Lyric Poetry
Expresses the observations and feelings of a single speaker in highly musical verse.
Never tells a full story; it focuses on an experience or creates and explores a single effect.
Historical situation and conflict is not described in depth.
“Jade Flower Palace”
Lyric poem that expresses the speaker’s feeling about the impermanence of power and glory.
Setting = images of scurrying rats, ruins, and ghost fires
Message = power and glory are fleeting
“The Moon at the Fortified Pass”
Setting = active kingdom – its people are alive and its armies on the move. Lonely mountain setting.
Images = soldier’s homesickness and fear of death
Meaning = emphasize the senselessness of war
“The Guitar”
Images/Sounds = mournful notes of a guitar
Meaning = compares to a wounded heart
“What are Friends For”
Images = mother’s cynical view of friendship contrast with a daughter’s positive attitude
Meaning = friends offer support not material things
“Making a Fist”
Images = the fist
Meaning = the speaker’s mother answers her fearful question about death by saying that you know you are going to die “when you can no longer make a fist”
“Some Like Poetry”
Images = words (Some, Like, Poetry) & feelings about poetry
Meaning = Like is a vast understatement for the author’s feelings. Poetry is not to everyone’s taste, but for those who value it, the message and imagery within poetry can be life-changing.
No comments:
Post a Comment