Alyshia, Brandon & Jonathan
Poem: To Tell the Truth
- Dancing
- Twinkle
- Two blue eyes
- Soulful songs materialise
- But
- Never really quite enough
Given the word “dancing,” in the second line of the poem, it is associated with a celebratory form of expression accompanied with a feeling of happiness. In the aforementioned line, it tells of a new season coming about and what it brings with it.The author quickly turns to the nighttime conditions of the season by associating it with the moon and how the stars “twinkle.” It is the word “twinkle” that gives the reader a sense that something is shining, or sparkling. It is then in the next line of the poem that the reader most likely eludes to something that has a human feature to it with the words, “two blue eyes.” When two people usually meet for the first time, the thing they notice about the one another are their eyes; therefore, there could be a sense of admiration toward the being with the blue eyes. This is then confirmed with the words “soulful song materialize.” It is here you get a feeling that when the two beings see each other, one of them feels so much happiness that only soulful music can describe it. Then there is the word “But,” which abruptly interrupts the speaker’s stream of consciousness. This use of the word “but” here is purposely used to portray change. As readers, we understand this change with the final words, “Never really quite enough.” This is in reference to whatever the speaker has to offer, which is not good enough for the person who he or she desires.
The thing the initially comes to mind when reading this poem is Springtime. The joy and the beauty of it. In digging deeper, I mostly get the sense of being in a dream. You can imagine being surrounded by dancing flowers and under the twinkling stars. Then being in a trance like state from gazing upon those human like blue eyes. Even the soulful music in the background all adds to enhance this moment. But then something snaps you back to reality when you realize it was all just a figment of your imagination. As satisfying as the dream is, at the end of the day, you’ll never have enough of it because sooner or later you have to wake up.
The poem’s interpretation still holds true today, it will apply to individuals regardless of social status or country of origin. People enjoy being in dreams that takes them to beautiful places; it would be like enhancing one’s life for short period of time. I wish dreams would last longer. The chosen words resonate with most people and with the idea of being in a positive trance, for instance dancing is one of the ways in which people from different cultures express positive feelings. Twinkle is typically something that people would relate with the universe and goals, today that shining typically is known as “the spark of light at the end of the tunnel”. The denotative description of the blue eyes holds true today since eye contact is typically the first way we communicate with others, animals & humans use eye contact to establish dominance. Today music can be as addictive as a drug, only that it doesn’t hurt us it just makes us imagine great things. But is a word that most people today use daily. Today’s society feels like its never quite enough, for instance someone making $100,000 might feel like he or she is not making quite enough, millionaires around the world today usually seek bigger and better things therefore it would never be enough.
6 responses so far ↓
k.vataj // Oct 16th 2015 at 10:32 pm
I liked the interpretations of what each word means. The interpretation for the word “but” was interesting with the transition into, “never really quite enough.” It all seemed to be perfect like a dream until those words were mentioned. You guys made a good connection about how society is today, nothing is ever enough because people tend to always want more and more. I also liked the connection with happiness between one another and soulful music being the best way to describe it.
s.kazinets // Oct 16th 2015 at 11:13 pm
I completely agree with what you guys said and thought that it was really interesting. All the words that are so simple having such a meaning that we don’t really stop to think about . The part that stood out to me was the “blue eyes” part because it something that we all do but we don’t really notice it in the moment. It got me thinking about what I notice in a person when I first talk to them and it’s totally true that the eyes is what we focus on. Also, the whole part about dreaming and how no matter the time that society is in everyone will always have dreams and want to live in one.
k.garcia2 // Oct 17th 2015 at 6:21 am
I agree with what your group has to say about your choswn words . I see how people believe in following their dreams and try to accomplish them . I particularly like when you said the eyes are the first way we communate with each other to establiah dominance . I found interesting and never thought aboit it that way before
y.kim // Oct 17th 2015 at 11:11 am
The six meanings from the group’s lists are very interesting. I agree that people never stop dreaming “but” when they wake up from their dreams, they face reality that shatters those dreams. Heinrich Heine expresses the idea that people will never be satisfied with their dreams because of the constant interruptions of reality. Some may believe that there are no limits to dreaming and thus there is no full satisfaction. The example of having not enough money is a great example that we can all relate too. People are never satisfied with their earnings so they continue to seek for more, which shows their boundless desires.
NATALIA MALAVER // Oct 17th 2015 at 11:51 am
I like that you chose the phrase “never quite enough.” For everyone today, nothing is ever enough. We have smartphones, but if they start glitching then it is a bad phone. We have cars, but then again, we also have traffic. We have food, but we still complain that it could have been cooked better. We’re all guilty of this and at the end of the day, we’re only annoying ourselves, because we could be perfectly happy with our lives.
JMERLE // Oct 17th 2015 at 1:36 pm
Alyshia, Brandon, Jonathan,
Nice work, here, from this group. The words you have chosen from this little poem are quite important ones, and I really like your including the word “but,” as this is quite an important turn of events, which you have noted. You might think a bit more about the use of “blue” eyes before we meet next Wed. Why “blue”? In class, we’ll discuss this further.
I quite like your interpretation, as I think you have gotten to the heart of what Heine is doing. He often sets up an ideal world, only to remind us that the idea is indeed, as you say, dreamlike, and in the end, we must wake up to reality.
I like that you consider, too, the idea that the reality we have is not quite enough, which you bring up in how this poem connects to our own world, and we’ll which we’ll also discuss together.
Lovely job! Grade: 10/10