in the same way, readers are free to interpret those poems. Much like man is free to explore the laws of nature (wind), readers are free to explore the laws of poetry.