Always be thankful (Formal Blog)

Well, I personally don't have a favourite poet, but after watching the video yesterday on figurative speech, I was pretty impressed with The Fox Of Boston. Thereafter, I read A Prayer In Spring, and was even more delighted with it. So I will be talking about Robert Frost.

The reason why Robert Frost is my favourite poet is because he writes with passion and his works are all very personal. When I read his poems, I can feel the feelings he is trying to put across. For example, when I read A Prayer In Spring, I could actually visualize the activity that was going on: The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill, And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

Robert Frost was given birth to in San Fransisco, California in the year 1874. His father died he was about 11 years old. He initially taught Latin at his mother's school, and in 1894, the New York Independent published his first ever poem, My Butterfly. After leaving Harvard without achieving a degree, he juggled a few jobs and sent in his poems to The Atlantic Monthly, a magazine. However, they were rejected describing his poems as "vigorous verses". Not giving up, he published his first collection of poems named, A BOY'S WILL. However, it was his second collection of poems(name unknown) that earned him international reputation. In 1916. he published his third collection of poems, MOUNTAIN INTERVAL. His wife died in 1938 and he lost four of his children. Two of his daughters suffered mental breakdowns, and his son Carol, a frustrated poet and farmer, committed suicide. Thereafter, he fell in love with another lady, and composed a love poem dedicated to her: A Witness Tree.

My threee favourite poems by him are, Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening, A Prayer in Spring, A Cliff Dwelling . I shall just type them in here.

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening

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.

A Cliff Dwelling

There sandy seems the golden sky
And golden seems the sandy plain.
No habitation meets the eye
Unless in the horizon rim,
Some halfway up the limestone wall,
That spot of black is not a stain
Or shadow, but a cavern hole,
Where someone used to climb and crawl
To rest from his besetting fears.
I see the callus on his soul
The disappearing last of him
And of his race starvation slim,
Oh years ago - ten thousand years.

A Prayer In Spring

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above '
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfil.


Sources:
http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/robert_frost/biography
http://www.online-literature.com/frost/
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-cliff-dwelling/
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-prayer-in-spring/

A Prayer in Spring by Robert Frost

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers today;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
To which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends he will,
But which it only needs that we fulfill.

Blue - Hyperbole:
The hyperbole here is used in the form of "Oh, ...." and so on. The author uses it to describe the passion he feels for spring, and makes it sound like he is praying for the ability to be able to find pleasure in spring.

Red - Personification:
"And off a blossom in mid air stands still." The "meteor" standing still, takes after a human action. However, the true meaning to it is actually that the "meteor" stops moving.

Green - Metaphor:
"The meteor that thrusts in with its needle bill... "in this case, the meteor is the bird which is flying quickly through the air. The needle bill is, of course, its beak.

Purple - Simile:
The simile here is used by the author to describe the contrasting appearances of the orchard in light and darkness. "Like nothing else by day..." explains that the orchards are hardly noticed in the day due to their plain colour, however, turning extremely visible in the night due to their colour contrast with the dark: "like ghosts by night... "

Question 2:
I like this piece of poetry as the author describes the activity going on during spring in a very professional way, as if he is very close and familiar with the season. Perhaps it is because I have never experienced true spring in my country, and this poem reveals, in a detailed manner, how spring is like to its readers. Another reason is because I prefer poems which have rhyming ending words. And this poem fulfills this criteria.

55 words. Whoa. First thought: impossible. Read great examples of micro fiction. Thereafter, went through the process as a class. Initially, wrote together in a group. Corrections were made here and there. Following up, wrote personally with much thought.There was a lot of cutting down. End product? 55 words indeed. Mission accomplished. One word. Fun.

(52 words)

Stormbreaker

Stormbreaker is an action-packed fictitious novel. Written by Anthony Horowitz, it was released in the first of its continual series of six books. It's main character Alex Rider, aged 14, is an orphan living with his uncle and housekeeper. One day, he receives news that his uncle has died in a car accident. Not believing the information, he inves In order to replace his uncle, Alex is forced to go on a dangerous journey to obtain information on a suspected criminal. With his own will-power, agility, and the help of several gadgets, Alex is able to brave through the dangerous encounters and return back in one piece.

Horowitz is able to use a suitable amount of descriptive language such that the story is interesting and at the same time, not exaggerated. Hence, Stormbreaker is the kind of storybook which is able to constantly keep its readers on the edge of their seats. There are numerous exciting parts in the book and that's when you can actually feel your heartbeat increasing.

However, what the flaws of the plot really are is how things always go Alex's way. Sure, he faces setbacks and problems, but somehow or rather, he always manages to solve it a little later. Perhaps this is actually what keeps the story going.

Overall, Stormbreaker is was an enjoyable read for me. I would recommend it to anyone who likes action packed plots or spy stories. For those down to earth people, this may just not be our kind of book.