English I Poetry Project
By: Chris Darkins
"Before The World Intruded"
By: Michele Rosenthal
Return me to those infant years,(A)
before I woke from sleep,(B)
when ideas were oceans crashing,(C)
my dreams blank shores of sand.(D)
Transport me fast to who I was(E)
when breath was fresh as sight,(F)
my new parts — unfragmented —(G)
shielded faith from unkind light.(F)
Draw for me a figure whole, so different(H)
from who I am. Show me now(I)
this picture: who I was(E)
when I began.(J)
(Free Verse)
Tone
"Before The World Intruded" has a reminiscing tone. Rosenthal uses phrases like "so different from who I am" and "who I was when I began" to imply that she is thinking about the past and sometimes wishes she could go back to that time.
Theme
The theme of "Before The World Intruded" is to not waste your time before you wish you had it back. Rosenthal implies this using phrases such as, in line 1 she says "Return me to those infant years" as well as, in line 5 "Transport me fast to who I was."
http://theblogofdlsesh1.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-past.html
All that's Past
By: Walter De La Mare
VERY old are the woods;(A)
And the buds that break(B)
Out of the brier's boughs,(C)
When March winds wake,(B)
So old with their beauty are--(D)
Oh, no man knows(C)
Through what wild centuries(E)
Roves back the rose.(C)
Very old are the brooks;(F)
And the rills that rise(G)
Where snow sleeps cold beneath(E)
The azure skies(H)
Sing such a history(E)
Of come and gone,(I)
Their every drop is as wise(G)
As Solomon.(J)
Very old are we men;(K)
Our dreams are tales(L)
Told in dim(M)
Eden By Eve's nightingales;(N)
We wake and whisper awhile,(O)
But, the day gone by,(P)
Silence and sleep like fields(Q)
Of amaranth lie.(P)
VERY old are the woods;(A)
And the buds that break(B)
Out of the brier's boughs,(C)
When March winds wake,(B)
So old with their beauty are--(D)
Oh, no man knows(C)
Through what wild centuries(E)
Roves back the rose.(C)
Very old are the brooks;(F)
And the rills that rise(G)
Where snow sleeps cold beneath(E)
The azure skies(H)
Sing such a history(E)
Of come and gone,(I)
Their every drop is as wise(G)
As Solomon.(J)
Very old are we men;(K)
Our dreams are tales(L)
Told in dim(M)
Eden By Eve's nightingales;(N)
We wake and whisper awhile,(O)
But, the day gone by,(P)
Silence and sleep like fields(Q)
Of amaranth lie.(P)
Tone
"All that's Past" has a reminiscing and explaining tone as if the speaker was telling and remembering at the same time. Mare constantly uses the phrases "Very old" and "So old" as if he was reminiscing. Mare also uses words such as "Our" and "We" as if he was explaining it to someone else.
Theme
The theme of "All that's Past" is to always remember as well as pass on what you know about the past so that the memory doesn't die with you. The part about passing it on comes from the explaining tone of the poem.