The Lotus Eaters is a striking poem which begins with a heroic line: “courage! He said and pointed towards the land”. The poem is looking at the human condition and its interest centers in the conflict between the sense of responsibility and desire to take pleasure.
In spring lilies grow, and there are clouds in the sky. At that time Lord Ronald brought a lily-white doe to give it to his cousin, Lady Clare. They had promised to marry each other for a long time and they were going to marry the following morning. Lady Clare was sure that Lord Ronald loved her for her own real value, not for her family origin and for her land.
Break, Break, Break is an elegy by Alfred Lord Tennyson on the death of his friend Arthur Hallam. The author imagines to be standing near the cliff on the seashore and addressing to the sea waves which are lashing the rocks repeatedly. The poet finds an analogy and expresses it implicitly.
Belinda is an extract taken from the mock epic 'The Rape of the Lock' in which the main character Belinda is doing her make up before going to a place where all the high-class people chat, gossip and drink tea and coffee.
The poem The Rape of the Lock which is considered to be one of the masterpieces of Pope is the blend of burlesque, witty, humorous, ironic, and morality, which is rare in English poetry, was published in 1712.
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is a short ironic modern poem by Alden Nowlan. This poem is simply an experience of the feelings a poet had while writing it. The feelings that the poet wants to mention are weaved within this given texture.
In the first stanza, the speaker is not very articulate: she speaks in fragments like phrases. But that also indicates that her desire to express almost overpowers the necessity to be grammatical. Indeed, she says that “grammar (that is male grammar) turned and attacked me” in the second line.
Snapshots of a Daughter-in-law by Adrienne Rich is a pungent feminist poem in which Rich explores multiple facets of a woman's life, inflicted with sorrows and male exploitation. The title itself hints at discontinued, disorderly photographs of a woman, daughter-in-law, the relation dominantly linked with son. Rich has deliberately selected daughter-in-law not sister or daughter in order to disclose a position of a woman who has hardly lived as an independent daughter but a dependent daughter-in-law. It is mainly about anxiety of a modern woman.
The Afterwake by Adrienne Rich is a feminist poem. The poem presents a woman or a nurse who has nursed someone throughout the night and then become conscious of her own strenuous (tiresome) journey that would begin. She has a long way to go and many things to do.
To My Dear and Loving Husband by Anne Bradstreet is a personal poem written in the name of the poetess's husband. It is also a typical puritan poem. The poem offers modern readers insights into puritan attitudes toward love, marriage and God. In the poem, Bradstreet proclaims her great love for her husband and his for her. She values their love more than any earthly riches and the hopes that their physical union on earth signifies the continuation of their spiritual union in heaven. Bradstreet views earthly love as a sign of spiritual union and salvation, rather than as something profane or lowly.