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The Short Poem in English: A Survey - Coggle Diagram

- - - - While the poet of this poem is unknown, if one assumes that they were male it is interesting to see this take on the perspective of a very prominent female figure. One can infer that the speaker is Mary due to the mentioning of the "rode", which means cross, along with the child being described as "derworth." According to the University of Michigan's Middle English Compendium, "derworth" is an adjective used to described someone with God-like characteristics. Overall excellence and noblity are two examples.
  - - - One can infer that the speaker is female by taking note of how she mentioned that if she were to not "brush Abeulita's hair" (Zamora 17) or "wash her pots and pans" (17) that she would "cry" (18). These chores or activities are associated with women when keeping traditional gender roles and dynamics in mind. The speaker's tone is desperate are she pleas to "Salvador," as both the husband and country, to not be do difficult to love because of his problems. Much like a dysfunctional, or even abusive husband negatively affects those around him, people from countries like El Salvador find it challenging to love their cultural identity when facing the ugly reality of their home country.
  - - - In "My life had stood---a Loaded Gun---" by Emily Dickinson, the speaker is of both masculine and feminine elements. A gun and the action of hunting are undoubtedly masculine, both of which relate to ideas of dominance and power. One of the animals the speaker and the Owner hunt is "Doe" (Dickinson 6), which are female deer. While the speaker does take the form of a masculine object, there is still a lack of self-authority. In order to fire, a gun needs somebody to set it off. The speaker. A gun is still an inanimate object, regardless of the great effect it can potentially have.
  - - - In "Sonnet 18" by William Shakespeare, the speaker admires the fair youth not only for his appearance but also for his "temperate" (Shakespeare 2), or mild, nature. This characteristic was most often associated with so-called virtuous women at the time, but the speaker finds that this quality of the fair youth is still worth appreciating.
- - - - In one of John Donne's Holy Sonnets titled "Death, be not proud," the speaker directly calls out Death (personified) with great confidence to blatantly criticize him. Death is humiliated as the speaker treats him like a small child, calling him "poor Death" (Donne 4), while also stating how he is a "slave to fate" (9). To the speaker, Death has zero self agency. The speaker likens death to "rest and sleep" (5), and through this comparison concludes that if Death is so similar to these enjoyable states of being, he must not be anything worth fearing
  - - - In Emily Dickinson's "Because I could not stop for Death–", Death is not personified as the typical scythe-wielding, ominous figure. Death is in no rush to take the speaker along with him, and the speaker is not reluctant to join in for the ride. The speaker finds death to be an escape from the "labor and...leisure" (Dickinson 7) of modern life, and feels even more inclined to tag along because of Death's "Civility" (8). The end of the poem can be interpreted to be more ominous, as the speaker is unsure of where they will end up for "Eternity" (24), but it is without a doubt that in this poem, Death is polite and courteous.
    - - In Gwendolyn Brooks' "To the Young Who Want to Die," the speaker dissuades the collective addressee of "the Young" from committing suicide by reassuring them that Death is patient. The speaker is much more concerned with talking to the youth rather than personifying Death, but regardless, Death is similarly depicted as an understanding and kind individual that is not in a hurry to take lives.
  - - - In Franny Choi's "Catastrophe is next to Godliness," the speaker clearly does not enjoy the death of their friend, but there is still something to appreciate in this adverse event. The speaker calls catastrophic events, like death, "an excuse to change [their] life" (Choi 3). Death provides a spark for action or change that may have otherwise not have happened. Death provides "clarity" (2) to the speaker. Regardless of what one interprets the "divine unsayable" (8) to be, it is evident that death has changed the speaker's perception of it. Lines such as "I knew you then" (8) and "you intimate abyss I called sister for a good reason" (10) convey a sense of betrayal or disillusionment. The speaker has realized the reality of things after being shocked and rattled after the death of their friend.
- - - - In Thomas Hardy's "Then and Now," the speaker laments the loss of honor, duty, and chivalry. The image of soldiers lined up create a sense of camaraderie, which is built upon each other's virtuousness. They fight fairly and to the best of their ability with not a single one of them even daring to win by means of deceit. They were not trained to be such soldiers; they fight with "chivalrous sense" (Hardy 2), just like how one "should and ought" (2). In contrast, in the present day, men fight in wars "where honor is not!" (18). King Herod, the Roman king of Judaea, is portrayed as saying that in modern battle "Sly slaughter / Rules now!" (21-22) and that battles are won "by modes once called accurst" (22). As the title suggests, the times now are simply not as they were back then.
  - - - In Geoffrey Chaucer's "Lak of Stedfastnesse," the speaker goes on to list the many problems with the world. Many of those concern the immoral actions, and it seems like everybody is committing such actions. In the beginning of the poem, the speaker recalls with a nostalgic tone a time when "this world was so stedfast and stable / That mannes word was obligacioun" (Chaucer 1-2. But now, the world has been completely overturned as "Trouth is put doun" (15) and "resoun is holden fable;" (15). Things are simply the opposite as they should be, and the speaker's merited complaints go on and on. It is interesting to see how despite technological advances and progress in society, the past always seems to have been much better.
  - - - In William Wordsworth's "Lines Written in Early Spring," the speaker laments what humankind has done to itself when sitting in nature and appreciating its harmony and peacefulness. In nature, everything seems to be perfectly content with the simple, or what they need. Flowers are happy with just "the air it breathes" (Wordsworth 12), and twigs are content with "catch[ing] the breezy air" (18). While humans are greedy and always enjoy excess, nature has already provided all that there is to have "pleasure" (16). Unfortunately, humans have ignored "Nature's holy plan" (22), which is what has caused the speaker to lament humanity's self sabotage.
- - - - In Countess of Winchilsea Anne Finch's "On Myself," the speaker needs no approval from others and is very happy with herself. One can interpret that the speaker is female from this line: "I should be framed, but of the weaker kind," (Finch 2). This line is not for the audience to feel pitiful for the speaker, though, because throughout the rest of the poem there is a sense of great confidence. This line is better interpreted as a sort of mocking towards male figures who treat women as if they are lesser. The speaker admits that she does enjoy the "Pleasures and praise" (5) when she is out and about, which she most certainly does receive, but reinforces that she does not need them. The speaker is confident that "on [her] self can live" (9). This poems offers a refreshing sort of metacognition where the speaker is not self-loathing and hateful, but instead satisfied and humble.
  - - - In Emily Dickinson's "To fight aloud is very brave -", the speaker emphasizes that physical combat is not the only form of conflict that is worthy of respect. Personal conflict may occur while "none observe" (Dickinson 6), but in the end, those who triumph after overcoming their woes march on in similar, and very well deserved, "plumed procession" (9).
      - (note: gallanter should be italicized but the free version of coggle does not allow for that feature)
  - - - In Emily Dickinson's “Some keep the Sabbath going to Church–", the speaker separates themself from the orthodox rituals and practices of the Church. The use of metonymy in the first line, where the speaker substitutes church, meaning the building, with Church, meaning the community, reinforces this separation. The speaker literally does not go to church, and does not identify with the Church. The speaker is content with their own form of religious practice, which takes place in a sort of garden where animals and natural things serve as replacements for what is in ordinary ceremonies. The final two lines also reveals how the speaker creates distance. They think that others are doing religious things because they are in a rush " of getting to Heaven, at last –" (Dickinson 11). People who are religious solely for the results of being faithful, such as the promise of everlasting life, are depicted as superficial and insincere. The speaker, on the other hand, states that they are "going, all along" (12). They are in no rush to achieve salvation and live without fear of not doing some sort of religious practice correctly because they are satisfied with their personal approach to religion.
- - - - In John Donne's "The Flea," the speaker tries to persuade his beloved to sleep with him by arguing that they are already more than married. Inside the "living walls of jet (Donne 15) they have already had sex in a way, so the speaker insists that what he is asking for really is not that big of a deal. At first, high importance placed on the flea, but the moment the beloved crushes it, the speaker quickly shifts his tone to being more aloof. Because nothing happened after the flea's death, the speaker parallels this to if the beloved were to sleep with him. The emphasis on the blood and flea makes this an atypical approach to woo somebody.
  - - - In William Shakespeare's “Sonnet 130,” the speaker goes against typical idealizations of women and beauty seen in other love poems in favor of more subverting comparisons. The speaker lists numerous ways that his beloved is nothing like beautiful things, such as roses or music. The way she looks, talks, and even walks, is not appealing. The couplet reveals the speaker's true intentions behind such comparisons. The speaker argues that his beloved is just as beautiful as those "belied with false compare" (Shakespeare 14), and that his love is "just as rare" (13) as other poets who use such unrealistic metaphors.
  - - - In Margaret Atwood's "you fit into me," there is an abrupt shift between two contrasting images. At first, this poem seems to be like a typical love poem; the speaker and beloved are a perfect match, just like a hook and eye fastening. It is then revealed that this hook is a pointed, sharp "fish hook" (Atwood 3) that stabs it way into an "open eye" (4). This invites lots of ambiguity surrounding the theme of relationships. For example, it is unclear if an "open eye" refers to simply the eyelids open or if the entire eyeball has been ripped out of its socket. Either way, the image is gory and shocking.
  - - - In Wilfred Owen's ”Dulce et Decorum Est," the speaker depicts WWI soldiers in a disturbing manner that highlights the brutality of war. Most of the soldier were young men, but in this poem they are described as much older. It is as if they are sick with disease, "coughin like hags" (Owen 2), and in uncomfortable, hunched over, and strained positions as they carry equipment on their back. They are not strong, proud soldiers, carrying their backpacks, ready for conflict, but instead like pitiful "old beggars under sacks" (1). It is interesting to note how the soldiers are not described as carrying the backpacks, but rather, it is them who is beneath them. This can interpreted as suggesting things about power dynamics and authority in war.