Essay 3 Part 2-- starting with Timothy Liu

Timothy Liu, "Romance" (Please note: There are sources for this poet, and one is an interview that just came online at the zine Dichtung Yammer.)
Does the fact that this poem refers to the speaker's gay male relationship change the psychological, social, or political content of the poem? If so, what clues do we get from abstract language, tropes, images, or allusions that tell us this? Is "gorgeous fake" a negative judgment on the "romance" or something else?



 notes on Timothy Liu's "Romance" by Aaron

Timothy Liu's "Romance" is looked at as a homoerotic poem, as it details a man expressing his love towards another. Something that is immediately present in the poem is the constant amount enjambments. The poem follows a stanza form of 2 then 1 lines, or a couplet followed by a monostich. The word "see" used in the first line can be in reference to the man seeing his lover, but is shifted to represent the speaker comparing themselves to the "Mona Lisa". This reference to the Mona Lisa could be viewed as beauty, but a Eurocentric one at that. The use of the phrase "Stones throw" shows the distance of the squatter to the "Louvre", which is where the actual Mona Lisa is located. In line 5 the speaker proclaims that the artwork located in the Louvre are copies or fakes. This entire poem can be looked at as an extended simile between the speaker and other lovers, to the artwork and their copies. In line 8 the use of the "basement vault" could represent the closeted relationship of homosexuals. The use of the words "Withheld" and "from view" being separated shows the reader a sense of distance of the "Venus de Milo" being out of view. The use of the word "Flash" could represent exposure in terms of the art as well as the lovers relationship. The copies mentioned within the poem could represent other lovers to the speaker's significant other, while the original artwork itself is the speaker. The use of the term "Gorgeous fake" literally defines the sculpture described, but can also relate to the romance of the lovers.

         

Harryette Mullen, "Any Lit"


Notes by Alegna:

“Any Lit” By Harryette Mullen 

-Mullen is an African American professor at UCLA 

The poem is an anaphora, as well as a catalogue poem because it speaks of different thing that “you are”.  

Ex: You are a ukulele beyond my microphone 

       You are a union beyond my migration  

This is repeated through the entire poem.  

The “u” and the “m” sounds are followed by one another for each line. As well and how new forms are able to create new theories and thoughts.  

Mullen was clear with what she meant by locations and objects but many times throughout the poem she did many unusual comparisons what cause the reader to wonder what exactly she was trying to compare.  

On the second line she speaks of “Micronesia” as in the West pacific area but not from Australia.  

Right after that line she speaks of “meiosis” as in cell division being beyond a “union”. 

One clear comparison she made was on the seventh line when she speaks of a “euphony” as beauty and her “myocardiogram”. The “myocardiogram’ is a muscular measurement of the heart's tissues. I believe she is addressing this someone's beauty is a beautiful as her heart.  

She also speaks of a famous jazz trumpeter “Miles Davis” and religious element, the “eucharist” as in the body of Christ.  

Then she returns to a comparison of a drink that gets you drunk, “maitai” and “eureka”. I believe she expresses how this person can see different sides of her. Such as being drunk and not viewing it as a flaw but more of a highlight.   

Mullen then continues her poem and we come across an odd comparison with “Ukranian” being “beyond her Maimonides”. Maimonides is a Jewish philosopher and from her information she is not Jewish. So why speak about herself as a Jewish philosopher?  

She then uses another geographic feature 6 line before the end of the poem, “Mysore”. Mysore is a town in India and is mentioned after “urethra”. Why urethra and Mysore? What is she trying to say about the two?  

Before her final line she creates suspicion if this person she refers to as “You are a” is a male because she mentions “Urinal” as in what men use at public bathrooms. Followed by “Midol” a drug used for cramps when women are on their menstrual cycle.  

Pablo Neruda, "A Dog Has Died"

Notes for “A Dog Has Died” by Pablo Neruda:

- Neruda had a dog

- He had movies about him in the U.S.

- Neruda spends a lot of time at different countries 

- Is a communist (doesn’t believe in religion afterlife

- Is from Chile 

- “Mans best friend”

- Connotations of servile (someone who over serves)

- He’s sad over the fact that his dog didn’t act like an average, regular dog.

- One side is kind

- Neruda wants to hide his feeling about his dog but he can’t help to feel hurt

- He sees his dog differently

- Only dogs know how to be happy

- “Shameless spirit” dogs don’t know what pain people go through. They don’t have a connect with us like humans have.

- He sounds a bit disappointed because maybe they had great memories together and he’s suddenly gone.

- Half of Neruda’s work is political & the other half is very similar to this.

Notes by Nadeen Gonzales based on the class discussion of “A DOG HAS DIED” By Pablo Neruda.

Background Knowledge of Neruda was given to connect his personality and beliefs to the tone and overall themes of the poem. Neruda was a communist from Chile who believe in economics, government but not religion. Throughout the poem the speaker seems to speak fondly of the dog yet rejects sentimentality. Neruda doesn’t believe in a heaven for himself yet believes that all dogs go to a heaven. It can be seen as a bittersweet poem. The speaker says the dog has “eyes purer than mines” and “paid me the attention I need” suggest that in his very special way he might be honoring the dog and their friendship like a eulogy, but without being sentimental. That speaker seems to be ambivalent and wants to hide his caring side. Ironically the way he tries to downplay his feelings is what illustrates what the dog meant to him and his true feelings. Towards the end of the poem the speaker reiterates this composed tone by suggesting that it is what it is, the dog has died and there's nothing he can do. The tone can be interpreted as disappointed in the sense that he might not have many feelings because he wasn't expecting this. The group of dog owners in class, agreed that the speaker seems to be very nonchalant and less emotional than what can be or is expected of a pet owner. Questions left unanswered to think about or perhaps answer shall you chose this to write on in Essay #3. Does the dog have feelings? Can the description of the dog be seen as personification? During certain parts of the poem is the speaker saying the dog is loyal as a cliche? Perhaps the dog has basic instinct and survival traits that are interpreted as friendly, loyal or happy?

Amiri Baraka, "Short Speech to My Friends" (Sasha's notes)

part 2:

• In the first stanza he answers the question "is power the enemy" by stating the "destroyer of dawns". Power destroys new beginning. 
• kicking literal evil continually down filmy public stairs = waste of time
• a hero doesn't compromise or stay silence. 
•  "as proper placement of verbs and nouns" = nouns comes before verbs
• "to freeze the spit in mid air... at some valiant intellectual's face" the intellectual isn't valiant / doesn't have the courage to curse the intellectual
• last stanza first line = there would be an excuse for someone not to be a hero. 
• Last line of poem =  George Armstrong Custer fought in the Indian war and lost destroying his cavalry
• sudo-heroism = false heroism 
• This piece is able to communicate before it is fully understood because it is an easy piece to read, there is also odd words can bring forth imagery.

Maria's notes

Amiri Baraka was a very pronounced individual, protesting for equal rights. He used his poetry to usually oppose mainstream political views in the U.S.. The title ‘Short Speech to My Friends’  indicates that the poem's tone is more relaxed than usual. It’s more open because it’s a change of his beliefs with his friends, a conversation. He starts off by saying “political art, let it be” which is a funny because this poem is a type of political art. Baraka uses  projective verse creating natural space for natural speech pauses. In line 6, “you’re in, who to talk to; what clothes” he plays on the perception of society. They he goes on to “I address/ the society/ the image of/ common utopia / The Perversity/ of perversity, isolation” ( lines 7-12).  This is a short speech as he says I address to then saying in lines 8-10 that there is a common usually associated to society. In lines 11 to 12 Baraka then contradicts a blissful utopia with what he believe true society is corrupted, separated meaning no equality, and a lonely world when he says isolated. Line 13 Baraka tries to show that for years he’s tried to “enter their kingdom” which mean accepted by this deeming white society. In line 14 he says, “now they suffer, these others, saxophones whining” he’s adding a tone exemplifying the grief of years on white male dominance with the saxophone playing in the back. 



Natsuko Hirata, "The Final Place"

low stakes writing

With the first stanza, it sounds like a rainy afternoon in the city; everything is going calmly and then Venus arrows a bow at the speaker. I'm assuming she is now in love.

Adagio means slow tempo which is usually the tempo you're at when in love

Paganini was a very romantic violinist.

The theme of the poem is death and about the speaker reaching heaven. The strophe lines are 6, 1, 3, 5.

Hirata speaks of a heavy rain: cats or waves."


Notes by Kalifa:

• Concrete Poetry: first introduced in the 1940s-1970s. Now referenced as "Visual Poetry".
• First stanza is about the setting, specifically rain.
• Hirata started writing poetry 6-7 years prior to this. Native Japanese speaker -- translations from Japanese to English.  
• Lines 3-4 can be interpreted as when we were independent and strong. 
• Lines 5-6 potential lovers.
• Adagio: performed in slow tempo.
• Line 8 "body" is a trope for her emotions. 
• Paganini was a romantic violinist.
• Second stanza, if it were to be related to death the music could be a near death experience. Or in terms of romance, it is a sense of falling in love.
• Last stanza: not a trope for heaven or ascending, "slope's top" Mt. Fuji, "gate" trope for a new beginning.
• Emblem Poem: emblem of Venus's bow (shape of poem looks like a bow). 
• Could be both a death poem or love poem. Love & Death?

Notes by Melissa:

Notes on “The Final Days” by Natsuko Hirata:

- Native Japanese speaker so she has the advantage of using English syntax and vocabulary in a fresh and potentially innovative way

- This poem can be interpreted in two ways: love or death 

- “Venus drew a bow” Cupid is the son of Venus & is usually in control over who he shoots with his arrow. It seems like Hirata was a challenge to shoot so Venus took charge and hit her with her arrow of love.

- “Adagio” stands for slow tempo. When you’re in love, everything seems slower & in rose-colored glasses.

- “Pagenini’s violin, nobody’s heard” romantic violinist from the 1800s. She’s the only one who can hear this romantic song being played over and over.

- “We met, a quite gate” Japanese gates are very different from American gates

- “At a scorching, slope’s top.” Sounds a lot like hell which could mean that love is hell for her but the slope top that she can be referring to is Mount. Fuji

- Visual, Concrete and Emblem Poem

Essay 3--part 1--ending with Alejandra Pizarnik

Audre Lorde, "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost"

Notes by Isabella Costa:


First Stanza: This poem is not religious poem, it's actually referring to the spokesperson father. ;...Judgement eyes...":  is a trope for judging and not being its typical lovable self. implying that the spokesperson doesn't have happy relationship with her father. 

"...The great hands' print" : can be a visual, or tactile trope. Visual if actually seeing the father fingerprints after the father coming home from work at night. Tactile: if the father fingerprints is making print s.

"...Half turn...: could symbolize as half entering or involvement in their life emotionally,physically, and psychologically. 

."..Massive and silent as the whole day's wish...": Probably hoping for his unavailability.   

"...Ready to redefine each our shapes...": Possibly mean he wants to changed who we are. 

Second Stanza: "...different woman regular as his one quick glass each evening...": Either coping with the separation by having different woman come over. Or could it be a his frequent on one night stands. 

"...pulls up the grass...": could mean smoking pot or removing the weeds from the ground. 

"...different woman has my mother's face...": Either different women has similar or same expression or the mother has different personalities.

"...and he who time has changeless...": time kills you. 

Third Stanza: ...loving creation...": still loves him but still have his judgement eyes. Loving creation since the religious title even though he was a judgmental religious person. 

"...he lived still judgements..." repetition. In addition, he is still a part of her even after hos deat h. 

 Last Stanza:

"...Lest I go into du st...": It's a Catholic and Christianity trope for de ath.

Uses of metonymy, enjambment, and strophes.

Maarten Vos

Notes on Arctic Terns by Burt Kimmelman

Kimmelman is a self-professed objectivist. In "Arctic Terns" he adheres to a strict form of five-line stanzas (quintains), with every line consisting of exactly eight syllables. This forces him in many instances to end his lines with "hinge words", such as "but", "the", and "of" (see lines 4, 6-9, 19). We have to take into consideration, nevertheless, that this may be a deliberate result, as opposed to a mere consequence of the  poetic form. Enjambment accentuates the first word of the new line, so perhaps Kimmelman wants us to focus on these specific words. "Arctic Terns" is a unique poem, in that it is for the most part a narration of factual information. This style of poetry is embedded in the objectivist doctrine. It raises the question, "Can a poem give factual information?" The answer is: "Why not?" Kimmelman already did, while at the same time he forces the reader into research on the subject. The very first stanza of the poem, for instance, immediately presents a question only a select few of its readers would be able to answer without first researching the Arctic Tern: "Do they do this all in one day?" From that point on, list of questions only  accretes. Perhaps, instead of educating the reader, Kimmelman is merely attempting to arouse interest in the subject. After the second stanza one may ask "Why Africa OR South America?" The two seem so far apart. Then in the third stanza, it is not entirely clear what is meant with "a second season of days" (Lin’s 13), or what is the "rite beyond gravity" in the fourth stanza? Interestingly, in the final stanza he deviates from the objectivist doctrine (no ideas but in things), when he reflects upon the act of flying. If “flying MUST be an act of solitude,” then what is the “unfed longing”?

Notes by Nadeen Gonzales taken from Class Discussion on Inglan Is A Bitch by Linton Kwesi Johnson

The poem is written/spoken in Patois a English based creole language commonly known as the Jamaican native language.

He’s not writing in traditional british language but using his native tongue which shows his identity of Afro- Jamaican.

The poem itself can be a rebellion against the oppression of Afro-Jamaicans.

The speaker says in the third stanza that he has a job as a dishwasher ‘But w’en mi tek a stack,/ mi noh tun clack-watchah.” This can show that he's probably a little slower than what they would like which ultimately gets him fired and replaced with machinery. He speaks about the lack of educational opportunity and how they are being exploited by England and not educated, which is why they get these hard manual labor jobs that nobody else wants. He uses simile such as “ Mi did strang like a mule” to compare his hard work to the work of an animal. He also points out that no matter how hard he works he’s not appreciated. He also mentions how people have stereotypes about black men being lazy. Yet he says he works in abundance and yet he’s fired because they feel as if he's redundant and would be better of with factories and machinery that do most of the work.The audience appears to be primarily Afro-Jamaicans but can be extended to all people of color. The poem is most likely written to show the reality many Jamaicans face when they migrate to England for a better chance and better opportunities but instead become overworked, underpaid and underappreciated. The tone of the poem is frustration and irony. There is a transformation of rhyme scheme variation and repetition. For example the word bitch/bitch and it/it every other stanza. The word bitch when used does not appear to be derogatory like when used towards females but more to describe the toughness and hardness of England. 


THE GYRES by W.B. Yeats 

Identify the rhyme scheme and the meter, and google "Yeats" and "Gyre"

Notes by Sanjida Ridhe

Background info

“The gyres” possible greek root.

title is a Trope and image for the cycle of human life.

He died before hitler had invaded

He had lived an amazing life, lost his viriginity at 30 to a woman named shakespeare, he was in love with a woman who couldn’t love him back and soon he became heartbroken. Yeats was a conservative. He married at 52. When proposing for the first time at 51 he gets rejected and jokingly she says it’s for his own good so he can write better poetry. Finally he meets someone who is more like him who was into summoning spirits and ghosts and the great dawn, and he proposes and soon marries her. His wife speaks in tongue and he writes down everything she says and questions the spirits and the spirits respond with “we have come to give you metaphors for your poetry”. His wife knew Willy had married her during the rebound stage of his heartbreak so she exaggerates her interest in spirits. He soon becomes involved with the government that he becomes a Senate in Ireland. He was in office for 6 years and he’s a mystic who believes in spirits and raising ghosts from the dead.

The gyres are creation and destruction, a cycle.

Content:

8 line stanzas (octaves)

Old rocky face - great mountain. craterousous mountain. He’s speaking to a mountain which is a trope for wisdom. Ancient wisdom, eternity.

Things thought too long - if you think of something for too long, you cant think of it anymore it will be destroyed. Thought is created, destroyed, comes back again

Beauty dies of beauty - beauty doesn’t last. Beauty will die in time thanks to age and time passing by.  You cannot hold onto what you have, there is a constant cycle. The atheistic of beauty kills. It isn’t meant to last.

Worth of worth - temporal succession

Ancient lineaments are blotted out - a lineament is ??? anything old is blotted out by anything new.

Irrational streams of blood - blood as a trope would be life, war, sacrifice, passion. Blood is energy. Forces of history beyond philosophical reason destroys civilization.

It can also be considered that human beings through their irrationality destroy their own civilizations.

Empedocles - a greek philosopher, best known for reconfiguring the ancient system of 4 elements, existed around 5th century BC

Yeats reaches forward and backwards of philosophies and what he believes. Philosophers come and go and change peoples way of thinking constantly.

Hector is dead - Yeats refers back to mythology around the Time of the Trojan War. Hector was a greek hero and you would think there’s unhappiness but there’s happiness in troy. Tragic joy. Yeats had expected the apocalypse to occur but it never happened.

What matter - 3 repetitions. Does anything matter?

Numb nightmare ride on top - whatever bad is occurring does it really matter? Who cares? Civilization gets destroyed and will always get rebuilt.

Blood and mire (dirt, foul things) the sensitive body stain - war fare

A more gracious time has gone - The period where good things were occurring has left and once again does it matter?

Yeats continues to talk about how he used to get upset, and sigh around times where Pharaohs existed in ancient Egypt but it doesn’t matter to him anymore. You can’t go back to those days. He cried and wanted to go back but crying gets him nowhere. 

Out of cavern comes a voice - trope for out of the darkness in the cavern comes light.

Prophets tend to isolate themselves and preach to the masses in caverns.

Yeats is asking to rejoice because everything that falls will be built again.

What matter repeats once more in the final stanza.

Conduct and work grow coarse and course the soul - your soul becomes exhausted and changes. If your spirituality tanks, who cares?

The poem was said in a perspective of a man. He is not including everyone in his poem. Yeats was very sexist during Lovers of horses and of women, shall disinter

Disinter means to dig up. Anyone who dies, a person of rank can be resurrected because the civilization always rebuilds. People die and other people are reborn.

Marble of a broken sepulchre - Jesus. According to Jesus doctrine, Jesus was resurrected.

Betwixt the polecat and the owl - trope for skunk. 2 creatures of darkness. The sun lies in between these 2 creatures.

out of rich, dark nothing disinter. Anything that is destroyed is absence, out of absence comes presence. 

Unfashionable gyre - to fashion is to make, history has a fate. We must acknowledge our Fate.

This poem consists of half rhymes. 

AB AB CC

THE ONE WHO ENDURES by Andree Chedid

Three different views:

In each stanza, Chedid is using images perhaps to write about a god of some sort, especially along the lines of "death carries his grace."

My assumption is that she could talking about the Egyptian god Anubis, who is the god of embalming the dead. The poet alludes to many kinds of death, such as "footsteps of great illness."

Chedid is talking about Jesus; she is not religious but grew up in a religious household and respects the religion. Her tone is worshipful; she is amazed at the person's power. He has the whole world in his hands, but he treats people lovingly and died for us. He also experienced hardships when he was alive. 



TF: All of you see it as a superhuman figure, though Jesus is considered by Christian believers to be both God and man. And indeed, Chedid's "he" seems to have tremendous powers, but I think we want to notice the weirdness of some of the tropes/images, especially lines 3 and 4, to understand the unorthodox quality of this "worship" or "praise," and I find the last line to be significant in a way that might not support conventional Egyptian or Christian religion.



TOWARD A STATE OF SYMBIOSIS by Arlene Ang

The elements of life and death coexist, and blood symbolized throughout the poem is a typical zombie cliche. TF: But is the overall effect of the poem cliched, or does Ang's poetic imagination transcend expected images, tropes, and audience reactions? For example, I find the word "symbiosis" in the title interesting.

A poetic device that is used is oxymoron to highlight the life and death balance, which is what a Zombie symbolizes. 

What makes this poem different from Zombie movies are the mindfulness the zombies in the poem represent. Zombies in the poem are making living/conscious decisions, such as the three forming a triangle and playing a pitcher of blood in the space between them. They do this without the presence of a living being to teach them these things they should naturally forget. The poet also uses heavy amounts of imagery to express even though Zombies are mindless, they are capable of living action and emotion. Another device used is biblical allusion in the end. The poet ends the poem with a reference to Lazarus, one of the disciples Jesus brought back to life after death.

Notes by Antonyio

"Towards" in the title must play a special role in the theme of the poem.

SYMBIOSIS - (Definitions): interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association, typically to the advantage of both.

a mutually beneficial relationship between different people or groups.

- This relates to the poem becuase the Zombies are benefiting from the dead bodies. Cliche Zombie Theme.

-this poem uses heavy imagery with an Eerie mood throughout the entire poem!

·"Lipsticks of tsetse flies" - tsetse flies are very nasty looking flies that suck blood. The idea of Zombies wearing these lies as lipsticks is revolting.

·"form a triangle when they sit with their backs to each other. Place a pitcher of blood within this space and it is refrigeration." - these Zombie have the ability to make conscious decisions. They sit in formation like a ritual or ceremony. They place a pitcher of blood between them and they are so cold it fridgerates it.

·"One zombie cannot hatch an egg no matter how long it nests in the intestines of newly gutted cats" - placing the egg inside the intestines of the dead cat hoping it would hatch. But it never will.

·"The living heart must answer to the undead mouth" - The living heart must be eaten by the Zombies. Another Zombie Cliche.

·"Television Snow shares thw same sound" - Television snow is when the television statics with the absence of a channel or signal. Its a synesthesia because it is seen and shares the same sound as the following line.

·following line: "as a zombie scuffle for bones and half-digested nachos." - Scuffle is an Onomatopoeia. The Zombies eat the dead bodies and the half digested food inside of it.

·"By the dumpster and begin to call forth Lazarus" - the theme od a dumpster is where the dead bodies are and they bring the body back to life because Lazarus is the disciple Jesus brought back to life.


HOWL, Part 1 by Allen Ginsberg

Ginsberg's "Howl" has a sense of shock value that could be distasteful for some readers. His tone is very strong and blunt and obviously raw. The long lines convey different details and topics, beginning with "who," which ties back to the first line of the poem. It tells us who the people were and how they were destroyed. Factors contributing to the demise of these people were drugs, alcohol, sex--the major "vices." The poem was considered controversial due to the topic choice and brutal rawness of his words. To past readers outside his circle of Beat poets and artists (TF), this would be considered extremely shocking; now, to present day readers, there is an appreciation of his realness. Also, since we are in New York, we can visualize this very easily.

Notes by Cynthia:

- Written in free-verse

-"Howl" was the first impression of Ginsberg's new voice

- Ginsberg had poured his frustration into the poem "Howl"

- "Howl" was seemingly prophetic of todays modern society. 

- The poem alludes to the non-conformity of the Eisenhower years

- Ginsberg was inspired by the poets William Blake and Walt Whitman

Monday, Feb. 4, 2019

Sandy McIntosh, "For a Man Who Lost His Wife"

Is there any irony in the word "Lost" in the poem's title?
- His wife is actually dead, in terms of their marriage and in his life. She is lost. 


McIntosh visit--notes by Ashley:

This free-verse poem is autobiographical; it's about McIntosh's poetry teacher in college and grad school whose wife passed away. In strophe 2, the dialogue is between McIntosh and his teacher. He actually saw the horses in Michigan. 

Herding instincts can make a couple stay together even if they don't get along. The metaphors in the last 2 lines make these lines ambiguous; the "whip" can literally refer to what happens to the horses or figuratively to the human couple's experiences.

McIntosh's teacher told him that there are more people who write poems than actually read them.
McIntosh is not interested in producing poems with hidden meanings, but he does want to write poems that challenge him as a writer. He stated that the longer you write and read poems aloud to an audience, the more you will develop a clear sense of an audience.

Some of his poems about family and death in Cemetery Chess: New and Selected Poems can be compared to Audre Lorde's "Father, Son, and Holy Ghost."

Notes by Shyanon:

-The first strophe illustrates a strange relationship of a couple. Although they both shared the same roof, they had separated their domain by a locked door in between. The man lets the woman take the larger room and centers himself in a small space. It seems that he chose the small room to simply avoid an argument with his wife.

-The second strophe portrays the setting after the death of his wife. Even after her death, he prefers to live in the same small room. He says that he is too lazy to reorganize his stuff and also, he doesn’t want to misplace it.

-The final stanza uses the horses as a trope for the couple. He talks about his experience in Mackinac Island where he had witnessed two horses biting and kicking each other while pulling a wagon. He had asked why the driver was keeping the horses who were at war with each other. The driver answered that although the two horses are released in a pasture they would still stay together, fighting with each other. This suggest that although some relationships are in bad terms, choosing to live completely separately doesn’t solve anything.

Alejandra Pizarnik, "On Silence"

What is the poem's tone? Give an example of an abstract statement, an image, or a trope that conveys this tone?
- The tone of the poem is a combination of somberness and anxiety. "I'm frightened of the grey wolves."

There are various colors in the poem. What function do they serve? 
- Colors create imagery and set a tone. Blue and grey are commonly associated with sadness and fear. They also give context to the commentary she makes on color in poetry.

In the final part, there is a reference to a "you." Does this give an indication of the problems represented in the first 2 parts of the poem, or is the "you" another aspect of the "I," the speaker?
- The "you" is an indication of the speaker represented in the first two parts of the poem. 

Notes by Haniya: ON SILENCE by Alejandra Pizarnik

Pizarnik was born in Argentina but she wasn’t actually an Argentinian. She was 36 when she wrote this poem. She killed herself due to suicidal depression. This is a poem of darkness, somberness and depression. The poem shows a lot of negativity. Pizarnik is trying to show how one goes through depression thinks about. During the second part of the poem, “No one paints in green. Everything is orange. If I am anything, I’m cruelty. Colors streak…colors, bitterness, lucidity…” The colors symbolizes green as in growth or fresh and orange could be something negative because it is close to red. She is using the bitterness and lucidity together. When we think of bitterness, it is a negative, hasty feeling. When we think of lucidity, it is purity and clearness. Maybe she is talking to herself, her feelings put into words of what she is going through. The tone of the poem is emotional, anger, depressed. The tone of the poem shifts into many emotions as we go through it.  

 Notes by Jeremy:

art 1 of the poem starts out light and somber in tone.

Not presenting a narrative.

Orange is represented in a negative way, opposed to is usual cheerful vibe.

Surreal images that reflect the shifting tone of the poem.

Themes of depression, with the tone moving from anger, to sadness respectively representing the shifting of a disturbed mind.

Use of the triatic harmony colors such as Orange, Green, and Purple.

Imagery using color, for example blue and gray being used to portray sadness.

The end of the poem has the speaker commuting suicide,  almost foreshadowing the real life suicide of the author.