"The Gift" By Li-Young Lee

One thing i notice about Lee in most of his poetry is his mention of his parents, predominantly his father. This proposes the idea that Lees father may have had a great impact on Lees life. In "The Gift" Lee expresses how much of a significant figure his father has been in his life. Lee has learned so much from his father that paved him into the person he was. For example, when Lee watched his father remove the metal splinter from his hand he had learned from this and appreciated that moment in time, he then transmitted that knowledge to his advantage and used it in his life as show in stanza three when he says "Had you followed that boy you would have arrived here,where I bend over my wife's right hand." This was Lees "gift", the gift of knowledge passed onto him by his father. Lee held a tremendous amount of sentiment over his fathers teachings and kept them with him through out the course of his life.

The Red Wheelbarrow by William Carlos Williams

In Williams poem, "The Red Wheelbarrow" he gives such a powerful and passionate insight in literally only 8 lines. I don't know about you but if It would take more than 8 lines if I was trying to get MY point across! To me it seems as if Williams is viewing the wheelbarrow as something more than a mere object. It seems as if there is a deep sentimental value behind the visual aspect of this wheelbarrow. Perhaps it holds some deep meaning to the narrator. This can be supported in the first stanza of the poem ("So much depends upon...") That's a very brash statement to make, especially about an inanimate object. But referring back to my point, the wheelbarrow most probably symbolizes a lot more than just...well a wheelbarrow.

Also, deeper into the visual perspective of this, the wheelbarrow is RED. Red is considered to be the color of passion and power by many, or atleast from my perception. The pigment of the wheelbarrow most probably enriches its quality.


...Look at that i wrote about my thoughts on the poem than the poems actual length! xD

The Fish by Elizabeth Bishop

I had just finished reading "The Fish" by Elizabeth Bishop. If there's one thing very notable and unique about this poem it is that it is very descriptive and detailed. Bishop uses imagery even on the slightest traits of the fish. For example, when she begins to describe his eyes in line 34 ("I looked into his eye...") it takes her 9 lines just to describe the fishes eyes. I understand that she is using a deep sense of imagery to fully accentuate the prowess of the atmosphere but personally I find it to drag out way too much.
Her overabundance of imagery makes me lose interest the more frequent it appears. This poems size could have been cut in half had she not used so much unnecessary imagery. It would have made the poem more straight forward, hence preventing a decline in interest. Also, the poem would be far less confusing.
Overall, I like the use of imagery a lot, i just feel that too much of something is not a good thing. Bishop has good intentions, but personally her use of imagery just made me lose interest.