"Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day?" By:Howard Moss

This poem compares someone special to the beauty of a summer day, through it's eternal youth and nice weather. Even during the month of May when it can be rainy, the sun still shine on that special person. And even when the day is too hot, and even when it is not, the perfection of this special person will remain. Although no one stays young forever, this special person will forever be youthful and never die because this poem telling her story will never die.

I believe since the author is male, the "special person" is most likely a lady whom he admires deeply. I find it strange that this poem is considered the work of Howard Moss when Shakesphere wrote "Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer's Day?". The way he decribes her beauty is very similiar to the way Shakesphere describes his person in the poem. The purpose of both these poems is to make sure the object of affection remains alive through the words of the poem. When reading this poem, I can only think of peaceful meadow and lazy, youthful summer days. When picturing the person, I think of a version of Snow White, with perfect skin, hair, and red lips. Her beauty even rises above the beauty of a perfect summer day.

“A Noiseless Patient Spider” By Walt Whitman

In this poem the author begins talking by about your typical spider and begins describing some of the things the spider is doing in order to build his web. In the first stanza he is describing how a spiders uses the webs he spins in order to get around, but also how he is standing on a promontory which is basically a high ridge. Also he then goes into further detail pf how he believes the spider’s has no worries or problems and how he has all the space he could ever need. Finally the author begins to end the poem by explaining how he is beginning to connect and actually weave his web in order to fully form it. He compares the connecting the web together is similar to constructing a bridge. The poem is sort of straight forward because it seems as though he is just explaining his observations of the spider and what he believes the spider is possibly thinking of. Also the author uses figurative language in order to compare what the spider is doing to things in real life.

I believe the author is intrigued by the spider and what he is doing. Since the author is going into great detail about this process I believe that is why for some reason it is having such an affect on him. Though this is just like any other typical spider the whole technique of spinning a web is having some sort of emotional affect on the author. I think maybe there is something going on in the author’s life because he says “Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,” so he believes that the spider’s life is carefree and filled with space and I guess ample time. That’s another reason why I believe the author is possibly suffering emotionally is because he uses the phrase “O my soul,” twice and also ends the poem on that note.

Mother to Son by Langston Hughes

In the poem the first two lines the poem the narrator someones mother is telling her son that life hasn't been easy for her. Then in the next four lines she talks about some of the stuff she has faced in her life comparing the to tacks and splinters. Also talking about how sometimes she had to go without comparing it to a floor with no carpet. Then in the next five lines she talks about how she kept going no matter what. She compares it to ladders and corners. then in the following six lines she tells her son not to give up comparing his striving to stairs saying " Don't you set down on the steps, Cause you finds it's kinder hard". Then in the last lines she talks about how she is still gonna keep going.

I think the story is about mother telling her son about how hard her life has been. I also think the narrator is sorta talking about the struggles of being a single mother and raising a son. The poem also does alot of comparisons to things in everyday life like corners and floors. I think the poems main theme is persistence. I think its persitence beacuse in the poem she keeps talking about how hard life can get but you have to keep going.

“My Papa’s Waltz” by Theodore Roethke

First, the boy is describing how strong the smell of whiskey on the breath of his father. Then he explains how tightly he was holding on because to him waltzing was not easy. They weren’t moving very carefully, because he explains that while they were dancing they were knocking over pans from the kitchen shelf. His mother showed an expression of concern with her frown, showing that she might not have been too thrilled with this idea. While the father was holding his son's hands, the boy took notice into the condition of his father’s knuckle, describing it a little bruised or beaten up. Then he described the pain that he was given every time he missed a step, and the belt buckle would scrape him. With his fathers dirty hands he roughly touched his son's head. Then once they were done, his father took him to bed.

What the boy is describing isn’t an actual waltz. He is portraying the beating that he received whole his father was drunk. He describes how much he drank based on the smell that came from his mouth. There was so much commotion going that they were even knocking over the pans in the kitchen. When he describes the look on his mother’s face, she was mortified on what was going on because it hurt her so much. His father’s knuckles were probably beaten up from the amount of times that he beat his son. He was probably also somewhat beaten by a belt when he says that it “scraped” him. His father probably had some type of dirty work, leading his hands to be in the filthy condition that they were in. When his father was done beating him, he would drag him to bed, while his son would beg him to stop the torture. I think that the author sets off both a humorous, but serious tone in this story. This is shown in the third line of the poem because he uses the word death. He is trying to show how serious this was, but also trying to use it in a way that shows it can be used in different forms, based on the context. It also seems like he is using a humorous tone, when you first read it because you first wonder if he is actually talking about a waltz; if he is, why use suck dramatic terms. The title first gave me a feeling that this would be an enjoyable poem that described its actual name, but in actuality, it described the complete opposite. The author did a great job of using symbolism to describe something significant.

Oh Captain

In the first stanza he is saying that what they were aming for is done and though they lost thingswhat they wanted they got and they are coming home to praising people. The second stanza says that even though they won everyone on the boat is grim becuase their Captain died. Third stanza is him wanting the Captain to come back alive because they won for him and there are people cheering and happy with ribbons and bouquets and while he says this his arm in underneath his head. Then he goes back to seeing him dead and how it is so bad it's a dream that he is dead. The last stanza he says that the Captain doesn't answer him when he asks him to get up and see all the happy people. Then he callshim his father and says he doesn't feel his arm and has no pulse or will to move. Then the ship reachs land and anchors safe and sound with its voyage done even though it was scary they win. But he walks of sadly because his Captain is dead.

I think the depper meaning is that someone that he really cared about died after they all just got through something really hard. Even though everyone made it through and they won what they were fighting and everything should be perfect and the author should be happy someone who he loved, maybe his father, died and couldn't see the end perfect result. It's so bad for him he trys to pretend it's a dream and if he just wishes really hard and asks the person to wake up and let him know how perfect everything is and how happy everyone is he'll come back to life and everything will the how it'ssuppose to be. He eventually relizes that he has to move on and he starts to go forward but he is still sad.

"Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost

This poem is talking about how nothing stays. When he is talking about how natures first green is gold, he is talking bout when earth started, how pure it was and how wonderful it was. he is also talking about how her color was so bright/hard that it was hard to hold. This basically is saying how no one could touch it. The part in the poem where it is talking about how the first leaf is a flower, but only for an hour this is refurring back to when the earth was first made, and the first leaf came, its talking about how preacious it was but how when thing come along and take over, its only there for so long. He is also talking about how then the other leaves just sank into the same leaves and how nothing was special about them but the referrs back to human and about how Eden sing back down to grief too.
I feel that the deeper meaning of this poem is about innosence. He is talking about how nothing pure can stay anymore. When the earth had just started, everything was pure and innocent, but now the world is so corrupt and nothing can stay. He portrays this meaning in the first part of the poem about earth being so gold. I also feel that this poem is some what talking about girl. i feel that is his talking about this becuase, when girls are little kid, they are so innocent and pure, but once their cycle comes; in a way, it shows how pure they arnt anymore. He is talking about this part when he is talking about how the first leaf was a flower and then only staying for an hour.
What the over all meaning of this story is basically, nothing pure can stay anymore. The world is messed up and there is nothing to fix it. And even if you tried to stay innocent you couldnt, because you would fall back into where everyone else is.

"The Road Not Taken" By: Robert Frost

This poem is about a person trying to decide what path to take but no knowing what is down both of those paths. The traveler tried to look down both paths but couldnt because of the "bent in the undergrowth." In the second paragraph the traveler is talking about the two different paths and how he or she should pick the one that was "grassy and wanted wear." In the third paragraph it says, "And both that morning equally lay." The traveler doubted if he or she would ever come back down that road to the place to two crossing points. My favorite paragraph is the last one. "I shall be telling this with a sight Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads divereged in a wood, and I- i took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." I can relate so much to this last paragraph for private reasons but I can really relate to what Robert Frost is saying. That is why I really like this poem.