¶ … Memory of Elena
A Poem to Explain Grief
Often a poem's meaning is apparent from only the title. This is not the case with "The Memory of Elena," a poem written by Carolyn Forche in 1981. At first, the title suggests a poetic recollection of Elena, but as the poem develops, we see that it is at first a memory of a lunch with Elena and then Elena's own recollection of the tragic events that destroyed her life. The memories of the poet and Elena merge, becoming as one. The poet remembers her meal with Elena even as Elena recalls her last night with her husband years earlier in Buenos Aires. In the poem, Forche uses the simple symbolism of a meal shared together to bring to light how important remembrance is and how important it is to mourn and recognize the sacrifices others make on our behalf.
"The Memory of Elena" is a narrative poem that tells the story of a morning spent between two women. The poem begins with Forche's memory of shopping in a flower market, where she and Elena walk between the flower stalls and count "the dark tongues of bells," or their pistils or stamens, a reference to masculinity, otherwise absent and missing in the poem (3). These flowers quickly give way to another image, that of flowers that look like church bells, which "hang from ropes / waiting for the silence of an hour" (4-5), waiting for another hour before they ring. It is the top of the hour. These are disturbing images of flowers, for they are not described at all for their beauty. Rather, they are used to unsettle the reader and foreshadow later verses in the poem,...
American Literature "Song of Myself" stanzas 1-21 by Walt Whitman Pride in the self and one's perseverance at life "I celebrate myself, and sing myself, and what I assume you shall assume, for every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. "I am satisfied -- I see, dance, laugh, sing;" Equality and the view of American lands "And it means, sprouting alike in broad zones and narrow zones, growing among black folks as
Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" The Road Not Taken Although readers have a tendency to miss this element from the poem, the title is probably the largest giveaway, particularly with the Poem, "Road Not Taken." A lot of individuals have got the idea that The Road Not Taken is actually a good poem about simply being different as well as choosing the road that no individual will take; that it
The remainder of the poem assumes a more regularly rhythmic form, although the meter is not strict. Some of the remaining lines and stanzas follow an iambic hexameter, such as stanza three. However, many of the lines are in anapestic hexameter, or contain combinations of various meters. The poet inserts dactylic and anapestic feet along with iambic and also trochaic ones for intensity and variation, much as one would
Thomas Hardy's Poem "The Voice" The title of Thomas Hardy's poem "The Voice" reveals a lot about its mode of delivery. The audible whispers of the woman calling, calling are conveyed to the reader through literary devices such as rhyme and rhythm. The voice of the woman is translated into the voice of the poet. "The voice" of the woman becomes a symbol of the narrator's memory, which is tainted by
Unfair Robert Francis was an American poet whose work is reminiscent of Robert Francis, his mentor. Francis' writing has often compared to other writers such as Frost, Emily Dickinson, and Henry David Thoreau. Although Francis's work has frequently been neglected and is "often excluded from major anthologies of American poetry," those that have read his work have praised him and his writing. In "Fair and Unfair," Francis comments on balance
Your answer should be at least five sentences long. The Legend of Arthur Lesson 1 Journal Entry # 9 of 16 Journal Exercise 1.7A: Honor and Loyalty 1. Consider how Arthur's actions and personality agree with or challenge your definition of honor. Write a few sentences comparing your definition (from Journal 1.6A) with Arthur's actions and personality. 2. Write a brief paragraph explaining the importance or unimportance of loyalty in being honorable. Lesson 1 Journal
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