Tuesday, February 1, 2011

The poems in this weeks reading each creatively presented the topic of love and unity. In the poem “The Flea,” written by John Donne, he explains to his lover that the flea has joined them together by sucking their blood. He explains to her that there is no “sin, or shame, in the loss of maidenhood.” He is aware that she is not willing to make love to him because she sees loosing her maidenhood, in other words virginity, as a sin. The line “through parents grudge, and you we’re met” tells the reader that she is also aware of the grudge that her parents have against their romance. When the lover tries to kill the flea, he stops her, pointing out to her that he knows she will not accept their love because she will be committing a sin, but if she does kill the flea she will be committing “three sins in killing three.” With his blood and her blood flowing together through the flea, she would be taking each of their lives.
In another one of John Donne’s poems, Valediction, Forbidding Mourning, the speaker and his lover are aware that they will soon have to spend time apart from one another. He explains that rather than being sad and dwelling on what’s soon to come, they should cherish each others company. He creates a unique parallel between their separation and the movements of the earth. The author clarifies their love as “inter-assured of the mind” and so grounded and stable that they shouldn’t worry about being away from each other. The separation will not pull them apart, but only make their love stronger.
Rita Dove’s, Fox Trot Fridays,is a poem that describes a man and a woman sharing a dance to the fox trot. It has a flowing rhythm of nine, two line stanzas that incorporates a description of their movement while at the same time, giving the reader a sense of their togetherness. The author uses the fox trot as an escape from everyday life by letting go of all worries from the week and just be one with your partner: “Thank the stars there’s a day each week to tuck in the grief, lift your pearls, and stride brush stride.” The reader especially sees Dove’s intention of love and romance when she says, “on man, one woman, rib to rib, with no heartbreak in sight.”
The poem Memorandum, written by Billie Bolton, is very different from the rest of poems assigned for this week because of the way Bolton humorously lists off her boyfriends attributes that she hopes to never hear about again. I thought that the format of the poem and creativity, such as the use of “TO: FR: and RE:” added something extra and seemed to fit the poem perfectly. Although Memorandum seems far from a love poem, it is still the author’s expression of her relationship with a significant other. While all of the qualities she lists are dissenting, they are still experiences they have shared together as a couple.

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