Mutability by William Wordsworth: Summary and Analysis

Mutability composed by William Wordsworth, is a traditional sonnet of fourteen lines in iambic pentameter. Wordsworth talks about the transitory-ness or changeability of worldly things and the power of time over great and small things. The poet portrays the life itself through the structural organization, directional symbolism, change in tone and imagery. He is successful at showing the constant change everyone experiences - living and nonliving things - through their lifetime.

Wed, Nov 20 2013

My Heart Leaps up when I Behold by William Wordsworth: Summary and Critical Analysis

The very short poem My Heart Leaps up when I Behold consisting of 9 lines only was written on March 26, 1802 and published in 1807 as an epigraph to 'Ode: Intimations of Immortality', by William Wordsworth. The poet shows the everlasting influence of nature oh him from his childhood. He says when he sees the rainbow in the sky, his heart starts beating and he feels immense pleasure.

Wed, Nov 20 2013

She was a Phantom of Delight by William Wordsworth: Summary and Critical Analysis

In the poem 'She was a Phantom of Delight' Wordsworth describes his wife and his reaction to her. He chooses to depict three points in their developing relationship: when they first met; as they began to know each other better; and now that they are married. When he saw her for the first time the poet felt that Mary Hutchinson was a spirit of happiness.

Wed, Nov 20 2013

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (Daffodils) by William Wordsworth: Summary and Critical Analysis

The poem I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (or 'Daffodils' as some people refer the poem to) by William Wordsworth, written in 1802 and first published in 1807, celebrates the beauty of nature to such an extent that for the poet it is not only a beauty but 'bliss of solitude' too. It is for him a source of inspiration to live his life meaningful. The poem is a romantic poem that is based on the principle that poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings recollected in tranquility.

Wed, Nov 20 2013

The World Below the Brine by Walt Whitman: Summary and Analysis

The speaker of the poem is sitting near the sea and looking at the wonderful variety of plant and animal life inside it. First he describes the plants under the water, and then the colors. Next he describes the creatures and finally the 'society' inside the water. The poem develops typically from a description into a meditation, but the poet remains almost silent about his feelings towards the world below the sea.

Tue, Nov 19 2013

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd by Walt Whitman: Summary and Analysis

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd is an elegy in free verse divided into sixteen numbered sections. Written shortly after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the poem expresses both Walt Whitman's grief and his effort to incorporate the president's death into an understanding of the universal cycle of life and death.

Tue, Nov 19 2013

Another September by Thomas Kinsella: Summary and Critical Analysis

The title Another September presupposes that the speaker is either in the month of September and is speculating about another one or he has passed the month which might have brought on him some experience and he is bitterly envisioning the next one or he is going to face the coming September.

Tue, Nov 19 2013

The Missing by Thom Gunn: Summary and Critical Analysis

The poem 'The Missing' has been taken from Gunn's award-winning 'The Man with Night Sweats'. This poem, like all the others, responds to the real AIDS crisis in the 1960s and 70s in America. Gunn, a gay poet living in San Francisco, responds to the crisis in an unsentimental, unwavering verse.

Tue, Nov 19 2013

I Knew a Woman by Theodore Roethke: Summary and Critical Analysis

The poem I Knew a Woman by Theodore Roethke is a very sensual poem as it depicts several lines pertaining to love making. Even though, it is a poem showing his supreme sense of love and remembrance for his beloved. He says that the woman he fell in love with was beautiful.

Tue, Nov 19 2013

Pike by Ted Hughes: Critical Analysis

Pike by Ted Hughes is a poem in which the persona's observation of the natural world provokes the realization of how human beings have been wrongly imposing their own angle of vision and interpretation to the world of animals, where nothing of human perspective and understanding can apply.

Tue, Nov 19 2013