Davis

Amber Davis' Wiki Project Robert Frost ** Picture from http://www.accd.edu/sac/english/mcquien/htmlfils/rfrost.jpg Frost was born in San Francisco, California in 1874. He lived a very depressing and hard life. His father died when he was eleven, leaving the family with only eight dollars. Fifteen years later his mother died of cancer. Frost married the love of his life, Elinor. The two of them had six children together. Elinor died suddenly of heart failure at a young age. Frost ended up burying his wife and four of his six children during his life time. Depression and mental illness seemed to run in Frost's family. Some have noted that Frost suffered from depression. Knowledge of Frost's background causes his readers to look at his writing in a whole new light. It is hard to understand how someone who lived such a tragic life could write such up lifting poetry. FIRE ** **AND ICE ** Some say the world will end in fire , Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice Picture from http://images.elfwood.com/art/l/e/lestinkeh/fire_and_ice.jpg
 * 


 * By: Robert Frost**

In Robert Frost’s poem “Fire and Ice” the narrator is discussing how the world will end. In the first two lines he says, “Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice.” With these two lines the narrator is getting straight to the point. He believes that one day the world will end and this destruction will either come from fire or ice. In the third and fourth lines the narrator uses fire as a symbol for desire. He says that from what he has “tasted of desire” he believes that fire will be the source that destroys the world. Then he goes on to say that if the world was to be destroyed twice that hate, which he uses as a symbol for ice, would also be capable of destroying the world. While literally this poem is talking about the physical destruction of the world, by alluding to desire and hate, Frost leaves the nature of the destruction up to the reader. Desire and hate could lead to the destruction of an individual, a community, a government, or a nation. By leaving so much room for interpretation, Frost allows the reader to apply this poem to a wide range of circumstances. Another topic that this poem relates to is the ongoing debates about global warming. Everyone knows what global warming is, but yet not very many people know what it means. We have all been told that the world’s atmosphere is getting too hot and all of the ice is starting to melt. However, at the same time our winters have started to get colder. Many people have been left confused and are wondering wither we should be in fear of fire or ice. The main thing about “Fire and Ice” that caught my attention is the exclusion of water and the thought that the world could be destroyed twice. According to biblical references the world has already been destroyed once by a great flood. God destroyed the world because his people were being disobedient. Frost could be taking on a religious reference by associating fire with desire and ice with hatred. This poem could stand as a prediction that if we continue to stray from the path the God has set out for us that mass destruction is in the world’s future; perhaps even more than once. No matter which way the reader choices to analyze the poem, the message comes out the same. Frost point is very simple. In order for the world to survive people most learn how to put the greater good of the world before themselves. The human race has become a selfish race that is overcome with evil. In order to save the world and each other we must fight back against evil.

Picture from http://blog.lib.umn.edu/whee0113/architecture/images/eecs_3.jpg
 * EE Cummings **

Edward Estlin Cummings was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on October 14, 1849. He grew up in a very loving and supporting atmosphere. His mother would read poetry to him as a child. He wrote his first poem at the age of three. He attended and graduated from Harvard University. Cummings was sent to Paris as a member of the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps even though he openly expressed an anti-war view. It was during this time that he fell in love with the city of Paris. Cummings' father was killed in a car accident in 1926. This greatly influenced Cummings' writing because he started to focus his poetry on more important aspects of life.

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in my heart)i am never without it(anywhere i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing,my darling) i fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true) and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you
 * I Carry Your Heart with Me**

here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart) media type="youtube" key="UQrUfEBjCW4" height="385" width="480" Video from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQrUfEBjCW4
 * By: EE Cummings**

This love poem by EE Cummings expresses the sense of oneness that many couples feel together. The narrator starts out by saying that he carries his loved one's heart in his heart everywhere he goes. He expresses that his loved one is with him at all times in his mind and that everything that he does is in reflection of his loved one. Then he tells his loved one that he doesn’t fear the future because his loved one is his future. He feels that this person is his world and he is completely satisfied, therefore, he does not desire a better world. Everything beautiful in the world like the sun and the moon he contributes to his loved one. Then he goes on to tell his loved one a secret and that secret is that the thing that keeps them together is that fact that he carries his loved one's heart in his heart always. This is one of the all time great love poems because it does not limit its self to romantically based relationships. Whenever I read this poem my mind goes directly to my sister. She is the biggest role model in my life. I know that my sister will always be therefore me no matter what. She is always in my heart and often on my mind. She has helped mold me into the person I am today and because of the influence that she has had in my life all of my decisions are based off of her. I completely understand what EE Cummings is saying with the line, “and whatever is done by only me is your doing,my darling.” My sister is a part of me and I am certain that without her influence I would not be anywhere near the same person that I am today. With the last few lines EE Cummings is showing the reader that the secret to living a happy life is to keep our love ones in our minds constantly. By always having my sister in my mind I stop myself from making bad decision because I know that my actions are a reflection of her. While analyzing the poem I referred to the person that the narrator is speaking to as a loved one because this person could be a sibling, parent, friend, or lover. If you look at the poem as if the speaker is talking to a lover the last few lines are the most powerful. Now a day cheating has become the norm. EE Cummings could be saying that the secret to having a happy monotonous relationship is to always have your lover in your heart and on your mind. If you love someone and you never lose sight of that love, temptation will never be able to find its way into your relationship. After learning more about Cummings life, I would be willing to bet that he wrote this poem with his father in mind.

**Gwendolyn Brooks** Picture from http://www.balkanwriters.com/broj16/Gwendolyn%20Brooks.jpg

Brooks was born in Topeka, Kansas on June 7, 1917. As a young child her home life was stable and loving. However, she faced racial prejudice in her neighborhood and at school. Her mothered encouraged her writing. As a teenager her mother took her to meet Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes. In 1938 Brooks married Henry Blakely. Together they had two children. Brooks died after a short battle with cancer in 2000 at the age of eighty three. = The Mother = Abortions will not let you forget. You remember the children you got that you did not get, The damp small pulps with a little or with no hair, The singers and workers that never handled the air. You will never neglect or beat Them, or silence or buy with a sweet. You will never wind up the sucking-thumb Or scuttle off ghosts that come. You will never leave them, controlling your luscious sigh, Return for a snack of them, with gobbling mother-eye.

I have heard in the voices of the wind the voices of my dim killed children. I have contracted. I have eased My dim dears at the breasts they could never suck. I have said, Sweets, if I sinned, if I seized Your luck And your lives from your unfinished reach, If I stole your births and your names, Your straight baby tears and your games, Your stilted or lovely loves, your tumults, your marriages, aches, and your deaths, If I poisoned the beginnings of your breaths, Believe that even in my deliberateness I was not deliberate. Though why should I whine, Whine that the crime was other than mine?-- Since anyhow you are dead. Or rather, or instead, You were never made. But that too, I am afraid, Is faulty: oh, what shall I say, how is the truth to be said? You were born, you had body, you died. It is just that you never giggled or planned or cried.

Believe me, I loved you all. Believe me, I knew you, though faintly, and I loved, I loved you All. Picture from http://www.freewebs.com/free-offers/baby_ghost_famous_ghost_picture_photo_383-501x348.jpg
 * By: Gwendolyn Brooks**

Between the title and the first line of the poem it is easy to see that this poem is about a mother who had an abortion. The second line is a very powerful statement, “You remember the children you got that you did not get.” This line shows that just because the mother had an abortion does not mean that child is no longer apart of her life. The rest of the first stanza goes on to talk about all of the things that will never happen because the mother chose to have an abortion. It says that the mother will never chase away ghost or buy sweets for her child. The second stanza starts off by saying that the mother has heard the voice of her children in the wind. Then she goes onto thinking about all of the things that she stole from her child, like its name, birth, death, lovers, giggles, and games. Then the mother starts to show remorse for her actions. “Believe that even in my deliberateness I was not deliberate,” shows that the mother knew what she was doing at the time of the abortion but did not fully understand the effects of her actions. Then the mother goes on to talk about how even though she never knew her child she still has a very strong connection to it. It is clear that the mother loves the child that she aborted. Abortion is and always will be a very controversial subject. I do not know wither there is answer to if abortion is right or wrong. I think it varies greatly with every situation. However, I do believe that the mothers are the ones who live with the consequences. “I have heard in the voices of the wind the voices of my dim killed children,” shows that this aborted child follows its mother around every where she goes. I can’t imagine having the feeling of life inside of my body and then having it destroyed. When women who are not financially or emotionally capable of taking care of a child find out that they are pregnant they have to pick their poison. Do they surrender their own life for their child’s or do they surrender their child’s life for their own? I think this poem describes the emotions and feelings that come along with this decision well. It is clear that the mother is upset and wounded by her decision. However, there also seems to be a since of relief in her voice. “Since anyhow you are dead,” is a statement seems way too clam and mellow. I cannot imagine uttering those words about someone that I knew who had passed away. I have never been put in a situation where I had to make a choice anywhere near as difficult as wither to keep a child or not. “The Mother” does a good job of portraying the emotions and consequences that come hand in hand with abortions.

Billy Collins
Picture from http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/pictures/billy_collins.jpg Collins was born in New York City, New York on March 22, 1941. He gained a love for words from his mother who could recite verses on almost any subject. Collins is an English professor at Leham College where he has taught for over thirty years. He has received a wide verity of awards not only for this writing but also for his contributions as a teacher as well.

Forgetfulness
The name of the author is the first to go followed obediently by the title, the plot, the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel which suddenly becomes one you have never read, never even heard of, as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain, to a little fishing village where there are no phones. Long ago you kissed the names of the nine Muses goodbye and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag, and even now as you memorize the order of the planets, something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps, the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay. Whatever it is you are struggling to remember, it is not poised on the tip of your tongue, not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen. It has floated away down a dark mythological river whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall, well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle. No wonder you rise in the middle of the night to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war. No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted out of a love poem that you used to know by heart. Comic by http://ershu.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/forget.jpg
 * By: Billy Collins**

This poem speaks of the mind and its workings. It starts off by saying that the author’s name is the first thing that is forgotten followed by the title, plot, conclusion, and then the entire novel. Eventually a book once known becomes something “never heard of.” The poem says that our memories one by one travel to the “southern hemisphere of the brain, to a little fishing village where there are no phones.” Then the poem talks about subjects that most people learned as a child like the quadratic equation and how these things have packed their bags and movies away. It says that as we learn new things old things continue to slip away. It says that things that we are struggling to remember are not on the tip of our tongue like we think they are. They are long gone “floating away down a dark mythological river whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall.” Then the poem says that we are on our way to “oblivion” where we will join others who don’t remember anything at all. Then the poem calls for the reader to think about what it has said and apply it to their life. While literally the first stanza is referring to how people forget stories they have read it could also be a symbol for a person’s life. After we pass way we will be remembered for a while. Then slowly but surely people will start to forget our names, then they will forget what we did in life, then they will forget that one great thing that we were known for, and eventually they will forget about us all together. It’s a very sad but true reality. No matter how hard we work eventually no one will remember us. That is why it is important to help contribute to the world in making it a better place. By changing the world for the better we leave our mark that cannot be erased. This poem could also be referring to growing old and Alzheimer's disease. It has been proven that as we grow older our brain loses the ability to withhold information. It’s a sad reality that people lose the ability to remember who they are. That is what I believe the poem is talking about when it says, “well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.” From this poem I took the idea that we should try to obtain as much information as we possibly can. However, when I grow old and start to forget things I will not worry because I know that it is a part of life and I will make sure that I leave a mark big enough the people will never be able to forget me, even if I forget myself.

**Carl Sandburg** Picture by http://greenlanternpress.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/carl_sandburg_nywts.jpg

Sandburg was born in Galesburg, Illinois on January 6, 1868. At the age of thirteen he left school and began driving a milk wagon. He fought in the Spanish- American War. After which he attended West Point for two weeks until he was dismissed for failing a math and grammar exam.He married Lilian Steichen and together they had three daughters. Sandburg was a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement and contributed to the NAACP. Towards the end of his life he moved to Flat Rock, North Carolina and lived there until his death in 1967.

Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo. Shovel them under and let me work-- I am the grass; I cover all.
 * Grass **

And pile them high at Gettysburg And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun. Shovel them under and let me work. Two years, ten years, and the passengers ask the conductor: What place is this? Where are we now?

I am the grass. Let me work.

Picture by http://www.f150online.com/forums/members/dirt-bike-dave-albums-misc-picture40198-grass-car.jpg
 * Carl Sandburg**

Carl Sandburg’s poem “Grass” is written from the grass’ point of view. The poem starts off with the grass instructing people to pile dead bodies up at different battle fields so that the grass can do its work. The grass tells the reader to “Shovel them under and let me work—I am the grass; I cover all.” Then the grass goes on to say that in ten years when people come back to these places they will not know what happened there because the grass had covered all of the dead bodies. All of the battle fields mentioned are known for the gruesome battles that took place there. These battles were fought over freedom and politically power. Many men lost their lives on these fields fighting for what they believed in. However, as time passes people forget the past and lose the lesions that were taught on these fields. People have started to take their freedom for granted and forget that the only reason why they have freedom is because someone died trying to achieve it. To me the grass represents time. Just as the grass moves over the bodies and covers them up, time moves over our minds and covers the past. It reminds me of the old saying, “time heals all wounds.” I disagree with this statement. I do not believe that time heals anything. Time simple makes us forget that we were ever hurting. Some wounds should never be healed. The past is our greatest resource. Knowledge of the past keeps us from making the same mistake more than once. The grass and time are a good way of allowing people to heal, however, monuments and books give us a physical reminder of what took place at these fields.

Works Cited Bengtsson, Gunnar. "Billy Collins- Poems and Biography." //American Poems//. GNU, 2009. Web. 28 Mar 2010. .

Ghare, Madhavi. "Robert Frost Biography." //Buzzle.com Intelligent life on the web//. Buzzle.com, 2010. Web. 28 Mar 2010. .

Kennedy, Richard S. //Dreams in the Mirror: A Biography of E. E. Cummings.// New York: Liveright, 1980. Kent, George E. //A Life of Gwendolyn Brooks.// Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1990.

Meltzer, Milton. //Carl Sandburg: A Biography.// Brookfield, CT: Twenty-First Century Books, 1999.