Poetry Week 12

Reflections on Poetry Week 12

    For week twelve, I chose the following poems: “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” “Memorandum,” “To an Athlete Dying Young,” “Thinking about Bill, Dead of AIDS,” and “This Is Just to Say.”

    “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” by Anne Bradstreet was a sweet poem. It seemed like the woman speaking in the poem really loved her husband. The wife seemed very happy in the poem. It sounded as though her husband pleased her. This poem doesn’t seem like it would be written during seventeenth century Puritan times. The woman speaking in the poem appears to be professing her undying affection for her mate. The last line in the poem sounded like something lovers anticipate and tell each other when they talk about going to Heaven.

    “Memorandum,” by Billie Bolton was an amusing poem that looked different than other poems in the book so far. It looked like a memo. The poem had a woman scorned type of feel to it. In the poem it sounded like the woman speaking was not treated very nicely during the relationship. It also sounded like she decided that she was tired of how the man was treating her. The poem seemed to be a letter at the end of a relationship. It resembled a kiss off letter as well.

    “To an Athlete Dying Young,” by A. E. Housman was a poem about an athlete. The speaker of the poem seemed to speaking to the athlete in some way. This poem could have been said at a funeral of an athlete. The athlete being referred to in the poem seemed to no longer be alive. It is always sad to see a young person with talent die young. Young people seem invincible, but everything can change in a moment. This poem seemed to capture that feeling.

    “Thinking About Bill, Dead of AIDS<“ by Miller Williams was written in 1989. The beginning of the poem sounded like the start of AIDS. No one really knew what the mysterious new disease was. The person speaking in the poem seemed to be referring to someone who was afflicted with AIDS and lost the battle. Several things mentioned in the poem about how Bill was treated seem to be how people are treated with AIDS still today. It is a scary disease, but more things are known about the transmission of HIV/AIDS today. The poem sounded like everyone abandoned Bill because they were scared of getting his disease.

    “This is Just to Say,” by William Carlos Williams was a short poem. It had a comical tone to it as well. It was written in 1934, but sounded as if it could apply today. It could be applied in situations where people either live or work together. It sounded like the speaker ate the food on purpose and wanted to rub it in the other person’s face. That is what sounded comical in the poem. Normally, if someone ate something that belonged to someone else, they wouldn’t laugh or tell them how delicious the food was. That would be mean. The person speaking must have had a reason behind the actions that were spoke about in the poem.