Personal Response to Poems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Personal Response to Poems - Essay Example As do the plums, with their taut skin and juice, the tart flesh, all connected to the word 'delicious', suggesting a sensual, selfish, joyful gluttony, which children often indulge in. It makes me want to laugh, it is almost naughty. In Mary Oliver's 'August', the imagery here combines a joy of eating fruit again, but shows a child happy with nature and its own company, a pleasure in just 'being', conjured up in the way the poet says 'my body accepts what it is'. 'The Word Plum' stands out as concentrating entirely on the fruit and the sensations it elicits, while the others give more descriptive and external images to link the fruit and the child to an environment. In Roethke's 'My Papa's Waltz', there are sad and slightly dangerous undertones. The feeling aroused here is one of concern for the potential destruction of the little boy's happiness. I begin to become worried for him, despite his enjoyment and excitement, as something unpredictable and frenetic is present, I think the whiskey smell alerts me to this feeling. The words 'But I hung on like death' are significant, this father is creating mayhem, wrecking the room, and the child is half-delighted, half-fearful of the final outcome. But for love of his father, he suffers this delicious fear, as well as the buckle scraping his face. Even more sad is Robert Hayden's 'Those Winter Sundays'. I think of the fathers who work so hard and do so many unnoticed kindnesses, who are taken for granted. The child does this, the voice of the poet as a man, is filled with regret. There is also a feeling of potential disturbance expressed in the words 'and slowly did I rise and dress fearing the chronic angers of that house'. The last two poems of this group, while recalling childhood memories, suggest a more mature understanding, an awakening to the dangers which can effect the happiness of a child. They also make me think that with this awareness comes the realization that there are things a child cannot control or fully understand, but that despite this, they will try to remain h appy, to keep their innocence intact. All the poems suggest love is abundant, in various forms. The next group of poems also speaks of love, with many facets depicted, but it is the grown-up reality of the ways of the world which are portrayed. Marilyn Hacker's 'Villanelle' shares, I think, the discovery of young, physical love and tries to deepen understanding of how it takes over ones life, as in 'routines are harder to perpetuate.' It brings out a feeling of striving for what cannot be fully understood or attained; complete possession of another, because the separation may be as much mental as physical. Louise Gluck seems to echo this in 'Parable of Faith'. The other three poems seem to be more mature, or have more certainty, without losing the wonder of being in love, or loving deeply. For example, 'Love Poem' by John Frederick Nims tells of somebody accepting the beloved's faults or apparent inadequacies, the small, everyday things that do not really matter, because the essence of the person is far greater than these, and he loves her for that. 'With words and people and

Masaccio, The Holy Trinity, 1425, fresco Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Masaccio, The Holy Trinity, 1425, fresco - Essay Example In this regard, Masaccio succinctly employed the illusionistic property of the linear perspective. Incidentally, the painting portrays a chapel with a resonant interior that give the impression of opening up to the viewer. In the interior, there are Ionic columns, barrel-vault top, and Corinthian pilasters. At the center is the crucified representation of Jesus Christ as he is viewed above by the Holy Spirit and God, an on either side is the Virgin Mary and the evangelist John. All the depictions in the painting, except for that of God, have individually covered a three dimensional space. Furthermore, Masaccio painted life-size and realistic impression of Domenic Lenzi and his wife in the front part of the pillars that act as an entrance to the chapel. The entire chapel and its residents portray a trompe l’oeil effect that provided the perfect evidence on the application of realistic depth within a flat painting. The meaning derived from the Holy Trinity is that everlasting li fe can only be achieved through the power of prayer as represented by the praying donors, and through intercession of holy paintings as depicted by Saint John and the Virgin Mary, and a staunch belief in Jesus Christ. In conclusion, The Holy Trinity is the perfect example of early Renaissance art that synthesizes religion, Biblical art and science. It equally portrays faith as a mystery and the perfection inherent in God through dignity in human nature and classical