The Dying Child by John Clare

The Dying Child by John Clare is an amazing poem.  There are six stanza, each with five lines.  The rhyme scheme is ABABA.  The rhyme scheme is also masculine rhyme.  These are not the parts that make it amazing though. 

What makes this amazing is the theme or the plot of the story.  It talks about a young boy who could not die in the spring because it was too beautiful of a time.  It shows the scenery or what the boy sees very graphically.  Besides the beautiful imagery, it  definitely pulls on anyones heartstrings.  It is sad, but at the same time, it is nature and things like this happen.  Young children should never have to die, but it does happen and it is tragic.  

It reminds me of my cousin Katie.  Even though she is still living, she went through traumatic times even though she is only 6.  Two years ago, the doctors found a volleyball sized tumor inside of her stomach.  The scans were horrifying.  She was also in her third stage of cancer.  Not once did that baby cry or complain.  She kept everyone else strong, even though that sounds impossible.  The removed the tumor and she was going through serious sessions of chemotherapy and radiation.  Her hair fell out and she lost most of her body weight.  She didn’t care, though.  She had a goal that she was going to play soccer with her brother one way or another.  And now two years later, she is in remission, her hair has grown back, she’s gained weight, and she has finally gotten to play soccer with Brayden, her older brother.

Sea Shell by Amy Lowell Post # 8

In the poem by Amy Lowell called Sea Shell, I noticed some writing techniques she used to write this poem.  The rhyme scheme throughout the poem is aabb after the first two lines.  In the first and third stanza the first lines are the same which is repetition.  It has three stanzas and the first two have four lines and the third has two.  This could be a sonnet.  The poem is also end-stopped and has a euphonious sound to it. 

This poem reminds me of my little cousin Kristin.  She loves sea shells.  She always was so amazed when she was little at the sound that came from inside the shells.  She was like “Haley! Haley! Listen! You can hear the ocean in here!” and she would put the shell up to my ear.  My Grandma Kati gave her this gigantic one and I have never seen such light in a child’s eyes before.  I like this poem because it is almost just like a thought.  It seems she is just looking into the ocean and thinking of the little rhyme in her head.  Her word choice is actually very typical.  There is not much about this poem that is eye catching or grand.  Even with this factor, it still intrigues me.  I can see her singing this little diddle in a soft, quiet voice towards the waves as she sits on the beach.  She almost sounds like she is trying to sound like a young girl, who has just learned about the Spanish Main.