Essays on Poems

Both the poems, ‘Still I Rise’ by Maya Angelou and ‘Disabled’ by Wilfred Owen explore the theme of the past and its consequences upon the present. ‘Still I Rise’ is a positive and almost defiant piece of lyrical poetry, refusing to allow the poet’s troubled past to affect her present. It shows Angelou’s will power...

This essay intends to do a close reading on two sonnets, ‘Death, be not proud’ by John Donne and ‘With how sad steps’ by Sir Philip Sidney: with the aim to compare the two sonnets to highlight how two sonnets on very different topics still follow the traditions set by the sonnets written before them....

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a Middle-English chivalric romance. “But what defines it as such?” one may ask. A chivalric romance tells the story of a knight who, while on a quest, learns about (and sometimes starts to question) himself, his culture, or his beliefs. On his quest to find the Green Knight,...

Chaucer paints a picture of the social structure of his time and breathes life into each of his characters. By analyzing the pilgrims within the story, it can be seen that they are portrayed as positive or negative to create contrast within the poem. Through the observation of the tales and outside resources, it can...

If a man is feeling depressed or in sorrow, he will commonly look past it and move on but when this feeling consumes him he will agonize in pain. Herman Melville’s, Moby Dick and The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe are both frightening, Gothic anecdotes that well represent writing in the mid 1800s Dark Romantic...

John Muir, and William Wordsworth, both wrote about nature and described nature in a way as if nature were the most beautiful and mysterious thing in the entire world. In my essay you will learn about their feelings towards nature and the creatures in it. John Muir wrote the Calypso Borealis, the poem he wrote...

Neruda’s “Walking Around” presents the speakers’ detestable view on society, through the image of a common man on a walk. As the speaker travels Neruda cleverly displays a hateful depiction of society by projecting common day activities as prevalent issues during this time. The speaker himself is disgusted by the human race and the actions...

Since the voice of the poet is the driving voice of society, Auden, a virtuoso poet, uses it to unravel the folded political and romantic lies of the modernist era of post World War 1, propagated by the hegemonic institutions of governance through representations of “The Modern Man” in The Unknown Citizen (1940) and the...

An admired poet, activist, singer, director and dancer, Maya Angelou best known for her award-winning book “I know why the caged bird sings”, changed the world through her words. My name is Maya Le Goff and I will be your host on today’s podcast of “literature round table.” Today’s discussion, Maya Angelou’s famous poem Still...

Are walls meant to keep things in? Or out? Robert Frosts’ “Mending Wall” published in 1914 offers an insight into conflict caused by contrasting opinions on the concept of boundaries and the impact they have on relationships. The poem shows two opinions on this topic, the speaker believes they cause isolation whereas his neighbour believes...