Do NOT go Gentle into that Good Night

This was one of those poems i really didn't care for. however, after a class discussion or two, i understand it a bit more. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas is about a man with his father on his death bed. It's very heart wrenching and quite sad once the reader understands the poem. Written as a villanelle (19 lines), the repetition in the poem takes over and takes away from the beauty of this simple poem. The phrase "do not go gentle into that good night" is repeated every other stanza as well as the phrase "rage rage against the dying of the light.

The stanzas start out as memories and similes and metaphors but then transforms into a sad poem about a man watching his father slowly slip away; With depressing lines such as " Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray". Its sad reading about this man crumbling because of his father. Thomas seems to have written this from somewhat of a personal standpoint, which helps a lot when writing a poem or short story. It begs the question, did Thomas write this in the first person, or is this simply a made up poem?

The part I didn't enjoy were the repetitions actually! It doesn't seem to fit within the rhyme scheme, however it does end up completing and pulling the poem back to it's original thought. I thought the two repeated phrases could have been uses in the beginning and the end. the rest of the poem should have been filled with more descriptive stanzas about the situation.

Kate Chopin Works

I really loves Chopin's story Desiree's baby. It surprised me that Chopin would have the courage to write such stories especially back in her day! She was a white woman living in the south writing about a man who supposedly hates black people, who actually turns out to be half black, and unknowningly abandons and resents his 100% white wife and child. You find yourself asking the question "how did he not see that he was half black?" which then gets the answer, it was a different time back then. Which then makes you think about how much times have changed yet also how much they are the same. Chopin's writing transcends centuries with her ability to connect to independent women as well as women of color.

"It means...that the child is not white; it means that you ate not white." Chopin writes this for the husband to say to his supposedly "not white" wife and it is so eye opening to think that is how it was back in her time. Women had to deal with being second rate and their feelings were put on the back burner, never to be a priority. So, Chopin's works are all about empowerment and Independence for women. Surprisingly mainly of a sexual nature!

Langston Hughes Troika

Let America Be America Again, Open Letter to the South , Harlem

I was only briefly introduced to Hughes' work in the 5th grade but after reading these three poems, I can now fully understand and appreciate why he is the most celebrated African American writer of his time. The saying "you write what you know" proves to be very true in all of Hughes' works. America and Open Letter are both deep poems about the need and want for equality among races and more importantly equality for all people in America. In America, he repeats the phrase "i am the..." followed by a certain occupation or race. This repetition draws the reader in and really makes you proud of this man for wanting such lofty things for America especially for his day and age. For example at the end of Open Letter, he writes "White worker,/Here is my hand./Today,/We're Man to Man." This no doubt had some controversy surrounding it back then because it was so unthinkable to have a black man even want to befriend a white man. But the way Hughes writes and the vocabulary he uses, the reader can feel his voice saying these words and it makes you want to keep reading, if not these poems then any of his other works. He even denounces a prominant member of his own race, Booker T. Washington for saying "seperate as the fingers" referring to blacks and whites. The most important line of all 3 poems, I believe, Is in America, "The steel of freedom does not stain." I found it very inspiring and really brought the poem together.
The poem that most people my age are probably familiar wih is Harlem, known to many as A Dream Deferred. This poem speaks volumes of the struggles African Americans were going through during the civil rights movement. The poem is short and to the point but it packs a lot of history into 11 lines. The most powerful line is no doubt the italicized last line "or does it explode?". Now depending on your mood, this could be taken very negatively or it can be seen as an inspiration. This was written when Hughes was almost 50 so he has pretty much found his niche in life, so it's interesting to read a poem about dreaming big and wondering where those unused dreams go.
I think Hughes was a stepping stone for every poet or story teller out there because he pushed peoples buttons and inspired so many other people with his words.