In poetry, it is difficult to write creatively without being influenced or inspired by anything. The poets for this week were very much influenced by poets from earlier times, especially among the subjects of theme, form, tone, and syntax. Robert Frost and Dylan Thomas, for example, drew their ideas from Romantic poets such as Wordsworth, Shelley, Emerson, Dickinson, Stein, William Carlos Williams.
Frost's poems centered around themes of nature, death, and wintry scenes. Wordsworth was a renowned poet for poems written about nature. Dickinson was one of the first poets I noticed who spoke so much about death. Combining these, Frost writes of death as a natural sleep. For example, in Frost's poem, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening":
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep. (13-16)
Frost, Sandburg, and Thomas seem to be influenced by Shelley and Emerson, who wrote poems about their country, though one displayed patriotism and the other unsatisfied with political and social conditions. Sandburg follows Emerson's patriotism, and Thomas writes of negative events in London whereas Shelly wrote of England as a whole.
Cummings and Thomas very much remind me of Dickinson, Stein, and Williams' poems. These lines from "anyone lived in a pretty how town" reveals how similar it was to them: "noone and anyone earth by april / wish by spirit and if by yes (31-32). It is just as confusing as Getrude Stein's poem, "Stanzas in Meditation." There seems to be no connection between individual words, and it does not make any sense whatsoever. Their disregard for English word usage can also be found in Williams' poems, and the vagueness comes from Emily Dickinson.
The influence of past poets will continue to have an impact on future poems, which can tell us a lot about the poets' regard and background in relation to the construction of their works' meanings.
Status: Graded on November 10, 2007 11:21 PM (Attempt #1)
Grade: 10 out of 10
Most Recent Comment:
Another excellent post - by reading influentially, you are doing a great job showing that you have a grasp of not only the poems individually but also contextually as well.
