Figurative Language In Ted Kooser's 'Abandoned Farmhouse'

When Jane enters where her family waits, “Memories from [her] childhood jarred against the little living room” (Greer 1). Then, the author lists the few items present in their home such as a small light bulb and radio juxtaposing the many decorations and luxuries she experienced growing up. Describing Jane’s recollection as jarring, shows the pain and regret she feels towards her wasteful and materialistic upbringing. Also, when Jane reminisced about the weather “Tears welled up. But they were tears of anger” and thought, Why goddammit?...Why did you have to waste so much and leave so little” (Greer, 3). Greer’s use of Jane’s tears, in conjunction with rhetorical questions emphasizes her regret and dissatisfaction in regards to previously over consuming. The author’s manifestation of frustration through Jane’s emotional expressions elucidate the repentance the couple endures with remembrance of their past. In this case, the text punishes Joe and Jane for their previous wasteful lifestyle as they constantly remember the children and friends they lost. Furthermore, Even though, Joe and Jane live with few possessions and “both [have] good jobs”, their lives reflect the effect of materialism and live simply in

The poem begins with a somewhat trivial inventory of a rich family's home and lifestyle. However, the tone changes abruptly with the mention of "a pistol on the cushion beside him." There is not an abundance of symbolism in the prose, but the symbols that are included are quite powerful. Along with the pistol on the cushion, there is the image of the broken bottles "embedded in the walls around the house to scoop the kneecaps from a man's legs or cut his hands to lace." Also, the moon swinging bare "on its black cord over the house" appears to be a reference to a light

In Edwin Arlington Robinson's poetry, haunted houses sound like hanunted houses, dark hills sound like dark hills, but to Robinson it goes beyond that. By the metaphors, images, and emotion he puts into his writing, it is clear that he is feeling something beyond the paper and ink. Many of his works are dark and melancholy and reflect something that may have happened in his own life. There is a reoccuring theme that symbolizes his wife or significant other walking out on him. Other poems reflect his feelings about that situation. Robinson shares with his readers the anguish and recovery of the woman leaving him.

These lines show how the house has deteriorated over time. It symbolizes how schizophrenia can really take a toll on a person after a long time. It makes it seem like that person isn’t the same anymore. This use of symbolism was important to the poem because it

Through this single lyrical, childlike reflection, Strayed manages to achieve a scene more poignant, eloquent, and artful than any of the pages and pages of clumsy, uninspired text preceding or following it. These twelve sentences of stunningly concise, visceral, suadede prose are seemingly the pinnacle of Strayed's writing ability, or at least the few that I found truly enjoyable to any extent (and their rather basic simplicity is entirely indicative of the quality of Strayed's typical work). Here, in a stolen moment of repose during a fleeting foray into civilization, Strayed finally gives form to the feelings of cosmic dissonance and alienation she grapples with throughout the text. Finally illustrated, in pallid, nostalgic tones, is the world-rending, disorienting grief of her mother's death and her father's abandonment, the immersive, palliating world of self-destruction and self-indulgence, the aimless, foreign landscape of her estrangement, and a private, tormented world of depression, denial, and self-discovery that Strayed, left alone to herself, sinks willingly and helplessly into. The scenery of this world, however, is not entirely unrecognizable: a child sinking into bathwater, submerging her head, witnessing ever-present reality and inviolable corporeal fade into meaningless shape and noise.

Loss can come in many different shapes and sizes. In the stories “Gwilan’s Harp” by Ursula K. LeGuin, “The Washwoman” by Isaac Singer, and “The Last Leaf” by O. Henry, loss presents itself clearly but also distinctly. For “Gwilan’s Harp”, the main character faces a loss of her most valuable possession. In “The Washwoman”, the old lady, who washes a Jewish family’s clothes, loses the relationship with her only son. Finally, for “The Last Leaf”, one of the main characters loses the will to live, which almost costs her life. Although the loss differs in all three stories, the of loss of items, a relationship, and the will to live all cause the characters mental and physical harm.

theme of grief and its overall gloomy color scheme represent the mournful tone of the poem. Furthermore, the poem discusses the solitude of the speaker in the house and the lack of any additional human presence and the absence of vivacity in nature; this painting illustrates this notion through trees devoid of their leaves, the absence of any animal or human and the lack of sunlight as a result of the dull wintry setting. “Morning in the Burned House” captures the reader’s attention through eloquent descriptions despite its bleak content. My Street embodies this trait of the poem perfectly; it displays an isolated and gloomy environment, yet, it illustrates the landscape with captivating colors and sensibly placed brushstrokes.

The speaker watches her mother take the abuse and remains silent until the day she gains the courage to walk away and divorce her father. Later the speaker hears that her father has lost the things that seemed to be the most precious to him, his suits and his bourbon. Due to the emotional distress the speaker experienced watching the abuse of her mother, the author now finds herself contemplating the possible outcome that would’ve occurred of her mother had never left. This poem depicts the inner thoughts of an individual who has suffered from the hands of a loved one. The poet feels contempt for the damage her father has cost, and these emotions have helped shaped the perception and outlook of the author. She understands those who are less fortunate and feels empathetic towards the homeless because she can imagine the various negative effects that must’ve impacted their

Extending the house metaphor throughout the poem, Dickinson adds the metaphorical use of doors and windows to represent poetry’s openness. Supporting language was used to suggest that poetry is better and more open than prose with

Moreover, in addition to the “broken” telegraphic sentence pattern, monosyllabic diction contributes to the poetic pattern of splintering the words in order for the reader to see the image in a closer perspective. By purposely selecting such diction, the words becomes elongated in the poem, putting pauses between words. For instance, in lines 3 and 4, the concise diction introduces the wheelbarrow in a blunt mannerism. The monosyllabic color-based connotation describing the agricultural tool is employed to “lighten” the picturesque scene as a painter would when creating art; it details the simplicity of the wheelbarrow when adding a contrast to the bleak environment. For as much, by doing so, the reader perceives the old-fashioned tool more

Every known poem no matter how many lines or how complex the words are, cannot be interpreted in one particular manner. Based on personal experiences we are able to decipher poems in unique ways. “The Haunted Palace” by Poe and “Fire and Ice” by Frost, have various interpretations that can be used in regards to politics, physical Interaction, or philosophical meanings, but the main idea these poems use is towards the environment. These poems link the description of the environment to human experiences by adding certain elements such as, “Radiant palace-reared its ugly head” (4) and “But if it had to perish twice” (5) in order to hint the readers that the poem has a connection to human behavior.

With the abundance of nature symbolization, the speaker relays the otherworldly, and yearning atmosphere of the poem. With phrases like “wrangles over gutters with dark reek of moss,” and “the speckled road, scored with nuts, smelling of mold,” the speaker

It is the sad truth of the major population today—you eat, you work, you die. The old man narrating these words is explaining the sad story of a widowed mother, a title not uncommon today. This poem is just the sad story of a woman that lost her husband to war and her children because, ultimately, there just wasn’t enough money to sustain them all. Again, this is an example of Romantic poetry connecting the common people through ethic and sympathy.

The poems “Elegy Written in A Country Churchyard.” by Thomas Gray, and “The Deserted Village,” by Oliver Goldsmith, both lament the current state of society in rural areas. Each poem idealizes rural life, but offers differing ideas of the people of the villages. Gray 's poem talks about the unrealized Miltons and Cromwells of the poor that were able to live their lives honestly, innocently and the free of temptation faced by the wealthy. Goldsmith talks of the swain and the tradesmen, and the politics that force to live in famine or leave their lands. In their poems, Gray mourns what the people could have been and never did, while Goldsmith grieves for who these people once were and what has become of them, which makes his poem feel more

It is indisputable that the most engaging writers are those who reflect upon some of their own deepest feelings throughout their texts and make themselves known to the reader. Janet Frame interweaves her classic cynical style of writing into her poems ‘Rain on the Roof’, ‘The Tree’ and ‘The Chrysalids’ and explores many of the unspoken, hard truths of humanity. Frame characteristically utilizes language techniques of first-person narration, vivid imagery with references to nature and extended metaphors to express her ideas of conformity, guilt, and suffering- all of which revolve around the enigmatic side to humanity which often goes untold in literature. Frame ingrains some of her own emotions and experiences into these texts which enables readers to connect to her writing on a personal level and identify more specifically with her disposition.