Weekly Poem Blog - Sun 12/11/11

"The Secret"
I love the tone in this poem. :) it is very straightforward and easy to understand, yet so profound at the same time. The author realizes the beauty in poetry and the differences in how it may be interpreted. She loves that her poetry has inspired others, and will continue to inspire them as long as they live. They may forget the "secret of life" within a week, but that is the beauty of the whole thing. For this allows them to discover it again, and again, and again. I believe the idea of discovering and rediscovering a secret within a poem is symbolic of the truths in this world that we so often discover and so quickly forget. What would be the fun in always knowing everything though? Life is a journey, and discovering is what makes it so enjoyable. The last line of this poem is so powerful for it suggests that the secret in her poem may not be discovered if the reader doesn't believe or assume that it's there in the first place. The author loves the girls who discovered this secret for their faith and perseverance. I believe that part of her wishes she had these qualities; there is definitely a strong tone of admiration for these two girls. The antecedent scenario could have involved a letter which the author received from a third party (as she references in the third stanza of the poem) notifying her of the discovery which these two girls had made in the line of one of her poems. Apparently the letter was somewhat vague, as the author does not even know what the secret was or even what line it was from. But such a letter could have absolutely motivated her to write a poem about this discovery, especially since she seems to admire and love these girls so much for what they found.

Weekly Poem Blog - Sun 12/4/11

"The Coming of Wisdom with Time"
This poem is strikingly short- only four lines long. The theme may be a bit obscure from reading just the poem, but the title makes it pretty clear. The author believes that wisdom is gained with time and experience, and this, I believe, is the theme of this poem. The author conveys the message that in his youth, he was focused on the leaves and flowers of a tree or plant, rather than the root. I see this as symbolism for the fancy, luxuries in life which we are so often distracted by. These are not the important things and do not deserve our attention. Rather, the root, which grounds us in our beliefs, symbolizes knowledge and wisdom and truth. The author states at the end of the poem that "now I may wither into the truth." I believe the author's diction here is symbolizing the withering of the leaves of a tree, as in fall, because they not longer matter. They are not what is important, because the truth is in the root.