The Poems

Throughout the dance (his life) the boy's alcoholic father is abusing him.

it was written in past tense. The boy is reflecting on his past relationship with his father.

the speaker is the boy/son. He has a very difficult relationship with his father.

His father regularly beats him but he still wants his love.

the audience is the father

extended metaphor-dancing the waltz is being compared to a beating. "my right ear scraped a buckle." "you beat on my head with a palm cracked hard by dirt"

it is free verse but has some rhyme in it. (The rhyme does not follow a pattern.)

the speaker makes the reader feel empathy for the girl because she was "the girl no one ever chose"

The relationship seems sexual based on the play of words.

Ex: "its golden tubes and coils encircled her like a lovers' embrace" "it's body pressed on hers." "like mating cries."

a simile is used to compare the girl to a tuba. Both are never chosen, heavy, big.

it is a free verse poem

the speaker is walking through hills and valleys but is lonely and mope. He passes a lake and sees a huge group of yellow daffodils.

The speaker's loneliness was replaced by joy, but even then he didn't realize the gift he had received until later. Now, whenever he is feeling blah he thinks of the daffodils and he feels happy.

Euphonic words: golden, fluttering, breeze, glee, bliss, pleasure

Hyperbole: continuous as the stars that shine, stretched in never-ending line, ten thousand I saw at glance (referring to the large amount of daffodils) Personification: fluttering and dancing in the breeze, tossing their heads in sprightly dance (the daffodils)

assonance (floats, o'er, host) alliteration (beside, beneath, breeze) personification, hyperbole, enjambment

Even after the speaker leaves the field of daffodils whenever he is sad he can picture them and be filled with pleasure and joy

it has a rhyme scheme: ABABCC-DEDEFF-GHGHII-JKJKLL

a leaf falls in lonliness

the structure mimics the leafs decent. (leaffalls) is in parentheses to show loneliness. The lines are mostly just 2 leters until the last line because that is where it lands on the ground.

Alliteration: leaf, loneliness Personification: the leaf is lonely

in spring (youth) the balloon man is basically calling the children to adulthood

little, lame, queer, old and goat footed.

it begins cheerful "the world is puddle wonderful" but ends somewhat sad because the kids are growing up> Overall it has a happy and spring mood.

+spring" represents youth. "eddieandwbill" when put together show how kids talk fast. At the end instead of writing "balloonman" like the rest of the poem ee cumings said "balloonMan" to show that he is calling the kids to adulthood.

14 lines, each line has 10 syllables, rhyme scheme is ABAB-CDCD-EFEF-GG, 3 quatrains and 1 couplet, written in iambic pentameter.

Petrarchan, Shakespearean, and Spenserian

1) his "sweetie" has dark eyes, full lips, and dull-grayish brownish skin2) her cheeks don't glow and she has bad breath 3) she has an unpleasant voice and is not graceful when she walks

the couplet shows that he still loves her despite her imperfections

E: sun, roses, love, goddess, delight C: wires, reeks, hath

the speaker is the mother who is teaching her son that although she has endured many struggles, she persevered and so should he. She is determined and care a lot about her son.

her son

1. life has been hard for her 2.

how she responded3. how he should respond to his life struggles

The mother is very determined, protective of her son and also straightforward

"And life for me ain't been no crystal stair" this expresses that she had struggles. "I'se still climbin" this shows that she persevered.

a extended metaphor is used to compare the mother's life to a crystal staircase

repetition, assonance (boards, torn,) enjambment

life is hard, but you have to push through the hard times and keep going

The daughter is the speaker.

She is angry towards her mother because she tried to make her someone she is not. She says "reshape me with your strong hands to simmer in your special broth." She also wants her mother to love and accept who she truly is. "love and keep me just as I was.

"

Her tone is helplessness and anger. "sever my head, scrape away the iredesence, chop me, reshape me."

it is free verse without rhyme

assonance (small hard pool you made) simile (carp to girl)

love and acceptance

a simile compares the daughter to a carp in a bathtub. "I had about as much chance, Mother, as the carp on thrashed in your bathtub.

"

the daughter is upset because she just got dumped and the mother is upset because her daughter is in pain

"You are so young you heal as you weep, and your tears instead of scalding your face like mine absolve simply as rain." It shows that it hurts her to see her daughter in pain. Her daughter will get over him but she will never forget the pain he caused her.

the mother tried to teach her daughter that men that are beautiful can be dangerous, that memories can be painful and that love can hurt. The daughter didn't agree so she didn't listen to her mother's advice.

the war imagery expresses the anger and pain that the mother feels

growing up, learning from mistakes and listening to your mother

the title means that it is a lesson for 17 year olds

simile (tears like rain), metaphor (memory is a scorpion), enjambment

it is free verse