Poetry Dedication Digital Project

Ashleigh Shelley

For You

Poetry is as free and wild, as it is calm and collected. You have been here for me, always, like the sun and moon. You taught me that life can be as complex as it is simple; that some things are just as they appear while others have a deeper meaning. You said that each person’s views on the same poems are all different, it’s how we read into it. Here you will see how I read into them. You said that poetry doesn’t have to make sense all the time, even when I try to make it make sense. So, even when it seems that I’m not listening when you say it doesn’t need to make sense, know that I am. This is my dedication to you… my mom, my hero, my best friend, my inspiration.

In Flanders FieldJohn McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the skyThe larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie,In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throwThe torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who dieWe shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

In Flanders FieldJohn McCrae

In Flanders Field is a war poem that was written by John McCrae on May 3, 1915. It was published on December 8, 1915 in a London-based magazine called Punch and is in a 1919 collection of McCrae’s work In Flanders Field and Other Poems. John McCrae, a Canadian physician and Lieutenant Colonel in World War I, wrote the poem after burying his friend Alexis Helmer on May 2, 1915. The two had fought in the Second Battle of Ypres. The poem was titled in Flanders Field because the battle had taken place in the Flanders region of Belgium. Today, Flanders Field is a cemetery and memorial for WWI. McCrae mentions the poppies in the poem, because he was amazed at how fast they grew around the graves.

The speakers in In Flanders Field are the dead. They speak to the living, sending them a message. Their message is about a war and about continuing the battle that they have left behind, i.e. “Scarce heard amid the guns below” and “Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw, The torch; be yours to hold it high.” This message is the main theme in the poem. Another main theme is centered around death. Though death may not exactly be mentioned in the poem, the dead are the speakers.

The tone of the poem is one of sorrow, as it is for any poem of death and war. Though the main tone is sorrowful, there seems to be an underlying of acceptance as well. This acceptance is the dead acknowledging the fact that they are dead and have left loved ones behind. The last stanza in the poem brings out a third tone; the somber plea. They plead to the living to continue with their fight. They also plead for the living to not break their faith with them, because if they do, the dead cannot rest. This request is stated firmly and clearly, as is the rest of the poem.

The structure of the poem is an interesting one. It starts off in the present in the first stanza: “In Flanders field the poppies blow”. In the second stanza it touches on past of just a few days before: “We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved”. The third stanza comes back to the present, telling the living to continue the fight that they had left behind and the possibly ‘future’ of the dead if the faith is broken: “Take up our quarrel with the foe” and “If ye break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep”. The rhyme scheme of the poem is a simple one: stanza one has AABBA, stanza two has AABC, and stanza three has AABBAC.

The poem has several images in it, especially in the middle and ending. In the second stanza, the words “felt dawn” and “saw sunset glow” are two examples of imagery. No one can ‘feel’, but, like the sunset, they can see it. The glowing sunset helps you picture the setting sun. The last stanza holds a lot of imagery. The words “failing hands we throw” and “The torch” symbolizes the dying and the dead and the torch can symbolize life, the rite of passage, or the fight for freedom. “Break faith with us who die” can symbolize cowardice, because it could represent someone running away from the battle. “We shall not sleep” is the last symbol of imagery in the poem because the dead no longer need sleep, although a common phrase the living say to the dead is ‘Rest in Peace’.

O Captain! My Captain!Walt Whitman

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;The ship has weathered every rack, the prize we sought is

won;The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and

daring:But O heart! heart! heart!O the bleeding drops of red,Where on the deck my Captain lies,Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills;For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths—for you the

shores a-crowding;For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces

turning;Here Captain! dear father!This arm beneath your head;It is some dream that on the deck,You've fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;

My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;

The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;

From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!But I, with mournful tread,Walk the deck my Captain lies,Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! My Captain!Walt Whitman

O Captain! My Captain! is a poem written by Walt Whitman in 1865. It was written for the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Throughout the poem, several references are made to the assassination by John Wilkes Booth and the American Civil War. The subject of the poem, the ‘Captain’ is President Lincoln. The ‘fearful trip’ and ‘ship’ refer to the Civil War and the United States of America, respectively. ‘Fallen cold and dead’ refers to Lincoln’s assassination. The last two images, ‘victor ship’ and ‘object won’, refer to the Union states and a good outcome of the war, like the end of slavery and the states to be united under one flag.The speaker of a poem seems to portray a son, and he is speaking to his captain, his father. The occasion is the end of a war. The title symbolism in the poem is about leaders. A captain is a leader, as is a president. The main tone of the poem is sadness. The poem is spoken mostly with sorrow, but also with hopefulness, especially in the third stanza, when he talks about rising up for several different reasons. Disbelief is also present in the fourth stanza, ‘It is some dream that on the deck, You’ve fallen cold and dead’. Three main themes are present throughout the poem. They are war (‘the fearful trip’), victory (‘the prize we sought is won’ and ‘the victor ship, comes in with object won’), and death (‘the bleeding drops of red’ and ‘fallen cold and dead’).The structure of the poem is simple, yet complex. Each stanza has four lines. Stanzas one, three, and five are longer. Stanzas two, four, and six are much shorter. Also, stanzas two, four, and six are indented. The rhyme scheme for this poem doesn’t follow a normal pattern. The scheme is: stanza 1; AABC, stanza 2; DEFE, stanza 3; GHIJ, stanza 4; KELE, stanza 5; HHAA, and stanza 6; GEFE.

Nature, the Gentlest MotherEmily Dickinson

Nature, the gentlest mother,Impatient of no child,

The feeblest or the waywardest,-Her admonition mild

In forest and the hillBy traveller is heard

Restraining rampant squirrelOr too impetuous bird.

How fair her conversation,

A summer afternoon,-Her household, her assembly;And when the sun goes down

Her voice among the aislesIncites the timid prayerOf the minutest cricket,

The most unworthy flower.

When all the children sleepShe turns as long away

As will suffice to light her lamps;The bending from the sky,

With infinite affection

And infiniter care,Her golden finger on her lip,

Wills silence everywhere.

Nature, the Gentlest MotherEmily Dickinson

Nature, the Gentlest Mother is a poem written by Emily Dickinson and was published after her death in 1886. It was also published in Thomas H. Johnson's book The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, published in 1955.

In this poem, there is no prominent speaker. The 'children' of nature are being in addressed in the poem. The speaker is telling the children about nature and how she loves her children. The speaker also talks about the passage of daytime to nighttime, by the lines 'A summer afternoon' and 'And when the sun goes down', and what nature does in that time. Throughout the poem, one central theme keeps showing up. That theme is about nature nurturing and loving all her children. The term 'Mother Nature' ties in with this poem.

The tone of this poem is one of affection and caring. It tells of how she cares for even the tiniest of creatures. The poem is spoken in a manner as if a mother were talking to her young child: soft-spoken. The structure of the poem is very simple. Each stanza has four lines in them. There does not seem to be any formal rhyme scheme in the poem, although there are several words that do rhyme.

Several images are spread throughout the poem. The first image 'Nature, the gentlest mother' can refer to mother nature. 'How fair her conversation' can be interpreted as something you can hear when it happens, such as a soft rain or breeze. 'Her household, her assembly' can be the earth and all that inhabit it. The stars and the moon can represent 'The bending from the sky' and 'Her golden finger on her lip' can possibly refer to the sun. In the line that states 'With infinite affection', it says that the affection that nature has is there forever. The line that below it, 'And infiniter care', is an interesting figure of speech because it seems to say that nature will care for an even longer time than forever.

The Power of LoveHelen Steiner Rice

There is no thinking personwho can stand untouched todayAnd view the world around usdrifting downward to decayWithout feeling deep within thema silent unnamed dread, Wondering how to stem the chaosthat lies frightfully ahead...But the problems we are facingcannot humanly be solvedFor our diplomatic strategyonly gets us more involvedAnd our skillful ingenuity,our technology and scienceCan never change a sinful heartfilled with hatred and defiance....

So our problems keep on growingevery hour of the dayAs man vainly tries to solve themin his own SELF-WILLFUL WAY....But man is powerless aloneto CLEAN UP THE WORLD OUTSIDEUntil his own polluted soulis CLEAN and FREE INSIDE....For the amazing power of loveis beyond all comprehensionAnd it alone can heal this worldof its hatred and dissension.

The Power of LoveHelen Steiner Rice

The Power of Love is a poem written by Helen Steiner Rice and is featured in several of her poetry books, including Someone Cares, published in 1972.

The poem does not seem to have a prominent speaker, but the addressee is mankind. The speaker talks about the destruction of mankind, 'a sinful heart filled with hatred and defiance'. It also speaks of a way that mankind can save the decaying world by saying that man cannot hope to ‘clean up the world outside’ unless his own soul is ‘clean and free inside’. She also states in the poem that love can heal the world. This means you would have to learn to love yourself before you can love others and start to change the world. The theme of the poem is about how the power of love can fix and heal anything.

The tone for most of the poem is somber, but then changes over to hope. The speaker speaks with sureness and certainty that love can heal all. There is no formal structure of the poem. It is one long poem that has no actual stanza breaks. The way the poem was written, however, suggests that stanza breaks are completely possible. Four times through the poem, some lines end with the intention of being possible stanza breaks. The rhyme scheme is long and complex: ABCBDEFEGHIHJKLKMBDBNOPOQRSR.

The poem has several images spread throughout. The first image 'Drifting downward to decay' describes something rotting away or falling apart. 'Silent unnamed dread' can refer to a foreboding feeling. 'Chaos that lies frightfully ahead' can refer to the uncertainty and confusion of the future. 'So our problems keep on growing' compares our problems to living things, since only living things grow. 'Polluted soul is clean and free inside' and 'It alone can heal this world' refers to how love cannot change anything until our soul is clean and free and how love alone is the only healing power.

IfRudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,But make allowance for their doubting too;If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,Or being hated, don't give way to hating,And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;If you can meet with Triumph and DisasterAnd treat those two impostors just the same;If you can bear to hear the truth you've spokenTwisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,And lose, and start again at your beginningsAnd never breathe a word about your loss;If you can force your heart and nerve and sinewTo serve your turn long after they are gone,And so hold on when there is nothing in youExcept the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,If all men count with you, but none too much;If you can fill the unforgiving minuteWith sixty seconds' worth of distance run,Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

IfRudyard Kipling

If is a poem written by Rudyard Kipling in 1895 and was published in 1910. It was featured in Kipling’s collection of stories Rewards and Fairies. The poem was written as a brother piece for his story Brother Square Toes. In Kipling’s autobiography, Something to Myself, published posthumously, he states that the poem was inspired by Dr. Leander Starr Jameson, who led the British raid on Boers in South Africa in 1895. The speaker in the poem, a mother or a father, speaks to their son about different scenarios in life he would encounter and the choices he would have to make with growing up and becoming a man.

The subject of the poem is stated throughout: a person being able to think and do things and not let them take over or change him. The tones of the poem are certainty and belief. They are spoken with the same certainty and belief because the speaker believes that if the son makes all the correct choices to the scenarios that the speaker gives, he will be a man. Throughout the poem, there are many themes. Two of the main themes are making choices and looking and handling the different scenarios where these choices would occur in life.

The structure of the poem is simple. There are four stanzas, each broken up into eight lines. Each stanza has different scenarios, some looking at more than one or two in each. All in all, each deals with something that the addressee would think or do, what he could do for each, as well as outcome at the end. The rhyme scheme is also simple: stanza 1; AAAABCBC, stanza 2; DEDEFGFG, stanza 3; HIHIAJAJ, stanza 4; AKAKLMLM.

The poem is all full of images. One image, ‘Or being hated, don’t give way to hating’ means to not to be bothered by being hated by people, but do not hate others. ‘If you can dream – and not make dreams your master’ and ‘If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim’ means that you can dream and think, but to not let them take over your life. ‘If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster/ And treat these two imposters just the same’ means that through life good and bad things will, but when they happen, you should treat each occasion the same. ‘Or walk with Kings – nor lose the common touch’ means that you can be around those with higher status than yourself, but not lose touch with those around you. The last image ‘The Earth is yours and everything that’s in it’ means that if the addressee can do everything in the poem, he can do anything and ‘have’ everything, which includes the Earth.

Winter’s ForestIn a woodland low

The forest is bare and whiteAll covered in ice and snow

Is illuminated by the moon’s light

There stands the willow treesIn the middle of a stone ruin

Blowing in the breathless, icy breezeBeneath the cold winter moon

Winter nights are cold and longIn this forest that’s bare and white

The wind sings a sorrowful songMourning with the trees of the night

Sunset, Sunrise

The sun’s rays are meltingInto orange, red, and purple

Here we will standWith dreams and faithAs darkness creeps in

The sun’s rays are wakingInto orange, red, and purple

Here we still standWith hope and promiseAs darkness fades away

Far Away Yet NearIn the skies you fly with

Stars dancing around youYou are the essence of the night

Your heartbeat is far awayYet I hear it’s near

Every night you riseHigh above to linger

Your light is soft and innocentYour eyes are far away

Yet I see them near

You are eternityAgeless and free

You are a spirit of peaceYour wings are far away

Yet I feel them near

Petals of Tears

I will try, I will enter your loveGet right to the core

Hitch-hiking; I will get straight to the heart

Sorrow will not come

With petals of tearsYou will leave with me in earnest

But we will part again

Our shadows will come togetherInstead of us

For a moment, time will turn towards usWith light coming from the window

With petals of tearsFrom unpicked flowers

My love will fly

Without youPetals are blooming on Earth

Blooming petals of tears

Without youPetals are blooming on the Moon

Blooming petals of tears

SpiritWhat makes the fire burn

With a controlled or fierce intensity?

What makes the water flowAs a calm stream or raging river?

What makes the air blowLike a gentle breeze or ferocious wind?

What makes the earth live and dieFrom the awakening of spring and summer

To the slumber of autumn and winter?

The answer is as simpleAs a spirit of nature.

Original Poems: Why did I include them?

Each of my five original poems that I have included in this project has sentimental value to me. I added these poems to my project because I was able to experiment with my poetry on different emotions and different subjects.In the poem Spirit I asked a question about each element and gave an answer in the end. I believe that each element is a form of nature and has a spirit. I also believe that each element has a calm and wild side.Sunset, Sunrise conveys several things. It hints to a passage of time, without coming out and saying ‘night has come and gone’. It also shows the similarity between the sunrise and sunset, such as the colors and the feelings each can have on a person, as well as a contrast, like the melting and waking of the sun’s rays and the darkness creeping in and fading away.Petals of Tears is simply about love and possibly love lost.Far Away Yet Near is about the moon. Although it is not specifically mentioned in the poem, there are a few lines that allude to it. I chose this title because sometimes it seems as if the moon is near enough to touch, even though it is far away from our reach.In Winter’s Forest I tried to catch the coldness of winter with describing the forest, where the willows are at, the wind, and the nights. The reason I chose a stone ruin for the home of the willows is because when a person thinks of stone, I think they would normally think of hard and cold.

Bibliography• Dickinson, Emily. "Nature, the Gentlest Mother." Bartleby.com. (2012):

n. page. Web. 20 May. 2012. <http://www.bartleby.com/113/2001.html>.

• Kipling, Rudyard. "If-." Poetry Foundation. (2011): n. page. Web. 20 May. 2012. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/175772>.

• McCrae, John. "In Flanders Field." Great War 1914-1918. (2009): n. page. Web. 20 May. 2012. <http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/john-mccrae-in-flanders-fields.htm>.

• Rice, Helen Steiner. Someone Cares. New York City: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1972. 9. Print.

• Whitman, Walt. "O Captain! My Captain!." Library of Congress. n. page. Web. 20 May. 2012. <http://www.loc.gov/teachers/lyrical/poems/my_captain.html>.