ISP

Poetry ISP-Poet samples

Poet Index

1. Leonard Cohen
2. Katherine Mansfield
3. Rupert Brooke
4. Edgar Allan Poe
5. T.S. Eliot
6. John Masefield
7. Robert Louis Stevenson

Note: For each poet I have analyzed three poems

On My Samples

When assigned with this project I put little thought into my genre of choice. Although most units that we have embarked on in Writer’s Craft this year I have enjoyed, none inspired me the way that poetry did. It was the one unit that felt like it was a piece to the puzzle of my brain. As a result I picked poetry as my genre of study.

Since we finished the unit I have been reading poems by a wide variety of poets trying to determine an educated taste in poetry. As a result I now have a large bank of favourites to choose from. It took me nearly two weeks to choose the ten samples that I did, and my choices were based on the emotions and feeling that their poems evoked from me, where they took me. Each poet that I have chosen felt distinct and different to me and ranks amongst my personal favourites.

I. Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen is brilliant. There aren’t too many other words that can be used to describe him. As one of Canada’s foremost musicians and poets, he has cemented his place in the hearts of minds of many Canadians, but what sets him apart from many of his countrymen is his international success and acclaim, earning him a place not only in Canada’s literary history, but the world’s as well. Although I initially experimented with his poetry because I love the soul that he puts into his music, I found that his poetry is written with even more fluidity and passion. Each of his poems come from his heart, and he seems to wear it on his sleeve. They are written with a raw emotion that is something that I have not ever experienced before. Each poem does an excellent job at conveying bluntly what Cohen was thinking at the time when he wrote it. Through reading his poems, I have identified that one of his strengths is his ability to paint a vivid mental picture in the reader’s head. This intensifies the experience and urges one on to continue reading. Each of his collections appears to be written with a strong political motive that often seems to relate to personal issues that he or someone that he knows has had to contend with in his life. The result brings out feeling and enthusiasm from the dry and simple poems that Cohen writes.

Each poem that I have selected can be found at: http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/poem.html

Poem One: The Genius

The Genius said a lot of things to me. Each time I read it, the intended meaning seemed to uncoil, eventually revealing itself. In my opinion, Cohen was showing how the Jews have endured constant oppression and anti-semitism, and how the public knows it. He is mocking society’s sympathy for the Jews and the falseness of it. What he means is that despite feeling sorry for Jews, we still hold the same stereotypes that we always have, and treat them as lower-case-letters (note that every time he mentions Jew, he does not capitalize it). In every stanza, I saw an image of Cohen standing tall against a backdrop of the presumed Jew. Each time he speaks to me, saying,

“You see? I am none of these things.”

Poem Two: Poem

Simply entitled Poem, this short and beautiful masterpiece reminds me of a colouring book. It seems like a strange comparison, but Cohen gives a black and white picture to you in seven short lines. In this picture you see a man lying in bed next to his wife thinking. He is thinking of another man who he has heard can woo women by simply saying their name. He can’t speak because he is concerned, as he can hear a man climb the stairs and clear his throat in front of their door. When I read Poem, my imagination went into full throttle and constructed an elaborate tale, colouring in Cohen’s outline. I think this was the intended effect that Cohen wanted when he wrote Poem, he wanted to include the reader in the plot, in fact, he wanted to leave the plot in the reader’s hand. After reading Poem, I couldn’t help but feel creative, Cohen had seemed to invest his trust in me to continue his story.

Poem Three: I Wonder How Many People in This City

This poem actually made me laugh out loud. I was immediately able to relate to Cohen’s train of thought in I Wonder How Many People in This City. He demonstrates a constant curiosity that I, like him, have often wondered if anyone else has. He starts off with a thought, random to the reader, but effective in drawing them and making them curious. He then makes a generalization, as if he is attempting to make sure the reader stays interested. Then he closes with another thought, probably leading him to repeat a similar process. While many might find a poem such as this to be peculiar, I found that it spoke to me. Every step that Cohen took in this poem is a step that I take on a day to day basis. But I have found that he is very good at that, breaking down barriers with the reader, by relating himself to them, with poetry.

II. Katherine Mansfield

Katherine Mansfield was a modernist writer from New Zealand. She earned international and national acclaim for her magnificent short stories, but as a result, her poetry is often forgotten. I accidently stumbled upon some of her poems and loved them. They are written from a place of joy and happiness, fueled simply by what is good in life. In some poems Mansfield describes something often thought of as horrible, like a goblin, in a jovial and light way, like a bumble-bee. She wrote in a straightforward and laid back fashion, purposeful relaxation. Katherine Mansfield’s poetry takes me to a very specific place: the top of a grassy hill, the sun is shining, the air is cool, all is well.

Poem One: Camomile Tea

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/camomile-tea/

Camomile Tea, like its namesake, is a soft and sensual poem. Mansfield writes in the persona of a young female lover. This character is overwhelmed by who she is with, thinking that a moment like this could only come once in a lifetime. In thinking this, she internalizes all of her surroundings, in an effort to remember every bit of that night. It is written in a purely joyful form, mimicking the actual human feeling that one would receive in a situation like this. Underneath, however, I could sense a twinge of regret, at the character’s subliminal thought of a possible unhappy ending to her love story, but also a feeling of optimism that a better result may instead be the outcome. This poem is significant because it represents the early days of love, pure bewilderment and awe forcing the lovers to attempt to permanently remember their time together. It also represents these days by providing undertones of hope and uneasiness that almost always exist during this time. Mansfield was probably writing from experience, which is why she does it so well.

Poem Two: In the Rangitaiki Valley

http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-ManLife-t1-body1-d15-d2-x23-t1.html

This poem by Katherine Mansfield describes a lush and wild valley in New Zealand called the Rangitaiki Valley. From what I have read about this poem, it is based upon a childhood experience that Mansfield had there and an adult experience that she had in London. What I find interesting about this poem is not the memory itself, but the romantic and adulterous undertones that are provided by Mansfield. The poem was not published until about ten years after Mansfield’s death, and could be written for one of her female lovers. The comparison between her adult life and her life as a child in this poem mesh together very nicely and create a simple and timeless description of the joy of life.

Poem Three: When I was a Bird

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/when-i-was-a-bird/

This poem took me back to my childhood. I used to assume alter-egos that were determined by my mood, just as Mansfield does here in this poem. This poem is light-hearted and childish, it is utterly happy, and their is no other way to describe it. Mansfield portrays the simplistic mind of a child accurately and imaginatively. When I read it I found that it vividly painted a picture in my mind of the setting, time and place. As I said before, it took me back to my childhood on the farm in Bedford, New York, climbing trees and playing with friends. For a moment, my mind reverted to what it once was, completely dictated by my imagination. What When I was a Bird lacks in complexity, it makes up for in charm.

1. Rupert Brooke

Rupert Brooke is one of the most recognizable war poets of all time. Although he never experienced combat first hand, he wrote many poems that idealistically depicted life in war. His poetry gained him many admirers throughout the commonwealth, most notably Winston Churchill. He, like many modern artists, achieved much of his immense success posthumously, and has since been remembered as one of the most influential English poets of the early 20th century.

Poem One: The Soldier

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/1914-v-the-soldier/

Almost certainly Brooke’s most famous poem, The Soldier was written in the early stages of the First World War as part of his 1914 war sonnets. Its tone is very inspirational, and has feels as if it is written to be propaganda. In fact, it was not written as propaganda, but merely from Brooke’s slightly naive perspective on war. The poem basically outlines this anonymous soldier’s willingness to die for his country, knowing that he is fighting for England, the greatest nation on earth. In hindsight, Brooke’s view on war was very representative of that of the general public of the time. This accuracy provides a valuable historical insight into the young person’s mind in 1914. The Soldier opened my eyes to the ignorance of the youthful population of this era, but in a strange way it also made going to war for one’s country seem justified and good.

Poem Two: Home

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/home-9/

Home is a poem that I believe to be a hidden gem amongst Rupert Brooke’s work. It is a sad tale that contrasts the more optimistically themed works that he is more famous for. It is about a man who has a falsified sense of happiness, peace and quiet next to the fireplace after a long day. But this is not what makes him happy, it merely serves as a mask for his constant loneliness. When he walks into his room he thinks he sees a woman, but she is just a hallucination. All night he cannot sleep, because this image has suddenly allowed him to realize how lonely he really is. What Brooke meant to say in Home is simply that everybody needs a companion. Nobody really wants or likes to be alone.

Poem Three: A Channel Passage

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-channel-passage/

As you can tell by the title, A Channel Passage is about the crossing of a channel (presumably the English Channel). Brooke beautifully composes a story of heartache and seasickness, an understated example of dark wit in poetry. The ship that this character is on is tossing and rolling in the rough seas, and he can feel himself getting sick. In order to avoid getting sick, the character decides that he must think of something else, in other words, occupy himself mentally. The first thought that comes to his head is that of a former lover, one who has broken his heart. He immediately becomes ‘you-sick’ in his soul. Brooke leaves the reader with the decision on whether or not the character should be heartsick or seasick. In a strange way I fount this poem to be moving, in that it demonstrated the profuse love and dedication that the character had towards his former lover. As we all know, being denied something that is necessary for your happiness is devastating. Most, if faced with the decision that Brooke leaves us, would choose to be sick in the stomach rather than in the heart. Nothing is worse than a broken heart.

IV. Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe is one of the most well loved American writers of all time. In fact, he is more known for his writing of novels, ranging from romantic to mystery to science fiction. When I picked Poe, I thought of him as a poet more than a writer, but historically this is not the case. His poems and novels are known for influencing and characterizing a new generation of writers of all kinds in the United States. Some of the writers that were kick-started by Poe’s brilliance are greats such as Mark Twain and Robert Frost. Edgar Allan Poe is without a doubt one of the forefathers of American literature and will always remembered for the stunningly natural style in which he wrote.

Poem One: A Dream

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-dream-2/

One of Poe’s shorter poems, A Dream comments on the immense disappointment that is experienced upon waking after a joyful dream. It is a feeling that we all get from time to time. Hopes of the dream’s truthfulness in the morning being shattered by a sudden realization that it is, in fact, just a dream. But Poe goes on to imply that this shattering in the morning is an unnecessary step. He seems to challenge the reader to adopt a more optimistic perspective into dreams. If you can think of it at night, in your imagination, what is to prevent it from happening in real life? Obviously this can’t always be the case, but adopting a mindset like this could certainly increase the hope and promise that you hold in your life.

Poem Two: The City in the Sea

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-city-in-the-sea/

The City in the Sea is one of Poe’s more well known poems, as well as one of his darkest. It outlines a city underneath the sea that is ruled by death. It is alluded to that this place is worse than hell, and that death is worse than the devil. The poem was written around the same time that Poe’s brother Henry was dying of tuberculosis and presents a certain darkness that can only stem from a place of personal heartache. His negative outlook on death at the time can probably be attributed to the passing, or impending passing of Henry, with whom Edgar was very close. Before I was aware of Poe’s background information I thought that The City in the Sea was referencing the city of Atlantis, which does seem rather impractical. But as I read up on Poe and repeated reading the poem, I recognized the bitter tone in which it is written, which hinted at its origins of negativity towards death and the afterlife.

Poem Three: To My Mother

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/to-my-mother/

To My Mother is a poem that Poe wrote for his mother-in-law and aunt. He wrote this to express to her his deep and unfailing love for her, as she is the mother of his true love, his wife. Of all of Poe’s poems I have found this to be the most profound. He wrote this soon after his wife’s death, and in a way it serves as a thank you note to his mother-in-law. What is striking is exactly how much he loves this woman, even going so far as to say that the angels above are awestruck at the amount of love he has displayed unto her. I find that this poem reads well, and is presented in such a form that it is easy to dissect. This is pleasing to the reader because it does not provide a daunting task to read, but still does not lose its meaning. It is without a doubt my favourite of Poe’s poems.

V. T.S. Eliot

T.S. Eliot was an English-American poet who is widely considered to be the most important poet of the 20th century. His work contained interesting elements combing his American heritage with his adopted English nationality, which created pieces that were American at heart and British in the head. His unique style changed the face of poetry forever, and helped initiate the modernistic movement in literature, particularly poetry. His popularity was immense throughout his life and has maintained for the years after his death. Each of the poems that I have chosen to analyze are from my favourite collection of Eliot’s poems, Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.

Poem One: The Rum Tum Tugger

http://www.catquotes.com/therumtumtugger.htm

This poem, like most out of Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, is a quirky and hilarious poem. In reading it, I can’t help but grin. From my experience with cats, they are all hard to please, just as the Rum Tum Tugger is. The lightheartedness of The Rum Tum Tugger is surprisingly just a mask for the look into the contrarian psychology of cats that Eliot was trying to uncover. Not only was this poem captivating, but it also laid out all of the personality difficulties that I have had with cats, which was not something that I expected to find. T.S. Eliot, has shown me the reason that I dislike cats so much.

Poem Two: Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer

http://www.angelfire.com/mi/JellicleBall/Mungo.html

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer has to be one of the most humorous pieces of literature that I have ever read. I think it might even be funnier than Jerome K. Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat. This poem’s jovial nature and simplicity make it a joy to read. This being said, it possess very little meaning and is just a play on the cat burglar. I feel that if Eliot had tried to create some sort of meaning underneath the plot than it would be a more enriching read, and would certainly be a little bit more fun to read. This being said, I would not try and change any of the plot if it was at the expense of the humour.

Poem Three: Mr. Mistoffelees

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/t__s__eliot/poems/15147

This poem is once again a look into the complex psychology of cats, through poetry. Eliot is using satirical tactics and a humourous plot to try and captivate the reader and show them how clever and manipulative cats can be. It, like nearly every poem of this collection made me laugh out loud on repeated occasions, and it did so by telling a story fit for all ages!

VI. John Masefield

John Masefield was the Poet Laureate of Great Britain from 1930 until 1967. He is remembered for his humility and also for his willingness to perform his duties as the Poet Laureate to the utmost of his ability. He was one of Jaquie Onassis Kennedy’s favourite poets and has many of his poems included in her book, Best Loved Poems of Jaqueline Onassis Kennedy. He was an avid reader and was heavily influenced by Robert Louis Stevenson and Geoffrey Chaucer. Masefield was an incredibly hard worker and did not slow at all until the age of seventy. John Masefield will forever be remembered as one of Britain’s favourite and most well loved poets.

Poem One: Cargoes

http://www.almosul.org/cargoes__by_john_masefield.htm

Cargoes is an fascinating poem about the cargoes that ships of great civilizations have carried throughout time. In the first two stanzas the ships and the cargoes that they are carrying are romanticized. Masefield paints a vivid picture of elegant ships and exotic cargoes in the first two stanzas, these great mental pictures put the reader in a place of historical bliss. In the third stanza, however, the reader is rudely awoken by the crude image of an industrial era steam ship carrying industrial era cargo. In a sense, Masefield may have been intending to demonstrate the evolution of discovery through ships’ cargo: Discovery-Cultivation/Greed-Industrial.

Poem Two: An Epilogue

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/an-epilogue/

This poem is simple and stunning. It is a classic message, combining, “You can’t judge a book by its cover”, and, “Everyone and everything can be, and is, capable of anything”. At times when I have felt down or when I have doubted myself, or others, this poem I have used as an inspiration. It truly is a life lesson.

Poem Three: The Seekers

http://www.poemsabout.org/the-seekers-john-masefield/

The Seekers is a poem that covers the constant quest by some to find the City of God. It is an interesting take on religion and dedication to religion. In a nutshell, the poem states that in order to find this mystical city you must be dead, but still many, even with this knowledge carry on in their search. I found The Seekers to be an accurate take on the fanaticism that is often demonstrated by hardcore religious followers.

1. Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson was a great Scottish novelist an poet of the 19th century. He is known primarily for works such as Treasure Island and the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Me. Hyde, but that is not all that he wrote. Throughout his time as an author Stevenson compiled a great deal of poetry. In fact, his poetry is so well regarded that it served as a major influence to poets such as Rudyard Kipling, Ernest Hemingway, John Masefield and many others. He fell out of favour in the mid 20th century, but has enjoyed a recent resurgence in popularity.

Poem One: The Land of Counterpane

http://www.bartleby.com/246/955.html

The Land of Counterpane is a charming poem by Stevenson. It describes a child’s effort to amuse himself while he is sick. In a time when medicine was neither reliable or desirable, fun was one of the few cures that could work. Stevenson shows that here. I loved the poem simply because I remember doing the same thing every time I got sick as a kid.

Poem Two: The Swing

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-swing/

The Swing is a timeless escape from the stresses of everyday. For children it represents mere fun, but for adults and teenagers, it is a metaphor for the importance of getting away. Stevenson is simply trying to inform the reader that every now and then you should take a break from the brown and bland workings of everyday life, and take a peak at the broader, prettier picture, the big picture. That way you will not become one dimensional.

Poem Three: Foreign Lands

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/foreign-lands/

This poem by Stevenson documents a child’s ascent into his imagination. This takes place gradually as he climbs a cherry tree. With every step that he takes, his imagination further expands and opens up. He wants to keep climbing, deeper into his imagination, deeper into his fantastical world of paradise. This poem was one that I found to be particularly enjoyable. My mind opens up to distraction and I always want to delve deeper into that world. I found with this, and other poems that I can relate to, that I really get what the author is trying to convey.

Mary Rogan Blog

The class that Mary Rogan came in to explain the art of investigative journalism was a wonderful experience. It provided a template for our investigative pieces and inspiration to improve them. The three works by Mary Rogan that I have chosen are Josef Penninger, A Little Bird Told Me, and Everyone Wants a Piece of John Tavares. Each of these articles stood out to me based on their ability to relate to me, and I assume, almost every reader.

Typically I have held no interest in science, or talking birds, or even the family life of young stars, but somehow these articles seemed to engage me. They read like a story and were written using relevant information. By that I mean that it contained pop culture references, not just recognizable to an adult male reading esquire, but also to teenagers and women and anybody else who was reading these articles. Mary’s ability to keep the interest of the reader is further demonstrated with her unfailing sense of humour. Her sharp, dry wit features prominently in all of her pieces. In particular I found that the sarcasm that Mary demonstrated in A Little Bird Told Me was especially amusing: “I didn’t go to Boston to hear Alex speak. There’s a parrot right here in Toronto who sits in a cage outside a pet shop and creams ‘Fuck you’ if you say hello to him. No, I came to Boston to see Alex think”. The bluntness and unexpected profanity are what, to me, makes this so funny. The weird bit about Mary’s writing is that this strange, witty, real life style of humour exists and thrives in all of all of her pieces, regardless of the levity.

In order to understand and stay interested in news articles, one must have a general understanding of who or what they are reading about. In Mary Rogan’s pieces she provides this background for you. She does this through literary allusions. This is displayed with the most prevalence in her piece Josef Penninger. In this article it would be impossible to anything at all that is being talked about without some scientific knowledge. She goes through Josef’s personal literary history by referencing work that Josef has done in various fields and the books and papers that he has written on this eclectic array of subjects within the wide spectrum of science. She also references the work of scientists that Josef has collaborated with in the past like Tak Mak and George Wick. These literary allusions act as the mortar between the bricks of the story that she tells in this article. They fill in the gaps and effectively glue the article together. The literary allusions also serve the purpose of proving that what she says is true.

Part of what makes Mary’s work so credible is that she goes to the source to get the best information available. It seems that she does not write about something unless she can go directly to the people that have been or are immediately involved with the subject that she is investigating. In every piece she goes to the trouble of documenting her journey to the source, which adds colour to the article. But the true colour of Mary’s articles comes from her glowing personality and ever present personal perspective. Regardless of the topic, Mary’s personality shines through the piece as if it were written to be translucent. I found that her pieces are not written to be objectionable or opinionated, but they nonetheless contain subliminal undertones of perspective underneath the meat of the article.

The three pieces that I have chosen are just three in a host of well written and unique articles that are not only enjoyable, but thought provoking. In her writing she manages to effectively display five prominent traits in particular, these are: pop culture references, literary allusion, use of humour, source, and her own personal perspective and personality. Through these she crafts wonderful and easy to read articles that I, personally hope to come across in the future.