Poetry Analysis: Three Poems, Essay Example

Selected Poems

• Hometown: Luis Cabalquinto
• Going Home: Maurice Kenny
• Home: Audre Lorde

The sentiment associated with the above poems is that of reminiscence and nostalgia about what the authors consider to be their real homes, their childhood memories which they identify with their truer self. They express their emotions in either an intricate weave of words, or a sequence of historical events which framed the concept of home during their development as a human being. Their intellectual capabilities attained over the years make them yearn for the original home which they associate with their childhood.

Setting

The first poem by Cabalquinto describes a setting where he highlights the activities which take place in his hometown and are unique, unavailable in a modern city setting and bring one into direct touch with the nature. The beginning itself stimulates the reader’s mind to imagine a forlorn place in the lap of nature where the author savors the beauty of nature sitting on a bench outside the old house where he, in all likelihood, has spent his life as a child. The food items he mentions, the mountain rice and the river crab which has been roasted using a natural wood fire, come from the lap of nature itself. While the author looks at the flowing river pensively, he recalls his childhood. The second stanza reveals that the author now truly is at peace with himself in the natural setting where he reestablishes his lost identity which had been diluted and dominated by the crowd of people in the city. By coming back to his native land he attains peace of mind as well as spirit. The third stanza reveals his yearning to maintain this status quo where he can enjoy the joys of nature like the open skies and the stars reflected in the river forever. The last two stanzas reinforce and describe his yearning more eloquently as they refer to the vitality he feels from the inputs of silence, darkness and smells which are symbolic of the environment he is now in. The poem ends with the author in peace with himself, oblivious and unconcerned of the slight distractions like noise of laughter from a neighbor, the sweeping sound as a bird flies by or the warmth emanating from the dog snuggled at his feet.

Narrative & Symbolism

The second poem by Kenny is in narrative style where he describes his journey from the city to his native place where he expects to find himself in the lap of nature along with his long lost family friends and relatives. The narration is in the form of a single stanza which catapults the author’s ideas one into the other as he undertakes the journey. The poem begins by the author being oblivious of the book which lies in his lap while he travels from Brooklyn to countryside through Syracuse and Watertown on a Greyhound bus. The journey by bus is shown as a symbolism when the author mentions its following of the plow along its way. The author envisages and expects to find the joys of nature at his native place, like the lazily flowing rivers, closed old establishments like paper mills and expects to find maple trees, country cheese as the food item and the company of old aunts whom he recalls as being gossipy, tending to their flowers amidst pets like pregnant cats. This shows the high imaginative power of the author as he aptly describes the real situation in his hometown setting. The next few lines describe the topography of his hometown and the vegetation he expects to find there, in the form of fields strewn with boulders and Pine, Cedar and Willow trees. The author ends the poem by expressing that he was not at peace with himself in the artificial surroundings of Brooklyn where he was restricted by the products of city life like bars, ghettos and closed doors. He failed to express his true emotions in the form of song and dance which he now imagines he will be able to do at his native place.

Setting

The third poem by Lorde describes a setting which symbolizes what she expects and considers being her home. She does not actually describe her home surroundings but returning to the place itself was enough. Her mother’s name on the stone depicts that she is no longer living, but the author still feels her presence as she associates her memories with the native place. She does not need affirmation of the facts by going to the graveyard as she feels the essence of things within herself. In two simple stanzas, the author is able to convey the concept of home as it exists in her thoughts. The second stanza particularly describes the event of her being recognized as a familiar face in her hometown by two wizened old women in the lorry she is travelling in. This small incident is enough to satisfy the author’s feelings of belonging to the place.

Works Cited

Cabalquinto Luis, Hometown

Kenny Maurice, Going Home

Lorde Audre, Home