Shape Poetry

Shape poems usually take the shape of the object that is being descibed in of the poem. "Idea. Old Mazda lamp by John Hollander, takes the form of a lightbulb since throughout his poem he is comparing natural light and the light given off by a bulb. Hollander first refers to the light of a bulb as "feigned daylight". He goes on to evaluate the insignificance of a room, only lit by bulbs (or unnatural light). It almost seems that the author does not approve of the use of light bulbs, stating tht the dust from the bulb will burn a childs eyes while the dust from the sunlight will not. Holland also does not use any type of punctuation is this poesm, probably symbolizing the constant light tht comes from a bulb, that doesnt have any variation like the sun does.

Spenserian Sonnet

One Day I Wrote Her Name Upon the Strand

Edmund Spenser (1552–1599)


ONE day I wrote her name upon the strand,

But came the waves and washèd it away:

Again I wrote it with a second hand,

But came the tide and made my pains his prey.

Vain man (said she) that dost in vain assay

A mortal thing so to immortalise;

For I myself shall like to this decay,

And eke my name be wipèd out likewise.

Not so (quod I); let baser things devise

To die in dust, but you shall live by fame;

My verse your virtues rare shall eternise,

And in the heavens write your glorious name:

Where, when as Death shall all the world subdue,

Our love shall live, and later life renew.


In this sonnet Edmund Spenser uses the appropriate rhyme scheme of, ABAB BCBC CDCD EE. In the first stanza Edmund seems to be writing about a love he had and the various places he wrote her name. However the places he wrote her name could be symbolic of something more than literally writing her name. I think him referencing to writing her name different places and it ultimately being washed away could symbolize his inner love for her, that she is not able to see or believe. Throughout the sonnet he is speaking to himself and reacting the way he believes she would by calling him "vain". She probably feels he should make his love more apparent and "immortalise" it. She continues to state that just as how the waves has washed her name away, she too will be washed away from life and he is vain for thinking that he could preserve her presence by merely writing her name/barely expressing his love. In the third stanza the narrator confesses to not believing that she will "die in dust", he thinks of her as immortal and her soul "shall live by fame"and her name shall be written immortally in the heavens. The couplet expresses the narrators affirmation that when death has overtaken everyone, their love will exist forever.

Robert Frost "Design"

This poem immediately caught my eye because of the poet. I dislike Robert Frost poems. In my opinion although his poems are good they are overrated. This is why I read this poem. He uses eight lines to describe what he is seeing and then six lines to question it, which I thought was interesting. Usually you question more than you observe. I expected more lines questioning what he found. Also the rhyme scheme changes when he questions. His scheme goes from being organized to being scattered like his thoughts. He uses the rhyme scheme a,b,b,a,a,b,b,a then changes it to a,c,a,a,c,c. I also thought that what he questioned did not matter. It is like he questioned life and things that just were made to be that way. For example "what had that flower to do with being white". How can the flower help being white when that is just the way it is?

Ben Jonson "Epitaphh on Elizabeth, L.H."

This poem immediately caught my attention due to its first line. "Wouldst thou hear what man can say in a little? Reader, stay. " I had to re-read it over and over again to fully grasp its meaning. In my opinion, it means "will you listen to what I (the narrator) has to say? (Reader) stay and listen". He gives the epitaph of Elizabeth stating that she was beautiful and lived fully. Anything that she was guilty of on earth is now left behind. Her full identity is gone. The poet not only describes Elizabeth but he describes poetry in general. Poetry is beautiful and lives with purpose and after it is all said and done it is just a poem. The poet also uses a rhyme scheme. a,a,b,b,c,c,d,d,e,e,f,f. This is important because it couplets the two lines together. It is as if the pairs of lines are complete points before he moves on to the next point.

External Form: [I shall forget you presently, my dear]

While reading this poem I automatically assumed that it was talking about a relationship but as I continued reading I found a parallel, in my opinion. You can infer that he/she could be talking about days in general. He/She will forget the day presently but later on in life she will look back on it and be happy that she lived that day. Similarly to a day there will always be new and exciting ones or dreadful one. He/She would "protest you with my favorite vow" but wishes it were longer lived.A day can easily be forgotten especially due to the timeline of our lives. I pondered the last two lines and came to the conclusion that if talking about "days", those lines would mean that getting through each day is not important to our final goal. In comparison with what the poem seems to bluntly express, which is a relationship, the poet is stating that he/she is holding off on their relationship. If the poet's spouse or significant other tricks the poet into coming back, he/she would go back but she knows that they would not last very long together.

External Form: A Sonnet Is a Moment's Monument

This poem caught my eye due to the work we are currently doing. Shakespeare is the "master" of sonnets and solely by the title alone I quickly understood the poem. A sonnet can be about anything and simply explains a point, opinion or life experience from the narrator or poet's point of view. A sonnet never fades. For example, Shakespeare and John Donne's sonnets have not outrun time nor have they failed to impress or ignite the reader. You feel something when you read a sonnet. It is not like a regular poem, because it makes you think and observe what the person is saying. "Shall I compare thee to a summers day?". While reading that line alone, the reader questions and contemplates what is going to be expressed in these fourteen lines written in iambic pentameter. A sonnet is like a coin, because it states what the poet is saying and reveals what the poet is thinking. It is as if you are having a conversation with the poet or hearing a soliloquy. A sonnet makes you choose a side, similar to a coin. You can go against what is being said or agree with it no matter what is stated. I enjoyed this piece and loved that Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the writer, wrote the poem as a sonnet to further explain the point.

External Structure

In an Artist's Studio

Christina Rossetti

(pg. 1029)

One face looks out from all his canvasses,

One selfsame figure sits or walks or leans;

We found her hidden just behind those screens,

That mirror gave back all her loveliness.

A queen in opal or in ruby dress,

A nameless girl in freshest summer greens,

A saint, an angel; -- every canvass means

The same one meaning, neither more nor less.

He feeds upon her face by day and night,

And she with true kind eyes looks back on him

Fair as the moon and joyful as the light;

Not wan with waiting, not with sorrow dim;

Not as she is, but was when hope shone bright;

Not as she is, but as she fills his dream.

This Sonnet follows the English pattern of 4-4-4-2. In this pattern of sonnet the three sets of 4 generally state different ideas, and the last 2 lines wrap up the entire poem. The rhyme pattern in this poem follows a pattern, that i didn't find in the book, but i think the pattern is abba abba cdcd ce. Christina Rossetti's poem discusses a familiar face found in all of an artists paintings. The face is seen in different types of positions "...walks or leans, hidden just beyond those screens", but is seen in all of the paintings. The 4-4-4 part of the poem is used to describe the different forms the face takes, she is a "queen, and a nameless girl". In the last two stanzas the narrator describes the girl being drawn as she was in the past, or how the painter wants to perceives her as, (in his dreams). So, to wrap up the sonnet, i think that Rossetti is stating that the artists paintings don't depict reality, but depicts life and people how he wants or wishes it could be.