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1 week ago | 
discover.hubpages.com | Linda Sue Grimes
According to noted poetry critic, Helen Vendler, Sharon Olds' poetry comes across as "self- indulgent, sensationalist, and even pornographic." And as former poet laureate Billy Collins averred: Olds is "a poet of sex and the psyche" "infamous for her subject matter alone." And even though Collins attempted to add some faint praise, "but her closer readers know her as a poet of constant linguistic surprise," those linguistic surprises consisting of stark images only function to undermine her...
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2 weeks ago | 
discover.hubpages.com | Linda Sue Grimes
Paramahansa Yogananda's "One Friend" gives back to the individual the hope that one might have lost in childhood or early adulthood. The poem refers to God, the Creator, by one of His many aspects—that of Friend. Many clouds do race to hide Thee — Of friends and wealth and fame — And yet through mist of tears I see Appear Thy Golden Name.
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1 month ago | 
discover.hubpages.com | Linda Sue Grimes
Introduction and Text of "Grace to Be Said at the Supermarket"Howard Nemerov's "Grace to Be Said at the Supermarket" consists of two unrimed versagraphs. The former poet laureate's theme dramatizes the contrast between the reality of animals' bodies and the way they seem when packaged to sell in groceries stores.
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2 months ago | 
discover.hubpages.com | Linda Sue Grimes
Philip Freneau, often assigned the labels of "Father of American Poetry"[1] and "Poet of the American Revolution" [2], wrote "On the Religion of Nature" to advocate and celebrate a faith influenced by nature’s goodness and abundance. Published in the late 18th century, the poem reflects Enlightenment [3] ideals. Freneau’s work often blends nature and philosophy, and at times challenges certain tenets of organized religion.
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2 months ago | 
discover.hubpages.com | Linda Sue Grimes
Introduction and Text of "Two Butterflies went out at Noon"In Emily Dickinson’s "Two Butterflies went out at Noon" (#533 in Thomas H. Johnson's The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson), the speaker is dramatizing an imaginary flight of two butterflies that ease out on a amazing journey. Emily Dickinson creates a speaker, whose mystical vision is revealed in many of her poems, and this one serves as one of the finest examples of that vision.
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2 months ago | 
discover.hubpages.com | Linda Sue Grimes
On January 21, 2013, poet[aster] Richard Blanco read his piece, "One Today," at the second inauguration of Barack Obama. Blanco lays claim to several firsts as an inaugural reader: he is the first Latino, the first openly gay, and, until Amanda Gorman [1] offered her word salad in 2021 to celebrate Joe Biden’s presidential ascendancy, had been the youngest poet to read his composition at an inauguration.
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2 months ago | 
discover.hubpages.com | Linda Sue Grimes
Introduction with Text of "Dedication"On January 20, 1961, Robert Frost became the first American poet to present a poem at a presidential inauguration. During the swearing-in of John F. Kennedy as the 35th president of the United States, Frost recited his poem, "The Gift Outright."Although Frost had composed a new poem, "Dedication," intended as a preface to his recitation of "The Gift Outright," he had not committed it to memory in time for the ceremony.
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Jan 16, 2025 | 
discover.hubpages.com | Linda Sue Grimes
Introduction and Text of "If those I loved were lost"Emily Dickinson's "If those I loved were lost" features two stanzas, each with two movements. The speaker's musing targets how the speaker would react to both losing and finding loved ones. Her emotions and behaviors signal the importance of those loved ones to her. The value she places on these individuals can only be suggested and not directly stated.
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Dec 2, 2024 | 
discover.hubpages.com | Linda Sue Grimes
Introduction and Text of "I measure every Grief I meet"By Dickinsonian reckoning, this poem is quite long. Of course, her longest poem is "Awake ye muses nine, sing me a strain divine," the first one that appears in Thomas H. Johnson's The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. But that Valentine message remains an anomaly, which hardly represents the poet's later accomplishments.
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Oct 31, 2024 | 
discover.hubpages.com | Linda Sue Grimes
Introduction and Text of "And Death Shall Have No Dominion"From the King James Version of the Judeo-Christian Holy Bible, Romans 6:9, "Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him" (my emphasis). In Dylan Thomas' poem, "And Death Shall Have No Dominion," the speaker is employing the same sentiment in his title and five further repetitions as a chant-like refrain.
