Author: MILLY YE

The love poems “Bleecker Street, Summer” and “The Fist” by Derek Walcott are in some ways similar and different to the other love poems I’ve read. In “The Fist”, the narrator describes love portrays love as something painful comparing it to a fist clenching a heart. Walcott uses literary devices such as metaphors and personifications to emphasize the emotions of painful love that the narrator is experiencing. I think “Bleecker Street, Summer is a different love poem to “The Fist”.  The narrator is longing for the beautiful summers and he also wished that his love was also there. Walcott’s poems are similar to the ones we read in class because they are mostly surrounding the theme of longing for love or heartbreak. However, his poem are different because of the many literary devices that he uses to describe this type of love.

The relationship between the bird and nature signifies a passage of time more specifically, the changing seasons represent the stages of a person’s life. The poem being with spring which symbolizes babies and childhood. Like leaves that are growing in the spring, babies are also just beginning their lives and developing. Next, summer represents middle aged people and fall is about elderly years. Finally, winter is about death because he says, “The question that he frames in all but words Is what to make of a diminished thing.” This shows that although it may be hard to accept death, it is inevitable.

Chekhov introduces the protagonsit, Gurov, as someone who thinks of women as “the lower race” or inferior to him. Therefore, he enjoys spending time with women more because he free whereas being with men made him feel bored. This clearly shows that he liked being around women more because of the way it made him feel more in control and powerful. Gurov is attracted to Anna because she was young and naive which was the complete opposite of his wife who was older and intelligent. It made me think that Gurov only pursued his love for Anna because he knew that he could take advantage of her. The color grey is used to describe Gurov in many ways. For example, his aging hair as well as the clothes he wears. However, Gurov’s love for Anna brings him more color and freedom so we assume that his newfound love is different and real from all his previous lovers.

During the beginning of the text, we are introduced to Missie May and Joe who seem to be in a great relationship. However the gilded coin that Slemmons possesses, which Missie May thought was real gold, creates problems for their marriage. At first, the gilded coin symbolizes wealth and a life that Missie May could only dream of. Her desire for this life makes her sleep with Slemmons and betray her husband. Missie May comes to find out that the gilded coin was fake and it becomes clear that the promises for a better and wealthier life was all a lie. The coin symbolizes a luxurious life that is about appearing wealthy and flashy with jewelry  however, Joe spent it on candy which shows that the coin is worth trading to fix his happy marriage.

During the beginning of the story, Joyce clearly depicts a difference between Gabriel and the other characters in the story. Gabriel Conroy is established a character who is very patriarchal and self-absorbed. However, he is also a person who tries to avoid confrontations. For example after his conversation with Lily, Gabriel was “discomposed by the girl’s bitter and sudden retort”(4). He thinks that he is superior to Lily therefore, he felt as if Lily didn’t respond to him in a polite manner. Other characters such as Gretta has a very different mindset. Instead of being stuck in the past, she thinks in the present. One way the the characters similar is the idea of “death” in the story. While Michael is physically dead, Gabriel was basically dead in the inside when the found out the news from Gretta. In a way, death connects some of the characters in the story.

Shelly chose to write an ode to the wind because she believes that the West Wind has a great impact on society both positively and negatively. For example, she says, “Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere; Destroyer and preserver.” The West Wind can do things such as blow away the autumn leaves and welcome in thunderstorms. However, there is a larger concept to the wind when the speaker want it to affect him in the same way. I think it represents a medium for which the speaker can make himself known as well as sharing his ideas. The speaker wishes that the wind can have the same affect on him as it does blowing the autumn leaves around.