‘The Obligation to Be Happy' discusses success and how difficult it is to attain. The poet observes that meeting other desires, such as attractiveness and housework, is easy, but achieving the expected satisfaction is difficult. This is similar to the poem 'Why are your poems so dark?' The individual interviewing the main character desires hope and is surprised by the poet's depiction of darkness in the poetry. The author also goes on to say that while there will still be light, there must still be darkness. The poet even uses an example from a religion where when God was creating the world, he also ordained light and dark. Thus to the poet, it is only natural that while there are light and happy poems, dark ones also exist.
These poems both use comparisons as in ‘The Obligation to be Happy'; the poet states that just as it is expected to see the sunshine, it can be deterred by the darkness of clouds and rain. Thus, to the poet, just like the sun is expected and might be shining, the rain and darkness can appear and so it is the same with happiness in that, while the person might seem to be happy, sadness should also be expected. In ‘Why are Your Poems always Dark?' the poet also notes that the day leads to night and darkness and light exist too (Linda, Stanza 5, Line 1-2). The primary comparison which the poet seems to favor is that of light and darkness.
The poems are both divided into stanzas, but while one contains one sentence stanzas, the other is much longer. The poet does not rhyme any of the stanzas, and there is no discernable rhythm in each of the poems. What is distinctive is that the language used in both is clear and concise that any reader with interest would quickly understand the message the poet wishes to convey.
Sharon Olds, "Still Life in Landscape" and Sharon Olds, "The Planned Child"
The poems ‘The Planned Child' and ‘Still Life in Landscape' are both written by the poet Sharon Olds and allude to the fact that the poet is inclined towards contemporary topics. Planned pregnancies are practiced by more modern women who do not want children when they are not ready. However, in the case of the poem, the child got through this process is not happy about being a planned child. The narrator would prefer to have been conceived out of passion and heat. Such is her anger towards her mother that it can be felt in the first stanza in this two stanzas poem. The second poem, on the other hand, does not have any feelings of anger in it even though the narrator has witnessed a horrible accident. In both poems, children are trying to explain sins of their parents. While one is misguided and angry, the other is confirmed in the drunkenness of the father but relieved that neither the father nor the mother gets hurt in the accident that the father could have easily caused.
The theme here is acceptance where the child does not accept the mother as she does not see things from her perspective but once things are explained, she feels much calmer and even appreciates her mom. She gets to view her life from her mother's perspective. In ‘Still life in the Landscape,' the child also gets a perspective on life that is unexpected. She is viewing reality at a faster pace than she was ready for and this fascinates her. The child is yet to understand the concept of death thus she sees the mangled body as a work of art. The woman as the mother in ‘The Planned Child' tries to protect the child but they cannot do anything else. The fact that while they are still being protected, they still formulate opinions showing, that children are much cleverer than parents think about them. However, these views are at first glance and they need things to be explained so that they can follow the correct path.
‘The Planned Child’ has only two stanzas; the first one being about the anger of the child for being planned and the second being of a more understanding tone. The second poem has one continuous stanza that is impactful with the description and leads one to form a mental picture of death and the mangled woman. While there is the relief, that the child's drunk father did not cause the accident, the mental picture painted in one that is horrific yet artistic. Both poems contain no rhyme and rhythmic patterns as they are written out in a continuous mode that is almost narrative.
Sharon Olds, "First Thanksgiving" and Linda Pastan, "I Am Learning to Abandon the World"
Sharon Olds in ‘First Thanksgiving’ writes about a young woman who plans to head home and some of the activities she intends to take part. The activities she is interested in include sex as she states that her chest and ‘her breasts will be against each other’. This statement has led many critics to think that maybe the writer is a homosexual. However, the tone is one of the excitements of the holidays to come and the time she will get to spend with her loved ones, walking, talking, and meeting for the greeting.
The activities started to indicate that this is some sort of homecoming for the writer and reunion of old lovers. On the other hand, the poem by Linda Pastan seems like a break-up poem where the author is breaking up with the world. While Olds talks of two lovers that will be united, Linda speaks of a woman who wants nothing to do with the world anymore. However, this is only her thinking in the first part of the poem as she reminisces on things that bring her joy. Things that she would only be able to see and partake in when she gets up in the morning, in this case, a similarity of the poems appear as both characters have something to look forward to. Minor things but to each, they represent happiness and a reason to look forward to the day.
Olds uses puns to show the sexual activities that will be taking place where she calls her breasts chest and that of her companion breasts. While it would be thought that this would be events taking part between a man and a woman, the writer is referring to herself, thus it is about two women that are in love and excited to see each other as they are lovers too.
Both Linda and Olds poems have almost the same themes are they are reminiscing on the joys of life. There are few rhymes and rhythms, and while some meaning might seem hidden, each writer is straight forward as the poems are easy to understand. For Linda, the family experience such as ordinary stories of husband and wife, of child and parents from themes of deep human emotion, loss, growth, and the fragility of life. Olds does the same, but with much drier humor that makes the reader feel at ease with any topics, she chooses to address.
Larry Levis, "To a Wren on Calvary" and Larry Levis, "Winter Stars"
‘To a Wren on Calvary’ and ‘Winter Stars’ are both poems by American poet Larry Levis. Therefore, there will be distinct similarities in writing style and form even if the poems’ main themes will differ. For example in the forms, Larry uses stanzas in both poems but breaks them up in different ways, in ‘To a Wren on Calvary’ the stanzas each have four lines, however, after every three stanzas there is one line that is broken off and stands alone. This is an interesting way of organizing the poems as the line is a rest before going on to the next stanza. In ‘Winter Stars' while he still uses stanzas, they are arranged in an entirely different way. There is less organization here as they are not as uniformly arranged as in the first stanza. This is because some stanzas have three lines, where others have one, and the first stanza has 13 lines. There are also lines that appear in this poem too alone, which in some way makes both poems distinct (Madden 2009).
As the stanzas are almost similar, they are also different where the author does not rhyme or use rhythm in each poem. He only uses in ‘To Wren on Calvary', where in most stanzas that are distinct rhyming in the first and the last lines of the stanza, and the two middle lines in it. This gives the poem rhythm that makes it an enjoyable and easy to remember and read.
He describes violence in each poem quite vividly. In ‘To a Wren on Calvary’, he states that ‘Their last vision obscured by wings, then broken, entered; I cannot tell whether their blood spurts, or just spills,’ (Levis Stanza 1 line 5-6) where he is explaining the fate of some characters that had a part to play in the violence that is being seen. In ‘Winter Stars’, he explains how his father would have killed a man using just a small knife, ‘Two fingers, so it could slash, horizontally, and with surprising grace, Across a throat…’(Levis Stanza 1 line 6-8). These descriptions indicate that the writer is fascinated by violence and where appropriate he adds in an aspect of said violence. However, he makes sure to have it set up in an agreeable manner that would not cause the reader distress.
Therefore, Larry Levis’ mastery of poetry is shown through these two poems where even though the themes are different he can make the poem interesting. He uses American names which are distinct and which indicate where he likely hails from. He describes ‘John Deere' trucks which are mostly used in the Midwest area in America. His reference Calvary in the second poem also indicates that he has some religious background. Therefore, through these poems, the writer can be seen and understood at a personal level.
Works Cited
Levis, Larry. "Signs" Retrieved from http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/47941
Levis, Larry. "To a Wren on Calvary" Retrieved from http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/47946
Madden, Frank. Exploring literature: Writing and arguing about fiction, poetry, drama, and the essay. Pearson Longman, 2009.
Pastan, Linda. "Why Are Your Poems So Dark?" Retrieved fromhttp://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/detail/41918
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