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Corey M. Dunn

Professor Sung

English 113

19 January 2018

Langston Hughes: Dreams

Langston Hughes, captivates us here with the notion of what dreams really mean from

the perspective of his vision. He does this by demonstrating the importance of why, the

African American audience, need to understand the value of their dreams. Hughes

encourages them to hold on to dreams because they are what give them hope. His use

of metaphors within the text when broken down express the raw emotion of what it

was like to have been living as a black person in those times. An example of this comes

in the first two lines as quoted by Hughes, for if dreams die, Life is a broken-winged bird

that cannot fly (1-2) which translates to life being dismal and in despair, while the dream

correlates to hope or in a biblical sense faith. And without faith, you live a life that

would be miserable as explained by the website gradesaver.com:

The hobbled and downtrodden bird is a physical symbol of the discrimination

and struggles that African Americans faced during Hughes Time. Dreams,

however, have no physical limitations. Dreams are important for maintaining

faith as they provide comfort, solace, and hope in a brutal world”

This being the focus of Hughes imagery of the struggle as an African American Living in

America may sound full of sorrow, contrastingly gives life to the silver lining within these
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societal disproportions that with faith anything is possible and brings as stated

“comfort” (2014).

In conclusion, the takeaway from this poem is that life can be so much better regardless

the situation given to you if you have faith knowing that something better is waiting for

you.
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Works Cited

Osborne, Kristen. Boghani, A. ed. ‘Langston Hughes: Poems “Mother to son” and “Dreams”

Summary and Analysis”. Gradesaver, 8 February 2014 Web. 19 January 2018

Corey M. Dunn

Professor Sung

English 113

18 Jan. 2018

Edna St. Vincent Millay: First Fig

Millay uses her ability of symbolism to describe her intimate attributes to whom would

presumably be her lovers and former lovers. This pretense is found quite notably in the short

poem First fig (Millay) who captivates us with a short but very meaningful description of what

one may think is herself but for all case and purposes, the speaker is unknown. The candle

represents the metaphor of her body for the story, one that burns on both ends which intel’s

that through its exuberance, it will burn much faster according to Smoops.com “And even

though it will burn out quickly, it also burns twice as brightly as any normal candle” (2008). The

candle has bright a glow for all to see in all its glory. Because it burns faster, it may not make the

night which symbolizes that we must see her glory now or else we may not get another chance.

She does this by alerting to her “foes and her friends” (Millay) This call to action that further

denotes to the candle giving a “lovely light” (Millay) This can be the key to her overall prowess of

the topic. Her SEXUAL prowess can be seen here as she notates its loveliness. One may even
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consider this to be a promiscuous anthem to sexuality for women who were exploited during this

time by calling for her lovers to get one last attempt at getting in bed with her before they lose

the chance at the “lovely light” (Millay).

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Works cited

Shmoop Editorial Team. "First Fig: Lines 1-4 Summary." Shmoop. Shmoop University, Inc., 11

Nov. 2008. Web. 18 Jan. 2018.

Millay, Edna St. Vincent “First Fig” Figs from thistles June 1918

Monroe, Harriet Poetry magazine of verse. Web. 18 Jan 2018

Corey M. Dunn

Professor Sung

English 113

18 Jan 2018

Poem of Horace: Ode 1.11

In the Odes series much can be learned from Horace and his use of persuasion. One

poem that encompasses this idea can be seen in the poem Ode 1.11; Horace, who was a pagan

poet did not have much faith in the old gods and their meandering of the lives of the people of

Rome. He had no belief that they would give him a promise of life and longevity. Something

that he had wanted to explain to his lover Leuconoe, who Horace is addressing in the poem that

they should “Seize the day, trusting as little as possible in the future” (Jacks, n.d.). Objectively,

Horace is attempting to persuade Leuconoe into giving herself to him sexually by expressing

that they must “Not leave to chance future happenings, but rather one should do all they can

today to make one’s future better” (Harrison, 2012). His use of metaphors within the lines give

a deeper hedonistic approach to his passion he has for Leuconoe who can now clearly

understand what Horace wants of her as referenced by Epicurus Horace “Uses agricultural
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metaphors to urge us to embrace the pleasures available in everyday life instead of relying on

remote aspirations for the future” (Epicurus & Epicurean Philosophy). By doing so he has now

placed himself in a position of getting what he wants from her without recourse because she

now believes wholeheartedly that they must enjoy the now without worry of tomorrow, or

what the Gods may or may not give them.

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Works Cited

Harrison, S. J. (2012). The Cambridge companion to Horace. Cam Press.

Jacks, L. (n.d.). The 5 Most Frequently Misused Proverbs.

Cracked.com:http://www.cracked.com/article_20251_the-5-most-frequently-misused-

proverbs.html#ixzz2Owoxb8mB

Cook, V. (1996) Ode I-XI "Carpe Diem" www.epicurus.net

Corey M. Dunn

Professor Sung

English 113

19 January 2018

Czeslaw Milosz: A song on the End of the World

What if the world was ending and you didn’t even know it was happening? The Poem A song on

the end of the world takes the reader from what would be assumed the eyes of one witnessing

the end of the world. Milosz pulls us in by giving highlights of normal daily activities (women

with umbrellas walking around, fisherman working on a net etc.) going on around him that

unbeknownst to everything happening, the world will soon be coming to an end. In a sense,

Milosz is setting a scene that possibly alludes not the actual ending of the world but a world

with no despair or horrors of war as it would relate to the Warsaw uprising of 1944 (Borodziej,

2006) which is delicately mentioned at the end of the poem as to say in memory of, or never

forget. Milosz paints a picture of what a beautiful day looks like; animals frolicking, people
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performing daily repetitious activities, and bees flying around on a typical sunny day. These

activities would be far from what one would think to be the day the world ends in contrast to

what most would expect to be darkness, thunderous, and violent.

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Works Cited

Borodziej, Włodzimierz (2006). The Warsaw Uprising of 1944. Translated by Barbara Harshav.

University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-20730-4 p. 74..

Czelaw Milosz, “A Song on the End of the World” The Collected Poems; Web. 1931-1987

The Ecco Press. The Collected Poems Web. 1988

Corey M. Dunn

Professor Sung

English 113

19 January 2018

Robert Herrick: To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

Understanding this poem as it is told, Herrick wants the virgins to completely understand

that they should enjoy their virtuous youth and remember that time waits for no one. He

uses the metaphor of time and aging repetitiously throughout the poem signifying its

importance. The speaker Herrick, who is talking to virgins is raising an awareness for them

to not waste a lot of their time because like the “rosebud” (Herrick), they will eventually

wither away (or grow old). From the use of their age, to the Sun as it peaks and sets to the

way a flower blooms and withers. Given the time of this poem being written, people had

very short-lived lives which would signify his stance on living in the now or Carpe Diem (23

BC). Furthermore, in this age, Marriage was more coveted than it is today making it the
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utmost goal of your life that you should strive for while you have youth on your side as

stated by the website Smoops.com:

If you were a woman, marriage would have been really important if you wanted

to be taken care of (women couldn't really get jobs), have a nice home, even

have sex. If marriage could potentially provide these things in ways that the

single life could not, it would indeed make sense to think of getting married as

making the most of one's time (2008)

In short, Herrick’s main objective to the virgins whom he was speaking to was to have

them waste no time of their youth on things that added little to no value to their lives and to

act in the now and get what they want out of life before their beauty and youth fade away,

leaving them to carry that guilt of not doing so for the rest of their lives.
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Works Cited

Shmoop Editorial Team. "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time (Gather ye rosebuds)." Shmoop.

Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 19 Jan. 2018.

Horace, , and David West. Horace Odes I: Carpe Diem. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995. Print.