Matthew+Marshall

"Poetry is like making a joke. If you get one word wrong at the end of a joke, you've lost the whole thing." -William Stanley Merwin

Raised by:

I was raised by the school bell signaling class The pledge, every morning Standing inside because it was too hot or too cold.

"Good morning class," teachers Who always had energy Who always had high expectations Who always gave too easy work. Wondering how I finished so soon And didn't believe that I was done Even though I was.

Teachers who said "When you are finished, read a book." Even though they didn't follow through. Nobody read.

I was raised by "Are you done your homework" "You can play when you are done" and "Let me see that you did it" parents

A's and B's only Procrastinating wrongfully and always finishing.

I was raised by Education

Ode to Sleep: So we meet again. I've been waiting for this moment. All day, it was all I could think about, And now it is time. I get ready, Put on my pajamas I turn off the lights and lay down. I wait for you to arrive.  We spend so much time together, but it feels like none Then suddenly we are interrupted. The sound of my alarm pulls me away from you. Until tonight my love.   <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Economy Poem: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"> They started this alone But they need to finish it with help. Started hopeful ending hopeless They lost hope and found need.

It’s a simple project from the outside But always has its curves. At some point everyone needs help I bet it gets on their nerves

I can’t do anything Just sit outside and watch They look anywhere, everywhere But nobody, not a soul, nothing helping.

“Money’s tight,” they say But they still put up a fight That’s when life decides to throw another curve.

Fire, flood, falling roof Failing economic country. These are some curves that life decides to throw And mess everything up. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Statement: When writing my poems I worry more about line length then the breaks. The poem has to flow and rhyme, not have good breaks. That is me personally. I do however prefer poetry that rhymes   <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Robert Frost Going for water: The well was dry beside the door, And so we went with pail and can Across the fields behind the house To seek the brook if still it ran;

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Not loth to have excuse to go, Because the autumn eve was fair (Though chill), because the fields were ours, And by the brook our woods were there.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> We ran as if to meet the moon That slowly dawned behind the trees, The barren boughs without the leaves, Without the birds, without the breeze.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> But once within the wood, we paused Like gnomes that hid us from the moon, Ready to run to hiding new With laughter when she found us soon.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Each laid on other a staying hand To listen ere we dared to look, And in the hush we joined to make We heard, we knew we heard the brook.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> A note as from a single place, A slender tinkling fall that made Now drops that floated on the pool

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> The author uses formal speaking to bring us to a happy place. The author uses few formal words to emphasize the informality of the poem. The poem uses words like "laughter", and "ran to meet the moon" to set the mood. He wants to make the reader get to the place by them selves. He gives more and more of the setting as he goes on in the poem. He breaks each thought with a stanza. He does this by adding a period. The lines are each eight syllables to give a good rhythm to the poem. The rhyme scheme is every other line. The reason for this is those are the lines that say something of importance.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;">Nothing Gold can stay by Robert Frost: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> The author’s use of metaphors makes the reader realize the value of happiness. The length of the lines is important. Each one is 6 except for lines 3, 4, and the last one. This is to make these lines stand out. Lines 3 and 4 are an enjambment. The last line is even shorter to make it stand out even more. It is the title of the poem and what the author wants to get across. He makes every line 2 lines rhyme. This helps to give the poem a flow. The poem is formal. It makes the reader think more. "But only so an hour" gives is meant to change the mood. The first half seems hopeful but the second half is sorrowful. The leaf is supposed to represent all happiness, not just nature. He is saying that happiness can’t last forever. It has to subside.

Robert Frost:

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening:

Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"> He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound's the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"> The author’s use of simplicity shows the reader how peaceful nature can be. Each line is 8 syllables to make the poem consistent. Each stanza is an enjambment and ends in a period to end the thought. The poem is straightforward. The poem is very simple to get the point well across. The poem doesn’t have a formal tone, but doesn’t strike me with an informal tone.