Days by Billy Collins
Just looking at the title makes me think of repetition and consistency. Collins speaks of how each day is given to us in the morning and we use it and then stack it with all the rest. A day is compared to a gift in an extended metaphor throughout the first stanzas. In the last stanzas a day is compared to a dish like the ones entertainers stack on stage. The very first stanza has a day being placed "in your waking hand or set upon your forehead". The author wishes us to reflective on how special each day is and he feels appreciative for the days he is given. If there is a shift in this poem it occurs at line 11. Here the author switches to speaking of how new each day is to how we stack the days together. After reading the poem I can see that the title is just a reflection of the subject of the poem. The theme I get from the poem is that we should appreciate each day we are given.
This isn't one of my favorites, but I like it well enough. I like the comparison of days to the stacked dishes. We all want to be able to stack one more and we all know that one day it's all going to fall down. I wonder if there is any particular reason he used Wednesday in the poem or if it was chosen at random. The way that one sentence carries over between the third and fourth stanzas bugs me because I never could read it right.
Woman by Nikki Giovanni
The title is so broad it's hard to have any conception of what it is going to be about. In the poem a female is trying to find her place but the male refuses to be her other half. She eventually decides to be woman despite the male's lack of cooperation. Giovanni refers to the protagonist as "she" throughout the entire poem which allows her to lead up to the reference of "woman" at the end. It is an extended metaphor but you can't name just one thing Giovanni is comparing "she" to. The mood I get from the poem is probably different from 50 percent of the world's population, but as a female I feel encouraged by it. At the end when "she" decides it's alright even if he won't be her man is kind of empowering to the female. Giovanni feels satisfied at the end of the poem. The shift comes at line 19 when she realizes it's ok even if he won't be her counterpart. The theme is rather feminist in that females shouldn't feel that they have to rely on the other sex.
The name Nikki Giovanni sets off some bell in my head. Did she write a poem about drums? I really like this poem. I don't think I did a good job analyzing it. My problem with poems is that I can break them down in my head, but can't seem to get them on paper, or on screen, whichever be the case. This is definitely a girl poem. All women at some point have felt let down and that he was refusing to "be a man", but they learned to get over it and move on. While it sounds pessimistic, it is also encouraging in knowing that we can make it without them.
I'm not sure what you wanted, Mrs. Leffler, since you changed the instructions so please comment and let me know if I'm doing these right.
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I don't think "Days" is simply a restating of the poem's subject. I think the title is prosaic and mundane just like that stack of dish-like days. Amd "the way that one sentence carries over between the third and fourth stanzas" is an example of ENJAMBMENT.
ReplyDeleteIn regard to "Woman," if Giovanni is comparing woman to numerous things, she is not using extended metaphor. An extended metaphor means the poet uses one comparison that is fully developed. Multiple comparisons do not qualify. Nikki Giovanni wrote a poem calle "We Real Cool". You probably read that in middle school or in Bunnell's class.