Poems

Poems

            Spellbound is a three verse poem written by Emily Jane Bronte. The poem uses a variety of styles such as metaphors and repetition to bring its message across. The speaker repeats that she cannot go to a certain place in all the verses thus leaving the reader with the idea that it is very impossible for her to go or she hates the whole idea of going to that place. She actually says that nothing can move her. In this poem, Emily has used rhyming of words, which is good because it gives the poem a lyrical aspect. She has used words such as bending and descending, round and bound and go and snow. Rhyming words enables the reader to understand the poem better, since one is able to enjoy it more.

The poem has been written in simple English without the use of complicated words. She has used various elements of weather such as the wind, snow clouds and the storm. Poetry is a tricky subject and words should not be taken for their everyday meaning. The first stanza begins with the speaker experiencing darkness around her and winds blowing around her. He or she has been bound by something. This could mean that the speaker is facing a situation in which he or she sees no way out. The situation is wild and she has no knowledge of how to approach it. The situation becomes worse in the second verse as the persona talks of giant trees bending.

The use of the word giant in this case is not in vain. The speaker talks of something heavy that is being moved. In the same verse, she talks of the storm descending, meaning that the situation is closing in on her fast. Despite the snow and the storm he or she cannot go. In the last verse, the speaker tones the mood down and speaks beyond the storm and the snow. He or she sees clouds that are above. He or she also sees their lives as wasted. In this verse, he no longer sees an impossibility of going but he also resolves that he will not go. By him using the word will, it shows that he now has a choice. He chooses not to move.

Ode on a Grecian urn was written by John Keats. It has five stanzas each of which has ten lines. The ode has a rhyme scheme. The ode begins as the speaker is speaking to an urn, which is a piece of sculpture. It has figures of human beings, which are carved at its side. This presents a paradox of sorts. The urn is a stone; it takes a very slow process for it to wear down or for it to be finished. It is durable and lasts for quite a long time. The human figures that are curved on either side will not last forever. Human beings die after a short time. The speaker speaks of love being forever young for the urn. He compares this to human beings who he says have the experience of and the advantage of feeling and experiencing different emotions.

The speaker engages in a monolog as he seeks the answers from the carved figures. He realizes that he will not get any answers and he ends up answering himself some of the questions that he had previously asked. As the speaker observes the urn, he notices the carvings of a man who seems to be chasing after a woman and wonders about the pursuit. He wonders what it is they are trying to run from. In yet another picture, he sees a young man playing a pipe and he envies the everlasting music and the unfading beauty of the young man’s lover. Though he recognizes the passion which human beings have for each other, this short relief soon fades away when he talks of the after effects of having a burning forehead and a parching tongue.

The stanza makes the reader wonder the speaker was going through some tough time in his love life such that he could not see anything good that came from it. Keats then integrates all this with a sacrifice in the fourth stanza. Instead of wondering about the purpose of the sacrifice, he asks where they are going and where they are coming from. The speaker has been mesmerized by the urn and has recognized that the urn will see better days even after he is gone. The last line beauty is probably answered by the urn telling the speaker in the poem that people do not need to know much from life.