The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Summary and Critical Analysis

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a typical ballad by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It deals with a single situation or incident, and though there are many incidents, they are also introduced so as to look like parts of the one major event. The situation is presented dramatically. The poet makes use of striking dialogues, and the effect is enhanced by repetitions, known as ‘refrains’. Another typical ballad element, the supernatural is also introduced to give the effect of horror and mystery.

Mon, Nov 18 2013

The Bistro Styx by Rita Dove: Summary and Critical Analysis

Rita Dove in the poem The Bistro Styx uses Greek mythology of Demeter and Persephone in order to depict the troubled relationship between mother and daughter. To mix-up both myth and the context of the poem, the poem is about modern Demeter (the mother) who in her search discovers modern Persephone (the daughter) in the underworld of modern Paris abducted by the Hades of modern civilization.

Sun, Nov 17 2013

Snapshots of a Daughter-in-law by Adrienne Rich: Summary

In the beginning of the poem Snapshots of a Daughter-in-law, the speaker addresses an older woman, her mother-in-law. She repudiates her not only for making her life miserable but also for not making her own life meaningful. The beginning of the poem shows that the speaker’s mother-in-law is an agent of limiting her life and prospects.

Sun, Nov 17 2013

Snapshots of a Daughter-in-law by Adrienne Rich: Introduction

Snapshots of a Daughter-in-law is a feminist poem depicting a woman of the period of transition, especially the sixties and the seventies, when women had become conscious of the many restriction and burdens upon them imposed by the male-dominated society, family, culture and literature, but where not yet able to overcome the limitations; the result, both in reality and in this poem, is an unbearable anxiety.

Sun, Nov 17 2013

Down, Wanton, Down! by Robert von Ranke Graves: Summary and Critical Analysis

The poem Down, Wanton, Down! composed by Robert Graves shows a serious point about the blindness of lust. He also draws the difference between love and beauty and the Wanton’s feeling towards beauty and love.

Sun, Nov 17 2013

The Street by Robert Pinsky: Summary and Critical Analysis

The poem The Street by Robert Pinsky presents the street as a universal experimenter and observer, which functions as an observer of the luxury of rich people and suffering of poor people throughout the history. The street in its observation is neutral and disinterested. It does not take side of any of the rich or the poor.

Sun, Nov 17 2013

For the Union Dead by Robert Lowell: Summary and Critical Analysis

Lowell continues in the confessional mode in For the Union Dead, whose title poem, originally delivered at the Boston Arts Festival in 1960s, is regarded as one of his best.

Sun, Nov 17 2013

Skunk Hour by Robert Lowell: Summary and Critical Analysis

Skunk Hour is a confessional poem. In it, the poet reveals his personal secret confesses that he is living meaninglessly and suffering from the loss of faith, courage and even desire for life. The poem is dedicated to his friend and junior poetess Elizabeth Bishop, who also wrote poetry about the necessity of simple powers of the mind and spirit to live a meaningful and happy life.

Sun, Nov 17 2013

Oh No by Robert Creeley: Summary and Critical Analysis

If the speaker of this poem forgets his people and works for his own selfish ends he will get what he wants, that is 'a nice chair'. It is a symbol of power and wealth. There he will find many other persons who have done the selfish work and collected property for themselves. They will welcome him as a newcomer, with a smile. But to the poet, such a selfish place is like a hell and he refuges to go there, saying "Oh no!"

Sun, Nov 17 2013

I Know a Man by Robert Creeley: Summary and Critical Analysis

The Speaker of this poem is caught between two conflicting positions: whether to solve his existential despair by escaping from the world by buying a goddamn big car or by paying a greater attention to what is immediately in front of him. The speaker is suffering from the darkness and he wants to escape from it, this darkness has been created for him due to the capitalist and materialistic world. Although he tries to escape from it he has to get the help from the same capitalist production car, which he pronounces goddamn.

Sun, Nov 17 2013