poems about identity.docx

1、poems about identityIthakaConstantine P. CavafyAs you set out for Ithakahope your road is a long one,full of adventure, full of discovery.Laistrygonians, Cyclops,angry Poseidon-dont be afraid of them:youll never find things like that on your wayas long as you keep your thoughts raised high,as long a

2、s a rare excitementstirs your spirit and your body.Laistrygonians, Cyclops,wild Poseidon-you wont encounter themunless you bring them along inside your soul,unless your soul sets them up in front of you.Hope your road is a long one.May there be many summer mornings when,with what pleasure, what joy,

3、you enter harbors youre seeing for the first time;may you stop at Phoenician trading stationsto buy fine things,mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,sensual perfume of every kind-as many sensual perfumes as you can;and may you visit many Egyptian citiesto learn and go on learning from their sc

4、holars.Keep Ithaka always in your mind.Arriving there is what youre destined for.But dont hurry the journey at all.Better if it lasts for years,so youre old by the time you reach the island,wealthy with all youve gained on the way,not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.Ithaka gave you the marvelous j

5、ourney.Without her you wouldnt have set out.She has nothing left to give you now.And if you find her poor, Ithaka wont have fooled you.Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,youll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.Langston HughesAs I Grew OlderIT was a long time ago.I have

6、 almost forgotten my dream.But it was there then,In front of me,Bright like a sunMy dream.And then the wall rose,Rose slowly,Slowly,Between me and my dream.Rose until it touched the skyThe wall.Shadow.I am black.I lie down in the shadow.No longer the light of my dream before me,Above me.Only the thi

7、ck wall.Only the shadow.My hands!My dark hands!Break through the wall!Find my dream!Help me to shatter this darkness,To smash this night,To break this shadowInto a thousand lights of sun,Into a thousand whirling dreamsOf sun!Robert FrostThe Road Not TakenTwo roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry

8、 I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;Then took the other, as just as fair,And having perhaps the better claimBecause it was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for that the passing thereHad worn them really abo

9、ut the same,And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.Oh, I kept the first for another day!Yet knowing how way leads on to way,I doubted if I should ever come back.I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and II took th

10、e one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.Maya AngelouAloneLYING, thinkingLast nightHow to find my soul a homeWhere water is not thirstyAnd bread loaf is not stoneI came up with one thingAnd I dont believe Im wrongThat nobody,But nobodyCan make it out here alone.Alone, all aloneNob

11、ody, but nobodyCan make it out here alone.There are some millionairesWith money they cant useTheir wives run round like bansheesTheir children sing the bluesTheyve got expensive doctorsTo cure their hearts of stone.But nobodyNo, nobodyCan make it out here alone.Alone, all aloneNobody, but nobodyCan

12、make it out here alone.Now if you listen closelyIll tell you what I knowStorm clouds are gatheringThe wind is gonna blowThe race of man is sufferingAnd I can hear the moan,Cause nobody,But nobodyCan make it out here alone.Alone, all aloneNobody, but nobodyCan make it out here alone.Love After LoveDe

13、rek WalcottThe time will come when, with elation you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror and each will smile at the others welcome, and say, sit here. Eat. You will love again the stranger who was your self.Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart to itself, to the s

14、tranger who has loved you all your life, whom you ignored for another, who knows you by heart. Take down the love letters from the bookshelf, the photographs, the desperate notes, peel your own image from the mirror. Sit. Feast on your life.Langston Hughes “As I Grew Older” represents not only his g

15、rowth in stature, but the obstacles to his growth as an individual, and a member of society. The purpose of Life for a person is defined by his dream. He states that “It was a long time ago” that his dream existed. The lines that begin like a fairy tale point to a fairy tale existence-the aspiration

16、 of a black in a white-dominated society. The dream at the moment was right in front of him, an in the face aspect. It is likened to the sun .The comparison is apt, as the Sun stands for sunshine, brightness, the warmth of life and rays of hope. The light of the Sun also seemed to show him the way.S

17、ubsequently, the poet brings in the metaphor of the Wall that grew when he was supposed to grown in its place. The wall referred to here is the wall of Apartheid, the invisible but sophisticated barrier. The wall is emblematic of boundaries,and barriers, and marginalization and segregation, as in Ro

18、bert Frosts “Mending Wall. While people have introduced the wall,as a symbol of civilization; according to Frost it was an eloquent symbol for regression. The poet Langston Hughes asserts how the wall rose slowly here, he reiterates the word slowly to stress its devious method of segregation. It eve

19、ntually separates Langston Hughes from his dream permanently. When it should have been the dream touching the horizon, Hughes portrays the Wall as touching the sky.It was a long time ago.I have almost forgotten my dream.But it was there then,In front of me,Bright like a sun-My dream.And then the wal

20、l rose,Rose slowly,Slowly,Between me and my dream.Rose until it touched the sky-It now throws a shadow. The shadow, is true to the speaker as it is his own and does not part with him. It remains with him even in times of distress. The symbolism of the shadow indicates a pall of gloom. As the speaker

21、 asserts:“I lie down in the shadow,” the shadow comes across as a protective refuge for him. The light of his dream no longer inspires him. What remains is only the thick impenetrable wall and the shadow of darkness. The poet utilizes hands; to refer to his reach and also to his whole body. Therefor

22、e the figure of speech employed is metonymy. He wants to break through this wall; he aims to break down this darkness of irrational behaviour based on colour. This is the why the word black has been repeated numerous times.He utilizes images of darkness like shadow, Night. Hughes strongly urges to b

23、reak this wall as easily as a fragile piece of glassware. This inclination is echoed in the words shatter, smash, break. He aspires to break it like pieces of mirror that would reflect “Into a thousand lights of sun.” These broken pieces of mirror function as the objective correlative of his broken

24、dreams.Langston Hughes poem, As I Grew Older, tells a great story in just a few short stanzas. Hughes puts words to the experience of the years going by slowly then eventually faster and faster in human life. As young children, people cannot wait to get older to be able to realize all of our vivid d

25、reams. There is so much that is possible and so much they can do. The future is so bright and seems to be full of endless possibilities. Unfortunately, at this stage of life, the years seem to crawl by and time seems to go so slow. It seems they will never reach the point in life where dreams can po

26、tentially become reality. The following words of Hughes depict this,Bright like a sun-My dream.And then the wall rose,Rose slowly,Slowly,Between me and my dream.Later on in life, as people come to the point where they are more in control of what they do and when they do it, they realize all that get

27、s in the way of dreams. The dreams are still there but they start to fade as they realize that there are limitations and obstacles that separate responsibilities from dreams. They learn that they must put their responsibilities first and dreams on hold, in many cases. This can become frustrating. Th

28、e great dreams of the past do not disappear completely, but they are further from consciousness than they ever were before. Soon, the years start going by more swiftly and they get older. It seems sometimes there isnt even time to blink time goes so fast. Lives change and eventually dreams are not a

29、s important as they once were.Hughes highlights the idea that there comes a time in life as people get older and time on Earth is almost complete that dreams have faded to the point that they really have to think to remember them. What seemed possible so many years ago is no longer anything that can

30、 be possible. Its no longer something that they desire or need in life. Early dreams were replaced with a new reality that they never imagined. This new reality is sometimes better than they ever dreamed or could have dreamed at a young age.With this poem, Hughes seems to be saying that dreams are i

31、mportant. They motivate us and give us purpose. However, people should not be dejected if they do not become reality. Even though life goes by fast, it is full of surprises. These surprises and new realities can eventually replace dreams. This is not a bad thing, just the way life is, perceptions change as people grow older and time moves on.The literal meaning of this poem is that because he is black, Langston Hughes is unable to achieve his dreams. As a child, he was unaware of the cruelty of the world and in his innocent optimism dared to dream of achie