Poems and short stories

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• mavo
• Leerjaar 4

Poems and short stories

Who is Walt Whitman?

Walt Whitman was an American poet and writer born in 1819 in Huntington, Long Island, though for most of his childhood and his later career, Whitman lived in Brooklyn, only moving to Camden, New Jersey at the end of his life. As such, unsurprisingly, the urbanity of Whitman’s surroundings has found its way into his work.

However, Whitman is perhaps better known for his influence on Transcendentalism, an artistic and cultural movement originating in the United States interested in individualism and the experience of selfhood and wonder within the realm of the natural world away from society. After all, many of Whitman’s poems, including “Miracles,” is filled with natural imagery and Whitman’s lyrical experience of observing and living within nature;

Whitman is famous for popularizing free verse, poetry that throws off conventional forms and patterns of rhyme and meter for lyric that is more similar to the free-flowing nature of daily speech

How does it start?

The poem starts with a question: "Why, who makes much of a miracle?" This rhetorical question sets the tone for the whole poem: Whitman is suggesting that most people don't appreciate the miracles around them. But he himself does, and he proceeds to give us a laundry list of examples

 "Miracles" is a celebration of life and nature

 Whitman is saying that life is a miracle, and that we should appreciate every moment of it. He's also saying that nature is a miracle, and that we should take the time to marvel at its beauty and complexity.  Whitman is suggesting that there is a spiritual dimension to life and nature. - Transcendentalism

 "Miracles" is a poem that is deeply rooted in its historical context. Whitman was writing in the mid-19th century, a time when America was undergoing tremendous changes. The country was expanding westward, industrialization was transforming the economy, and slavery was tearing the nation apart. "Miracles" can be seen as a response to the turmoil of the times. Whitman is suggesting that amidst all the chaos and violence, there is still beauty and wonder to be found in the world.

List...

 Whitman was famous for his use of lists in his poetry, and "Miracles" is no exception. The list of examples that Whitman gives us is not just a random assortment of things; it's a carefully crafted list that takes us on a journey through different aspects of life and nature. This journey is meant to make us appreciate the diversity and richness of the world around us.

Robert Frost

Robert Frost lived from 1874 – 1963. Though he was born in San Francisco, he moved back to his family’s home in New England after his father died when he was a young boy. Both his mother and grandfather were teachers who made sure Robert read a wide variety of materials.

As a young man, Frost attended Dartmouth College and Harvard, but he didn’t graduate from either. Instead, he worked as a farmer, an editor, and a schoolteacher. As a young man, he wrote in his spare time, but his poems were rejected for publication. When his first poem was published in 1894, he was paid $15 for it.

More about Frost...

In 1911, he decided to move to England in hopes of getting his poetry published there. By this time, he was married and had children.His first book of poetry was published in England in 1913, and it was well received. When he returned to the United States, he was surprised by the favorable American reviews of his poems. The same publishers who had rejected his poems years before were now asking him for his poetry! 

In 1924, 1931, 1937, and 1943, he won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry.  He received forty-four honorary degrees and numerous awards including a Congressional gold medal in 1960 for his poetry. . In 1960, he was asked to read at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy – the first time such an invitation had been extended to a poet.

Robert Frost’s work is still extremely popular today. His poems deal with simple events and rural settings. Often the topics and dialect are unique to the New England region. While the topics of his poems may be simple, like a road in the case of The Road Not Taken, they contain insight into human nature and life.

About the Poem

The Road Not Taken” is a narrative poem, meaning it is a poem that tells a story. It was written in 1915 as a joke for Frost’s friend, Edward Thomas. Frost and Thomas were fond of hiking together, and Thomas often had trouble making up his mind which trail they should follow. (Yes, that’s right: one of the most famous American poems was originally written as a goofy private joke between two friends!)

Frost first read it to some college students who, to his surprise, thought it a very serious poem. “The Road Not Taken” was first published in the August 1915 issue of The Atlantic Monthly, and then was re-published as the opening poem in his poetry collection Mountain Interval the next year.

More about the Poem...

“The Road Not Taken” is a poem that argues for the importance of our choices, both big and small, since they shape our journey through life. For Frost, the most important decisions we make aren’t the ones we spend tons of time thinking about, like who we have relationships with, where we go to college, or what our future career should be. Instead, Frost’s poem posits that the small choices we make each and every day also have big impacts on our lives. Each decision we make sets us upon a path that we may not understand the importance of until much, much later

www.sparknotes.com