|
[1] 2
Comment 20 of 20, added on November 23rd, 2009 at 6:17 PM.
To Ruth
I don't think anyone was really that harsh to Kathreen, what she said and the way she said it was a little.. pushy, in some ways, and most of what she said had absolutely nothing to do with the poem, therefore, it isn't needed or wanted on a page that is supposed to be about this poem.
People are allowed to write whatever they want, but if everyone spouted their religious beliefs on any website they wanted to, I think a lot of people would get upset.
I don't want to hear about your religious ideas, even if they are the same as mine, and I'm not going to blab about my religious ideas especially if they are irrelevant.
Julia from United States
Comment 19 of 20, added on November 23rd, 2009 at 6:01 PM.
This poem
I agree, there is no ONE correct way to analyze a poem, but there are wrong ways. For example, this poem has nothing to do with Jesus, or balloons. You could try to make extreme leaps to get there, but the poet doesn't allow you to make those connections within the poem.
Just like I think that his poem probably has very little do with any kind of organized religion, because the poet doesn't give any opportunity to examine it that way.
And to one of the people who posted before me, I don't think analyzations is a word.
Julia from United States
Comment 18 of 20, added on May 6th, 2009 at 11:23 PM.
To me, this also has to deal with the passing of a person. The fact that the grandmother has equinoctial tears, and more importantly those of the September Equinox (leading into winter) is key to reading into this poem. The equinox represents the transition of the sun to the other side of the planet. Here it is passing away from the persona because it is become winter. It is getting colder, tears are coming on. This obviously (and obviously simply my opinion) has to do with the death of someone, probably the man in the picture with Tears as buttons. The grandmother must be strong for the boy, and bare the pain for both because the boy can't understand what has really happened. I also agree with previous comments about the stove being something "immortal". And also the almanac being the all-knowing figure. It's a beautiful poem, and she has taken the form of the sestina and executed it so gracefully that it is in no way distracting from the repetition. Wonderful, bitter-sweet work of literature.
RCB_UNO from United States
Comment 17 of 20, added on September 29th, 2008 at 5:55 PM.
i jope you all know what a sestina is. meaning "song of sixes" a sestina is a very rigidly structured poem. a sestina must contain 6 verses. each verse must have 6 lines.finally at the end there must be a triplet (3 lines). a sestina must have 6 key words, and each line of each verse must end in one of these 6 words, all 2 be used in each verse. the triplet must also contain all the 6 key words, in any order. with all these restrictions i cant imagine how hard it must be to write a sestina. i think its amazing how bishop stuck to this rigid structure and yet produced a poem that flows so well and sounds spontaneous.her sincerity shines through so well that you dont even notice the structure
mary
Comment 16 of 20, added on September 7th, 2008 at 7:27 PM.
You people didnt have to target Kathree like that. It is hher opinion to what she thinks or belives Sestina is about. Just like you all stated your own analyzations of the poem, she did. No one is right, but the author/writer of the poem. If anything, you all should look into your own life, and notice your faults. To come at her like that was wrong, and whatever you may believe in religion matter doesnt have to agree with everyone else's views. All in all, I belive that Sestina had to deal with the grandmother's loss and how the symbols relate to her tears. and the title tells it all.
Ruth from United States
Comment 15 of 20, added on November 14th, 2006 at 12:04 AM.
Equinoctial means of or pertaining to an equinox, which is when day and night are approximately the same length all over the earth. This happens when the sun crosses the plane of the earth's equator. It occurs usually around March 21 for the spring equinox, and September 22 for the fall equinox.
Lauren from United States
Comment 14 of 20, added on October 24th, 2006 at 9:26 PM.
Thank you guys a lot! This poem is about life and death. But, if you want, everything can be related to religions. And, could anyone do me a favour, talk about "equinoctial" please? I am not an astronologist...
CHN from Canada
Comment 13 of 20, added on June 26th, 2006 at 5:20 PM.
As a teacher, I enjoy reading all of these comments and ideas about the poem. But one thing that I and most teachers work very hard to impress on our students is that no one ( except the poet herself ) has the one real true answer to a poem's total meaning. No one knows exactly what the poet was doing here. What we DO know is that she created a beautiful and touching piece within the boundaries of a challenging poetry form, the sestina. With that in mind, be careful to look at her six word choices. Note that she sets it in September and that the tears are "equinoctial"--why? At the very least, consider that this poet had some intention of direction with the poem, and it most likely was NOT religious but rather more about age and youth, grief and innocence, and the symbolic qualities that only an almanac could possess. My students delight in finding possible meanings in this poem, but a true reader and lover of poetry must finally acknowledge that the poet used her or his word choices to convey a direction of sorts. Just ask one!!!
Jgill from United States
Comment 12 of 20, added on March 27th, 2006 at 2:03 AM.
if this poetry is so metaphorical,than why almanac,why stove and horrible deux ex machina(imagination).
what if almanac represent prediction of future,kids drawing is,her thoughts and idea of her life.stove would be a meaningless like most of us.so it might be soul of her father or mother telling the girl about life and death .
nafe qureshi from United States
Comment 11 of 20, added on March 25th, 2006 at 2:58 PM.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the form, i.e. the sestina. The repetitious permutations of the end words. Why choose those words/ WHy stove, grandmother, tears, child, almanac, house? This poem is about sorrow and restraint, the obsessive quality of grief, expression through domestic rituals, and as a previous poster has commented, the continuity and "inscrutability" of inanimate objects.
Alexandra from Canada
This poem has been commented on more than 10 times. Click below to see the other comments.
[1] 2
|
I don't think anyone was really that harsh to Kathreen, what she said and the way she said it was a little.. pushy, in some ways, and most of what she said had absolutely nothing to do with the poem, therefore, it isn't needed or wanted on a page that is supposed to be about this poem.
People are allowed to write whatever they want, but if everyone spouted their religious beliefs on any website they wanted to, I think a lot of people would get upset.
I don't want to hear about your religious ideas, even if they are the same as mine, and I'm not going to blab about my religious ideas especially if they are irrelevant.
Julia from United States