Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

I like this poem because it gives a different perspective about dealing with death. The speaker of this poem is giving advice to his dying father. He tells his father that death should be fought, rather than just mutely accepted. In the lines, "Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light." Thomas is expressing the idea that even though you are growing old and weary, you should not give up on life; instead you should fight to live. Repetition is used throughout the poem with the lines, "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "Rage, rage against the dying of the light". I think the author repeats these to stress the importance of not giving up. At the end, the author tells his father, “curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray”. He wants his father to burn with feeling and emotion while he still can, even if he curses his son. He does not want his father to fade quietly into death.  I think this poem is very inspiring and the author has a good point. We only have one life to live, and we shouldn't take it for granted.

Last Night I Dreamed of Chickens by Jack Prelutsky

Last night I dreamed of chickens,
there were chickens everywhere,
they were standing on my stomach,
they were nesting in my hair,
they were pecking at my pillow,
they were hopping on my head,
they were ruffling up their feathers
as they raced about my bed.

They were on the chairs and tables,
they were on the chandeliers,
they were roosting in the corners,
they were clucking in my ears,
there were chickens, chickens, chickens
for as far as I could see...
when I woke today, I noticed
there were eggs on top of me.

 

I like this poem because it is amusing and funny. The author is describing his dream, where chickens are everywhere in his room and on his bed. He creates great imagery, by describing the chaos going on as the chickens are on the chandeliers, roosting in the corners, and nesting in his hair. He also uses repetition, starting off most lines with "they were" or "there were". We find out however, that the chickens might not have just been a figment of the author's imagination. In the last line, the author wakes up to find eggs on top of him. I think it is clever how the author reveals this in the final line. This leaves the reader questioning whether this craziness was a dream, or if it really happened.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

The mood of this poem is peace and solitude, as it is just the man and his horse on a dark snowy night. I interpreted this poem to mean as you go through the journey of life, you have to take time to enjoy the beauty of things. The man stopped to enjoy the beauty of the falling snow in the woods. However, he knew he had to keep moving on and persevering through his journey because he had responsibilities and 'promises to keep'. The horse shook the bells on his harness, questioning if it were a mistake to stop, because he knew they were not at the end of their journey. Sometimes people are so caught up in the journey of life, they are confused by others who stop to smell the roses. You can apply this analogy to life. Although you have responsibilities and things to do, you still need to take the time to stop and enjoy the true beauty and peaceful aspects of life.

First blog

So this website is pretty confusing..

and I'm just SO excited to start blogging about poetry.
:)