This week's readings gave a glimpse into the world of Poetry. I found all poems to be enjoyable and thought provoking. The one poem that did catch my attention was "The Man He Killed" by Thomas Hardy, however, the poem that I found least enjoyable was "Because I Could Not Stop for Death" by Emily Dickinson. Hardy's poem presents a clearer and easier to understand message whereas Dickinson's poem leaves the reader with a more ambiguous interpretation.
The subject matter of Dickinson's poem proved to be difficult to identify. The poem seems to be about a person enjoying the varying aspects of life and not allowing Death to interfere. I am still unsure of this explanation even after having read the poem several times. Most of the poem is presented in broken sentences and makes it difficult to understand what message the poem is trying to present. The format and pattern in-which the information is confused me. One example is the section which says, "Or rather-He passed Us-/ The Dews drew quivering and chill-/ For only Gossamer, my Gown-/ My Tippet-only Tulle-" (13-16). Passages such as this one appear odd. There is no sense of unity between one phrase toward the next and the subjects being spoken of did not give me any coherent idea. The whole poem did not make any sense to me and bothers me greatly. Perhaps this was Dickinson's intended purpose.
Hardy's poem was more enjoyable for me because I found the words and structure to be simple and had a message that is easily grasped. The essay on page 669 that focuses on this story also helped give a clearer perspective by reinforcing my interpretation. The subject presents many ideas to the reader. The morality of war and purpose of it come to mind when reading this poem. The language is still easy to follow and the format covers only a few thoughts at a time which makes it easier to follow along. The idea that attracted me most toward this poem was empathy. A person reflects on how he a man that he killed could have very well been his friend given different circumstances. It is this notion that reveals the sadness that accompanies war. It is because of this message that I found this poem overwhelming.
I like how you point out how a person reflects on how he killed a man that could of been his friend. It is indeed a poem that brings forth the accompanies of war. Killing in a war is a very intriguing topic because there is an abundance of factors that contribute and expel from it.It reminds me of an account I read about in "On Killing" in which WW2 a group of american and german soldiers shared a brief moment of friendship while sitting in a ditch avoiding mortor shells. they shared cigarettes and once the bombings stopped they parted with farewells like they were not enemies in war. It shows that many soldiers are not that much different and how they can be affected because of the difficulty of dehumanizing a person that can very well mirror themselves. It in a way realates to " The Man He Killed" in terms of how it has affected the narrator. I enjoyed reading this post. If the subject of war and effects of killing in a war intrest you i would sugggest reading "On Killing" because is provides insight about it in a good amount of detail.
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