Poetic Trials: A Sonnet and Free Verse

Destined Recollections

The moments that pass by will never return,
Like the pending lovely hopes of years long gone.
Yet the keen mind continues to yearn,
For the simple anticipations that it once dwelled on.

How futile they all now seem, the forgotten dreams.
The dancing harmonies and images that use to
Cascade down like the interminable waters of rushing streams,
Have renounced the recollections that were once true.

The unforgettable scent of the purple lilac,
Beckons the beauty of the delicate past.
What once was utterly inevitable and awestruck,
Has transformed its longing into a tempestuous forecast.

The memories that torture in every flashback,
All seem to call out for a reason to turn back.
 



                  Worldly Wonder

 The world of wonder signals with each earthly cycle.

               The chirping of the lively birds
          Fills the air with whimsical tranquility.

         Stretching its arms to envelop the lands,
          The sun motions nature to take charge
  And transform its dullness with sheer sparkle and spirit.

           Light streams in through the window,
           Awakening the promises of a new day.
How lovely and enchanting are the delights of convention?
          How welcoming are its alluring intricacies?

Week 4 Reflection

This week’s class session was short, but to the point! Having just submitted our poetry analysis papers, we seemed ready to get working on our own creative poetry task. Writing poetry does not come naturally for me, so it was difficult to get actual words on paper in the thirty minutes of class; however, my imagination began operating at faster speeds. Rhyme and poetic form became my primary areas of concern. Decisions, decisions. Should I let the form dictate my word choice or let the my words flow willingly in free verse?

Poetry Analysis Paper (Final)

Arpine Barseghyan
Dr. Wexler
English 495 ESM
2/18/13
  Nature vs. Social Obligations

Robert Frost’s, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” is a compelling poem which represents Frost’s prominent themes of human limitations, isolation, and the juxtaposition of life and death. As an eminent author of American Modernist literature, Frost’s works have come to symbolize the human struggle with societal norms and the contemplative journey to self-discovery. His simplistic style of writing depicts common experiences, yet epitomizes universal motifs which chronicle the philosophical considerations of the individual. The multiple interpretations and connotations of his poetry is an amalgam of simple diction with obscure expression, making his renowned writing both accessible and enlightening to the masses. Although uncomplicated in its form and diction, the imagery of Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” represents the dichotomy between nature and social obligations.

The simplicity of Frost’s meter and rhythm places greater emphasis on the meanings garnered by his choice of often monosyllabic words. The poem consists of four stanzas following an AABA, BBCB, CCDC, DDDD rhyme scheme and is written in iambic tetrameter, where each line consists of four iambic feet. The lines contain mostly single syllable words: know...though...snow, here, queer, near, year; thus the rhymes crowd together “embodying the rushed cadences of the man-made world” (Wakefield). The third line of each stanza sets up the rhyme for the following stanza. For example, in the first stanza, know, though, and snow all rhyme, but here rhymes with queer, near, and year in the following stanza, dragging the reader forward. The speaker is stopping by the woods on a snowy evening with his horse, and is tempted to stay longer, until he realizes that he has “Promises to keep / Miles to go before I sleep / Miles to go before I sleep” (14-16). On the surface, this poem seems to represent the temptation of death, even suicide, symbolized by the woods that are filling up with snow on the darkest evening of the year, however; the connotation of the woods, the horse, and the promises transcend the contemplation of death.
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” exemplifies the opposition between nature and one’s duty to society. In the first stanza the speaker associates the woods with an owner, “Whose woods these are I think I know / His house is in the village though;” representing the woods as personal property rather than nature (1-2). The speaker’s horse, in the second stanza, personifies society and reason for, “My little horse might think it queer / To stop without a farmhouse near” (5-6). Frost is commenting on society’s disengagement from nature and the lack of interaction and solitude within the natural world. In stanza three, the horse gives his “harness bells a shake / to ask if there is some mistake;” the lure of the woods and being alone in its deep and dark presence is seen as irrational, which the horse signals with his bells (9-10). The bells are a reminder of his obligations, or “promises” as the speaker states in stanza four, to the society outside of the woods.
Stanza four provides the ultimate recognition of the dichotomy between the rational and irrational, between nature and social obligations. The speaker describes the woods for the first time, “The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,” yet does not dwell on the attraction and temptation of the woods, for he is reminded of the “promises” that he has to keep (14). The fear of being seen stopping by the woods “returns a man away from intimate contact with nature” and thus represents “the pull that the promises of modern life exert upon a man who feels a bond with nature” (Wakefield). The repetition of the last two lines of the poem, “And miles to go before I sleep / And miles to go before I sleep,” undermines the powerful lure of nature with the sense of belonging to the world of man; “the social side of his natures prevails over the psychic lure of the depths” (Shurr 585). The speaker’s responsibility to the civilized world overthrows the calm temptation of the woods, for the woods are not an accepted aspect of the social norm. Although the poem appears to solely present the contemplation of succumbing to death or continuing the journey of life, “it is about a man's separation from [the woods] and from the autonomy that would allow him to indulge his desire to appreciate them” (Wakefield). Ultimately, the speaker does not succumb to the aesthetic, psychological, and metaphorical allure of the woods, and chooses the rational over the irrational due to the demands of the man-made world.
Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” through its accessible diction and form, represents the conflicting opposition between nature and societal obligations. The poem comments on man’s declining engagement with nature, especially being in solitude within nature in a society thriving in industrialization. The familiar experience of walking through the woods comes to exemplify the speakers philosophical journey through self-reflection and the struggles between the desire to enjoy nature and the will to conform to society’s expectations. Frost epitomizes the dichotomy between the natural world and one’s duty to society, demonstrating the alluring effect of his simplistic writing form.


Works Cited

Shurr, William H. "Once More to the 'Woods': A New Point of Entry into Frost's Most Famous Poem." The New England Quarterly, 47.4 (1974): 584-595. JSTOR. Web. 15. Feb. 2013.

Wakefield, Richard. "Thomas Eakins and Robert Frost: To Be a Natural Man in a Man-made  World." The Midwest Quarterly, 41.4 (2000): JSTOR. Web. 15 Feb. 2013.

Week 3 Reflection

This week’s class was definitely aimed at creativity and got me thinking about the daunting task of poetry, which no longer appears as baffling to me. I think that writing poetry is a creative task, which should not be forced, but for those of us that don’t thrive in its interminable world the challenge of stimulating the mind and its imagination is intriguing.

Poetry Exercises:

--Alliteration--                                                            --Assonance--

Everlasting Envy                                              Worldly Wonder

Hollow Heart                                                   Romantic Movement

Subsiding Sea                                                  Honor’s Society

Sautéed Spinach                                             Catastrophic Cacophony

Restaurant Review                                         Literary Figures

Irresistible ingredients                                  Thrifty Editions

False Friend                                                     Wedding Bells

Bountiful Berries                                            Lovely Hopes

Mother’s Mercy                                             Declarative Sentence

Struggling Stranger                                        Fighting Figuratively

                   Metaphors

Love is a long awaited journey.

Death is an inevitable sleep.

Birth is the beginning of a new day.

Marriage is a trek through foreign lands.

                         Distances

The unforgettable scent of the purple lilac

   The memories that torture in every flashback

      The melodies of the years that’ll never come back

          All call out for a reason to turn back

Week 2 Reflection

This week’s class chronicled our initial journey through the world of poetry, and it was definitely a positive experience! The atmosphere was light and welcoming, ensuring the free exchange of ideas and interpretations, which is not always the case when it comes to poetry. I enjoyed the works we read out loud and particularly appreciated the different viewpoints that our class presented. The discussion of poetry itself and its proper definition cast light onto the often elusive nature of the literary form and illustrated the complexity of poems--both in its creative and analytic aspects. Although I’m not too ecstatic about the creative writing of poetry that’s coming up, I am enjoying my exploration of the 100 Best-Loved poems for my poetry analysis paper. It is difficult to choose which poem to focus on, but my research is pointing me towards either Frost’s “A Road Not Taken,” Keats's "Ode to a Grecian Urn," or Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!”

Hello... :)

My name is Arpine Barseghyan and I’m a senior at CSUN. Welcome to my blog! I am an English Literature major and have just begun student teaching at Northridge Academy High School as part of my credential program, which is remarkably fascinating on multiple levels. Although I am not a huge fan of social networking sites and choose to live without them, I find blogs a wonderful medium of expression and an effective tool in the classroom. Media technology is simply an inevitable reality in today’s classroom and should be employed in the world of teaching, especially in secondary education. Technology is an integral part of students’ lives, thus linking the methods of communication and information access they are used to with critical applications will create an engaging and relevant connection with content material and better prepare them for higher education and beyond. I have found classroom discussion boards extremely effective for creating dialogue around a common topic and exchanging new ideas and would love to have a class website in my future classroom, where literature can be discussed and new interpretations can be formulated. Whether it be through Moodle or a school website, adding an online component to the classroom norm allows for each student to work at their own pace and also have the opportunity to communicate with peers. I have always enjoyed my online class experiences (ok, well not always, but that had nothing to do with the class format), and I look forward to more positive experiences in the future! 



arpine.barseghyan.58@my.csun.edu