Blog 2

Part 1. I chose to write about “she being Brand” by e.e. cummings. I think this is the best allegorical poem for sex that I have ever read. e. e. cummings uses the imagery of test driving a new car around the block as an allegory for sex for the first time. I think it is almost humorous how the comparisons link so well to the not-so-hidden message the speaker is trying to get across. I really like this poem and it was a great choice for us to read.

Part 2. cummings has an extremely interesting and effective style in his poetry. This is especially seen in “she being Brand.” At the surface, this poem is about taking a car for its first test drive. However, the deeper meaning is about having sex with a particular partner for the first time. It is not difficult in any way to pick up on the message. It is a pretty obvious allegory and a very clever way of expressing it.

cummings uses a particular style to enhance the poem. He has interesting punctuation and spacing in the lines to either create pauses or to force the reader to speed up while reading the text. Similarly, the break up of the stanzas creates a pause in the reader’s speed. Line fourteen has a great example of how the punctuation effects the speed of reading the line: “again slo-wly;bare,ly nudg. ing (…).” The punctuation forces the reading to slow down while reading this line. This is not just coincidence. cummings set up this line to be read this way to enhance the words that are being read. If the reader is forced to slow down or speed up as he or she reads, the reader will think more about what is being said in the poem. cummings also sticks words together to achieve the opposite effect on the reader. For example, in line twenty, cummings has “greasedlightning” as one word, forcing the reader to read it faster than what normal pronunciation would call for. There are several more examples of both of these techniques in the poem, each having a very effective influence in the message.

cummings also uses the actual shape of his poem to create the second meaning. If the reader turns the page horizontally, he or she will see how the lines have different lengths, forming a wave-like shape. This use of the image or shape of the poem may lead the reader to recognize the changing levels of tension and excitement the speaker shows as he describes “test driving” a new car.

“she being Brand” is a very interesting poem as it relates test driving a new car to sex. The allegory in itself it very well thought out and creative. cummings does a great job in the way he writes the poem in its physical form to enhance the message and enforce the idea of sex.

Blog 1

Part 1. At first, I found Keats’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn” to be extremely difficult to read and to understand—then I read Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan” and decided to stick with Keats’s poem. The language and form did not make any sense to me at all. I did not fully understand the poem after multiple readings, and I honestly still don’t completely understand the message. However, what does make sense to me seems to be an ok explanation of the poem.

Part 2. “Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats follows the thought process of the speaker who is observing an urn that has pictures engraved into its surface. The first stanza seems to question the purpose of the urn. The speaker considers the urn a historian or story teller and questions what the stories are behind the engravings the speaker sees. In the next three stanzas, the speaker describes the particular scenes that are engraved on the urn. For each of the scenes, he makes the observation that these scenes are forever frozen in time since they are etchings in the urn. In the last stanza, the speaker celebrates the fact that the urn will always be present throughout time even though the people who see it will not always exist. This further drives the belief that the engravings are frozen in time. It seems unclear if the speaker believes it to be a good thing or not that the scenes are stuck in time. Nothing will end in the scenes, which includes the song the piper is playing, the love the youth are feeling, and the empty city that is left behind for the sacrifice. On the other hand, the true beauty of the scenes can be appreciated forever.

The speaker’s message—which can perhaps be the message of the urn itself—describes the issue of being frozen in time. It is found in the last two lines: "Beauty is truth, truth beauty,--that is all/Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know." The urn teaches this lesson by showing the beauty of the scenes and the paradox of the scenes being stuck in time. According to the urn, there is the need to know only that “beauty is truth, truth beauty.” Therefore, through the engravings, the urn is showing the beauty that it believes to be truth, and that in turn, all things true are inherently beautiful including the story it depicts in the scenes.