Ella B.- Friendship
Introduction
Friendship is a delicate and emotional idea that requires care, love, and work. Through out my anthology there are many lessons. Your Catfish Friend teaches people to love someone for what is in the inside not their appearance. Friendship is shown as a beautiful natural gentle thing and a blessing. Emily Dickenson's The Soul unto itself shows a darker side to breaking a friendship especially being your own worst enemy. Lastly, Robert Frost mending a wall explains all the work that is put into a solid friendship. Each of these poems can be taken as advice for everyone with a relationship or with self. I have learned from experience that to keep friends intact you have to work, love them for who they are, respect yourself and them and appreciate the moments that count.
Reflection
“ If I were to live my life in catfish forms,” from “Your Catfish Friend, “this line really speaks to me and represents a true friendship. Loving and caring for someone not by their appearance but by their laugh when you make them smile, or how spontaneous they are. The catfish represents someone who is judge by their appearance and is just trying to find a true friend to belong with and the person who the fish is taking to the reader is a wondering soul looking for someone. These are the true meanings of a friendship that keep it intact and the author of the poem represents this in a great way by using representation in imagery, personification, and wording choice. The figurative language shown in this poem connects the metaphor it is trying to get at, that friendship is being at the right place at the right time and being who you are. “When the moon was shinning down into my dark home,” helps me to picture a quiet night in Michigan wondering in the hushed wood, all alone in the night, looking for someone, anyone. The imagery in this poem really helps it come to life and make it easier for the reader to relate to. |
Reflection on "A Blessing" “A Blessing,” by James Wright is a stimulating poem with countless examples of figurative language. The lines “They have come gladly out of the willows To welcome my friend and me,” shows the work and care that these horses do for a friendship. Going out of their way for their new friend’s pleasure. This shows compassion, that every friendship should have. The nature that corresponds with the poem adds an illusion to the poem that brings a pure feeling to it. The writer, James Wright did an excellent job with illusions in this poem, along with enjabment to emesis the word structure. His formation of words, in each line, makes these beautiful illusions come to life, for example, “Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.” This line is setting up a picture for this poem. You can see the quiet night that is starting with a calm peaceful sunset across the mint green grass. It is easy to see his perception on things because of his clear understanding and words that interest you but, do not make you think about them. His enjambment helps the piece to flow together. This all contributes to the making of this loveable poem. |
Reflection
The Soul unto itself (683) takes a different turn on friendship. It is basically trying to get at how we can be our own worst enemy or our best friend. We always know what is right or wrong, when to do something or not, and how to be a good person but, we don’t always listen, to our conscience. To me this poem is a warning more or less; it shows you how you can get wrapped up in things and not always do what is right. You have to stop for a second and think, but it seems like these days we don’t know how to or “never” have time. Emily Dickenson is one of the most well known poets of all time and she does this idea justice. It is a very short and precise poem that leaves you thinking because of her outstanding word choice and figurative language. This poem makes you break down every line to understand its meaning. I didn’t know that such a short poem could have so much depth to it. |
Reflection Roberts Frost’s poem Mending a Wall is based off of the line 'Good fences make good neighbors,’ which means that you have to put work into a friendship to make it a healthy long lasting one. This takes a different approach then the ones before which talk about accepting of a friend for what is inside, meeting friends, and being your own friend, were this one is about making a friendship. All the care and time it takes to build a solid one, but it is worth it in the end because it does its job. The technique he uses to show that a friendship is made out of work because you really care for someone no matter what they have is genius. He works all of the figurative language into a story that can be translated and understood in so many different ways, so people can interpret it their own way. His use of quotes adds a perspective to the poem that brings it to life. |