GRIDLOCK (TPCASTT template)

NOTE: I used the TPCASTT template method to analyze the poems below :)

Life by Charlotte Bronte

LIFE, believe, is not a dream
So dark as sages say;
Oft a little morning rain
Foretells a pleasant day.
Sometimes there are clouds of gloom,
But these are transient all;
If the shower will make the roses bloom,
O why lament its fall ?

Rapidly, merrily,
Life's sunny hours flit by,
Gratefully, cheerily,
Enjoy them as they fly !

What though Death at times steps in
And calls our Best away ?
What though sorrow seems to win,
O'er hope, a heavy sway ?
Yet hope again elastic springs,
Unconquered, though she fell;
Still buoyant are her golden wings,
Still strong to bear us well.
Manfully, fearlessly,
The day of trial bear,
For gloriously, victoriously,
Can courage quell despair !

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Title: "Life". Will undoubtedly reflect upon the meaning of some crucial aspect of life.

Paraphrase: begins with the allegorical likening of life to a storm. With the rain, the "bad" always temporary as long as you have hope, the storm and clouds eventually go away for the sun to have its stay.

Connotation: the word use of "Sages" connotes philosophers/commentators on life's dark difficulties. The use of a storm is a metaphor in and of itself ( see above)

Attitude: somber and melancholic initially, Charlotte Bronte's attitude seems to always shift from dark to light, ultimately hopeful sentiments thus following her overarching theme of hope.

Shift: the shift is visible in the first stanza blatantly with the lines "oft a little rain foretells a pleasant day" from this line to the proceeding stanzas a pattern forms wherein Bronte shifts from identifying a negative, dark perspective to then shift to a positive silver lining perspicacity after the proceeding darker line(s).

Title revisited: my initial suspicions where accurate Charlotte Brontes poem "Life" indeed endeavors to convey a crucial idea, perspective on existence, as I will explain in theme below.

Theme: Hope in life no matter the darkness the "bad", as long as we maintain a positive perspicacity, endeavor to change our situations, as long as we have hope the clouds, the storm, the rains of misfortune will eventually wash away.


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Hope by Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

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Title: "Hope". I suspect this poem to focus upon the ideas of hope and its role/necessity.

Paraphrase: the entire poem likens a feathered "thing" (a bird) as a symbol embodying hope. Various metaphors and imagery (ex. prompting the bird to sing in the most destructive gales of storms) is deliberately created by Dickinson to convey her perspective on hope.

Connotation: the bird is a symbol of the vitality, resiliency of hope even in the darkest of days "sore"-ing in the storms "singing a tune" even in the "coldest" lands hope, the bird still brings warmth ( positivity of hope) without "asking for a crumb" the crumb essentially connoting the priceless, selfless quality of hope.

Attitude: Emily Dickinson's attitude tone sprung only light and bright imagery of a bird flying thru even the worst of storms subsequently the attitude of the poem can expectedly be described as hopeful.

Shift: Unlike Charlotte Bronte's lengthier poem "Life", Dickinson's "Hope" has little if any shifts, the shifts subtle if at all present, the poem tensing consistent in tone and structure as well as figurative language throughout.

Title revisited: My initial suspicions were correct. Emily Dickinson's poem connoted the authors respective perspective on hope, it's vitality, resiliency even in the worst of times.

Theme: Funny how so many works of human product emphasize the essential, arguably most human trait of mankind: hope. Indeed like Charlotte Bronte's preceding poem "Life", Emily Dickinson's composition "Hope" is a love letter to the vitality, resiliency, the life of hope. For even in the darkest days, the worst of times, even in a storm like a feathered "thing" hope can and always shall survive, soar.


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A Poison Tree by William Blake

I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I watered it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine.
And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stole
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

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Title: (Before reading) Will possibly focus on a fictional poisonous tree? Taken literally. Maybe the tree's poison is a metaphor for some theme to be highlighted after I read the poem....

Paraphrase: Recounts a tale of anger festering like a poison, a toxic tree if you will, in the narrator as his "wrath" his anger bottled up until finally releasing upon his "foe". 

Connotation:William Blake utilizes the imagery of a poisonous tree as a connotative symbol of the growing rage/anger, "wrath" he felt towards an individual referred to as his "foe" until the poisonous tree "bore an apple" (another symbol that the narrators wrath became to great thus....) where then the foe "beheld it shine" the next day waking to see "My foe outstretched beneath the tree." thus the narrator killed the "foe".

Attitude: William Blake's tone can only be described as terse hostility, as I read i could feel the mounting, festering "wrath" growing ever more intense from line to line, very effective stylistically speaking.

Shift: A visible shift occurs directly in the first stanza as the narrator explains how he assuaged, mollified when discusing his anger healthily with a friend "I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end." . From there on the poem transitions to ever mounting wrath/ intensity until the "foe" takes a bite of the apple.... 

Title revisited: Well, lesson to self: don't take things as literal as they may seem. No there wasn't a literal "poison tree", but I was correct in my suspicion that it played into the poem's overall theme (that will be elaborated below), who'd have guessed. O and the title refers to the poison of rage/wrath but I'll explain below.

Theme: The poison tree is a metaphor for the anger that can slowly, if not rapidly, grow within us, our wrath eventually (without proper, healthy emotional  release/maintenance, such as talking with a friend for example) bearing even more toxic fruit (like the "apple"). I.E. rage often times if not always violently released, with even more violent consequences. Thus the theme of the work can be argued as a cautionary tale of healthy emotional balance, to not let your anger fester until the poison spreads, creeps and corrupts your very being. (even if the end seems a bit sadistic if not justified by the narrator seeing as though there is no visible evidence of emotional remorse nor consequences for the murder of the foe peculiarly....)