Cactus: Not much better than no cactus.

"Getting Out" by Cleopatra Mathis

Probably the best part of this poem is the fact that the poet's name is freakin' CLEOPATRA!

The tone of this piece is surprising for a poem about divorce. It does not blame one person for the divorce (uses the pronoun "we" for the majority of subjects of sentences), nor does it take a frustrated or bitter tone. Rather, the couple is almost remorseful they have to be divorced ("Yet I think of the lawyer's bewilderment/when we cried, the last day."). In addition, it takes a nostalgic tone in the second stanza with such notables phrases as "Days were different:" and "'you gonna miss me/when I'm gone.'" The second stanza also reveals one of them tried to leave but just couldn't bring themselves to be away very long. Yet, what's interesting is that the poem's title and other phrases in it ("waking like inmates who beat the walls") suggests they are trapped in their love. Oh what horror.

Oh yes folks, this is Cleopatra Mathis. I want her hair, girlfran.

...then when I pulled into my parking spot at Kroger and got out, I heard all these bullets whizzing by! And they were all like PEW! PEW PEW PEW! Then they started shelling and everything was all BLOWING UP! So I ducked and rolled under the Prius next to me, soldier-crawled into the store and bought some juice and crackers.

"The Apparition" by John Donne

And I was so hoping to get that E.D. poem on the page before! But it's okay, Costello, you made up for it with this John Donne selection. Speaking of this selection, John Donne was doing some hardcore hypothetical creepin'. Baaaasically, if his current lady nags him too much, he'll "die" (literal or metaphorical? who knows, it's poetry!) and then when she thinks she's finally rid of him with her new hypothetical man, the speaker will hypothetically haunt her while she and her new hypothetical man sleep in their hypothetical bed. Not only was the speaker hypothetically creepin' on the woman, but the poem was ("hypothetically?") creepin' on the reader with it's eerie tone. Such imagery as "thy sick taper will begin to wink," and "then shall my ghost come to thy bed" gives a very haunted house theme to it all. The speaker feels he will be quite effective in his hypothetical creepin' mission that he will leave the woman "Bathed in a cold quicksilver sweat" and "[lying] a verier ghost than I." Ooh, gotcha there Ms. Naggypants!

Ooh look! It must be their hypothetical pet!

OK, so what's the speed of dark?

"Crossing the Bar" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

If tone gave an award for having tone, this poem would win it. Yeah, I just wrote that sentence, deal with it. Firstly offs, the first obstacle over which to hurdle is the metaphor for a boat coming to shore, a sandbar, and crossing water representing the crossing of life to death. However, usually, especially (whoah there conditionals) in America, death is viewed as something of a drag. Many poets have attempted to contemplate the mystery of death and whether to fear it or not, but the speaker, by his tone, seems almost relieved, anticipatory, and hopeful to die. Such phrases as "turns again home," "and may there be no sadness of farewell," and "hope to see my Pilot face to face" provide a hopeful, glad tone. In addition, the speaker utilizes imagery of crossing water which is plentiful in biblical imagery as well. It's quite holy.

The Big C Seemed Way Too Excited When Discussing This One...

"February" by Madge Atwood

The title (of the blog post) says it all. The gleam in Costello's eyes when discussing this...piece...was like two bright lighthouses shining in the night. I suppose it can be justified because the more we discussed the piece, the more I enjoyed it. In fact, it was one of my favorites for this unit because of its tone and familiar imagery. The coziness of staying in bed in a warm house during the cold, hard days of February provides an almost picturesque winter scene with the poet, scrawling in a journal about this time, then contemplating her cat that joins her up on the bed to "[tell] whether or not [she's] dead." Oh, that cat. With a more than vivid illustration, the speaker portrays the cat in a negative light during "February, month of despair...." and then compares humanity, making them no higher than animals, to the cat. ("It's all about sex and territory, which are what will finish us off in the long run.") Finally, after her tone of bitterness concerning love, sex, and procreation, she calls the cat (and people) to action so as not to be glum during the gray February days and make it something worthwhile.

Obviously the cat was a lolcat.

Do all the women in the Bureau have to wear those really masculine shoes?

"London" by William Blake

I dunno 'bout you, but I was definitely getting a whole tone and mood are really important kind of vibe from this poem. Oh, you did too? Well, I equated William Blake's description of London with Sweeny Todd. Both give a very dark tone and mood, Sweeny Todd with both the story and the physical lighting and "London" with imagery of "black'ning Church[es], blood down Palace walls, marks of weakness...[and] woe." In addition, much like E.D.'s funeral poem, which is also on the darker side, sound was very prevalent. Many of the characters "cry" such as every man, every infant, and Chimney sweepers, in addition to others making their voices heard as well. This is also found in Sweeny Todd through singing. London's a rough place, it seems.


How could I not post a Sweeny Todd song? I feel it compliments the poem perfectly.

I'm just tryin' to meet you half way!

"I Felt a Funeral, in my Brain" by E.D.

From the details, we can correctly conclude the speaker is in a coffin at his own funeral due to the abundance of senses provided, especially sound. Many times sound was conveyed through imagery like "A Service, like a Drum-/Kept beating - beating -", "And then I heard them life a Box....", "As all the Heavens were a Bell,/And Being, but an Ear/And I, and Silence, some strange Race...." What one may expect to be in a poem full of imagery though, is blatantly missing. Sight is such a strong sense that it is often taken for granted and dulls our other senses due to our heavy reliance on it. Because of its absence, one may assume the speaker is in his own coffin at his own "funeral." Naturally the funeral is not literal because the speaker still has abundant senses
(much unlike a corpse), so it is also appropriate to interpret a figurative meaning for the funeral. I tend to agree with the "insanity" interpretation due to the almost exasperated and excluding tone. An interpretation about a struggle with drugs may seem appropriate in a modern application; however, because both insanity and drugs have an outstanding effect mentally, they can be easily interchanged. Both interpretations, I feel, fall into our beloved "cone zone"; yet, I do not feel the "loss of religion/faith" interpretation is quite as conical. A person chooses to have faith and believe in God. One would not write about one's own absence of religion in such a negative light of it being the cause of their spiritual death, because if they do not believe in God, they don't have to worry about a spiritual death in the first place.

Natural and delicious. Who knew?