Rick Warren Indigenous Poetry Analysis

A Voice for the Silenced Layli Long Soldier’s poem, “38”, serves as a powerful testament to the struggles of the Native Americans of Minnesota during Abraham Lincoln’s presidency. Her poem serves as a memorial for the Dakota 38 – the warriors of the Sioux Uprising – and their families. Being a Native American herself, Layli Long Soldier talks about how the tribes in Minnesota were mistreated, silenced, and forcibly removed from their lands by the treaties that they had no say in. The poem serves as an effective reminder to honor those who have been silenced in history for fighting for their rights. The poem, “38”, emphasizes the injustices endured by the indigenous people in the United States.

This is shown by the way the soldiers were “coughing like hags”. He would have seen many people die in distress and, having experienced one of the most destructive wars in history, he has a very unfavourable view of war. He was involved in the First World War, so he knows the realities of warfare. I can see that his poem is aimed at poets who wrote about glory, honour and patriotism (such as Tennyson) by the use of the word “you” in the poem. He wants to clearly show the realities of conflict behind the heroism and splendour, and this is shown by the vivid language and imagery used.

In this free-verse war poem, the idea of 'journey' extends itself to cover both the physical and emotional aspects of the subject matter of the poem. Repetition and word

Past experiences are great to learn from and occasionally look back on, but dwelling in the past can often lead to regret and the inability to move forward. It is not possible to live life to the

Everyone’s past can have some bumps in the road that can result in misery, regret but also happiness. But it can also play an important role

The author begins the poem with a yearning for America to be the America once again. In the first few lines of the poem, he writes, “Let it be great strong land of love”, “never kings connive nor tyrants scheme”, “O, let my land be a land where liberty”, “But opportunity is real, and life is free,” and “equality is in the air we breathe”, evokes the dream of those who came to America because they thought of it as a haven where they could seek for the freedom they dreamed for and could be safe from the persecution in their homelands. In reality, this image of America that every immigrant had is patently false. In contrast, the earliest Americans practiced slavery and also destroyed the land of native peoples to build their own settlement. America has only been a “dog eat dog” world where the poor people, Native Americans, slaves, and immigrants, are “crushed”.

Too often we get bogged down in our past, and in memories of events that we think define us and restrict us from moving forward. The truth is that we can decide today who we want to be. We may have some baggage, and we may have future dreams, but today is the only day where we can define who we are and what direction we want our lives to go.

Finally, in relation to the present day, there is a sense of the immense possibilities (“anything can be made, any sentence begun”). This is contained in the words that may inspire others to action that may bring such a love closer toward reality. From disunity (“walking past each other”) to blindly “walk[ing] into that which we cannot yet see,” this poem now suggests the alternative of “walking forward in that light” guided by a new vision of a love that may unite us.

William Blake’s poem, “London”, reveals that the narrator feels a suffocating sadness when he walks through the streets of London. The tone changes from sadness to anger in the second stanza when the image of the fallen soldier’s sigh turns into blood on the Palace walls. The use of diction and repetition help to portray the tone of despair and sadness. The narrator’s overall view and experience of London is a place of sadness and despair that he can’t escape.

The poems in this section are about the hardships of life and the problems that people have to face, yet there is an undertone of hope in them too, the problems may not be solved, but the poems show that there is a sense of faith in human resilience.

Throughout Wilfred Owen’s collection of poems, he unmasks the harsh tragedy of war through the events he experienced. His poems indulge and grasp readers to feel the pain of his words and develop some idea on the tragedy during the war. Tragedy was a common feature during the war, as innocent boys and men had their lives taken away from them in a gunshot. The sad truth of the war that most of the people who experienced and lived during the tragic time, still bare the horrifying images that still live with them now. Owen’s poems give the reader insight to this pain, and help unmask the tragedy of war.

As there may only be 4 stanzas this poem stands out with it’s powerful meaning and IMagery within the poet’s meaningful and emotionally extravagant words. The language the poet uses is creative and relates to the purpose of the poem which is to express how the Aboriginals are treated as minorities having less power and not being able to retaliate when the white people just overtook their sacred land with no consent from anyone but just doing it because they are the superior race and because no one is going to stop them from it. This poem has a steady movement throughout with different changes in emotions but keeps a steady movement throughout the whole poem, which matches the mood of the poem. The poem uses alliteration throughout the whole poem helping provide meaning and power behind words used e.g. “Cover up the crime committed this day”, this line in a stanza provides alliteration to express itself through poetry techniques. The poem also has examples of repetition with the starting line “White men turn quickly the earth of Acacia Ridge”, this is repeated in the third stanza at also the starting line.

There’s a lot we can learn from the stories of our past – if we tell them in such way that enables us to hear what they really have to say. This holds true with me and my life. To put it simply, the life I’ve lived up to this point has been nothing short of a beautiful (and bumpy) roller coaster ride! As I have grown up there have been many factors that have influenced me to take on or do certain things. These things, plus some of my individual choices, have contributed into what’s made me who I am today. And with that, I’m happy to say for this moment in time, I’m satisfied with the person I am and the path I’m taking.

‘A Song of Hope’ by Oodgeroo Noonuccal, inspires you and gives you hope, to go do something useful to you, me or the world. Oodgeroo Noonuccal is a woman you’d look up to. She used her pen to give voice to the ingenious struggle for rights and justice and won herself 7 literary awards along the way. She made the mood of this poem inspirational with a inspirational mood with a confident, feminine tone and steadfast rhythm, to get the audience hopeful and inspired, to fight for justice.

When I was younger I know I did not take responsibility for many of my actions, but I have learned the hard way that taking responsibility is the best choice. Today I stand fast on taking responsibility for one’s actions and decisions. I have won some respect with this attitude, but others have walked away from me in dismay. It is hard to look back at my life and feel emancipated for actions I should have taken responsibility for at the time and did not. You can never return to your past to correct the problems you have caused as a youth you can only go forward and try not to make the same mistakes.