Sorting Laundry

The first stanza of Elisavietta Ritchie's Sorting Laundry sets up the extended metaphor that continues throughout the rest of the work.  "Folding clothes,; I think of folding you; into my life" (Ritchie, 841).        Each article of cloth gone through by the speaker is full of memories and meaning that have to do with her relationship.  They don't care if their socks match, if their towels are ugly, or if their clothes have wrinkles.  These characteristics signify that the couple isn't bothered by life's little imperfections, they are proud of their own eccentricities, and they realize that their relationship may have its issues.  The speaker sort of scares herself when she thinks of the prospect of her love leaving her.  She swears that, if he did, no amount of clothing, or anything else in life, would be able to fill the void he would leave behind for her.  The couple is clearly in love, but she still fears abandonment.  The many, small stanzas of the poem symbolize all of the laundry that would never be able to take the man's place, no matter the quantity.  She momentarily ponders over a former lover, and proceeds to almost beg her current love not to leave her; she would not be able to bear it.

Batter my heart

I love how all of the poems we've done so far from John Donne have had a religious topic or theme.  In his poem Batter my heart, three-personed God, the speaker is clearly facing a struggle.  He is the epitome of humanity.  He longs to return once more to God, "but [is] betrothed unto [God's] enemy" (Donne, 840).  We are human, and are, by nature, inclined to sin and be tempted by evil.  The speaker of this poem recognizes the fact that he is apparently too weak to resist temptations and evils on his own.  He desperately wants to be one with God once more, but he needs help in doing so.  He wants God to literally force him back into His love and protection.  It seemed to me that the speaker is asking God to take away his free will, because he knows that, as a weak human, he will often choose evil over God.  Because he wants to please God and be with Him so badly, he's willing to give up the ability to choose for himself; he wants God to take the wheel.

drunk on life

Emily Dickinson's poem I taste a liquor never brewed makes me long for summer.  She makes it clear from the very start that she is not talking about alcohol as we know it.  The speaker seems to just be drunk on life and nature.  She is "Inebriate of Air" (Dickinson, 797).  She doesn't need to buzz of alcohol to make her intoxicated.  She is desperate to hold onto the the last moments of summer, which seems to be the season.  The more nature itself prepares for the ending of this time, the more she will drink it in.  While others accept the fact that it is coming to an end, she will try that much harder to absorb all of the beauty even more.  Clearly, it doesn't take much to please the speaker of this poem.  She is pleasantly overwhelmed which such simple things as air, dew, flowers; anything to do with nature, she adores.

The Convergence of the Twain

Thomas Hardy used the very format of his stanzas to emphasize his message of temporary vanity versus permanence of the fate of the Titanic.  All of his stanzas in The Convergence of the Twain are composed of two short lines followed by a longer line.  "Jewels in joy designed; To ravish the sensuous mind; Lie lightless, all their sparkles bleared and black and blind" (Hardy, 778).  The two shorter lines talk about the vain extravagance of the ship.  The significance of their brevity symbolizes the short-lived beauty and appreciation of the Titanic and all the work that went into it to make it so grand.  The longer lines, like the one from the above excerpt, relay the reality of the situation now; all of the beauty and vanity lies on the bottom of the ocean.  The speaker supplies vivid snapshots of specific images aboard the ship.  He goes down to the last, vain and petty detail.  He makes it clear that, in his opinion, the beauty and elegance of the ship was useless the moment it hit the ocean floor.  The vanity of the objects and designers of the ship were oblivious to the tragic end that was drawing nearer.