I have been holed up in my office for the past week and a half, coffee and red pen in hand, grading approximately 120 student essays. They were completely brilliant, as you can imagine. Because I care about you, readers, and because caring means sharing, I share just a smidge of their brilliance with you:
Almost every one of their words has meaning and almost every line inhales a visual descriptor.
[Poet] was most notably known for his poem “Ode to a [Thing],” which introduced his new informal poetic language and bizarre form by using numerical numbers in between stanzas. [The stanzas were numbered, is all. How bizarre. -- AV]
In the fifth stanza, [Poet] concludes what he learns from the urn in his attempts to identify with its never changing, discretionary form.
[Lady Poet] starts the stanza with a, this is it, it’s now or never feel.
Not once in [Poets] writings does he speak of a higher power or of God. I believe that because of [Poets] lack of spirituality this is the reason he has the negative and accepting of unhappiness attitude. ["Not once," the student writes, of course, after having read the complete works of the poet in question cover to cover. -- AV]
I almost want to say he uses personification but I feel his techniques in describing the soul are just talent and much deeper then a word.
The line that uses the “:-” paints a brighter picture. [Oh no she didn't. Please do not tell me this girl thinks the poet is using an emoticon! -- AV]
He uses words like these to create the feeling of what he feels.
This poem as I have described is really about death and other depressing ideas and is therefore not a romanticism poem at all.
Dear Dog, teaching is so fucking rewarding! Send help.
My sympathies.
I’m glad you left the poets unidentified, they will rest easier. And if only death were not allowed in romanticism poems! There must be a way to put that in emoticons. - O=X + <3? Never mind.
I love ‘unhappiness attitude’…
O what can cause this unhappiness attitude, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
My heart aches, and a drowsy unhappiness attitude pains
My senses…
I weep for Adonais! He is dead!
And such an unhappiness attitude fills my head… (etc, etc)
The feelings this makes me feel are very feelingly-felt feelings indeed. It has really made me have a deeply-feelinged response.
Oh the special snowflakes. I wish I could watch you crush their little dreams, that would be excellent.
I especially enjoy that the student quoted first notes how most of the poet’s words are meaningful, and then falls immediately into the completely nonsensical “inhales a visual descriptor.” I think this person might actually me a poetic genius.
Or else an idiot man-child. Hard to say for sure.
Oh, and also, those words do not mean what your students think they mean. Like, basically, ALL of those words.