Isolated Emily

William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" encapsulates the general isolation of a lonely woman in a Southern, nosey town. From the plural first person point of view, the narrator includes himself with the townspeople, thus serving as the first indication of the distance and isolation between Miss Emily and the townspeople of Jefferson. The townspeople gather on occasion to discuss issues regarding Miss Emily's estate: the tax affair and the smell of the house. As a general concensus, the "we" indicate "they" must do something about "her." She is isolated from their decisions. I found it especially peculiar that she didn't even know Colonel Sartoris had been dead; this could be in part the fault of the people for failing to include her in town affairs.
"Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head." The townspeople realized in unison here the essence behind Miss Emily's lonely life. She found her company in the dead sweetheart, whom she may or may not have poisoned. Again, the townspeople make their own suppositions regarding Emily and her lifestyle.

Aside from the evident unison of the first person account, there was rose imagery to hint at the plausible explanation for the title. The rose imagery found in Homer Barron's indicated death room- "...faded rose color" and "rose-shaded lights"- serve a purpose. Here lies Miss Emily's dead sweetheart; he was the only rose in her life, the only form of love and supposed beauty.

"Elegy for My Father, Who Is Not Dead" by Andrew Hudgins

It's a curious title where a thought of the father's death is being written before he even dies. Perhaps the speaker writes an elegy because of the anticipation of the father's death and the closeness of death. The speaker and father take on two clearly different perspectives on death.

Father: The father embraces death; "He's ready." This phrase is repeated a couple times giving emphasis to the fact that the father is ready to end his fight. The father is itching "to see fresh worlds." I get the sense that his death will come from over-excitement for something or over-traveling and wearing himself out. His attitude is optimistic.

Child: The speaker is an adult concerned for the well-being of his father. He's not ready to say goodbye and surely won't be cheerful when he has to. I get the feel that the father travels often as images of ships embarking make their way in the poem; perhaps the father's last journey is to Heaven. The son doesn't want to see his father die or "make [his] late trip" either. He doesn't want to receive that phone call; the attitude is pessimistic.

"Lonely Hearts" by Wendy Cope

With its three line stanzas and brief statements, this poem is set up in such a way that it resembles a newspaper add from the "personal section." It describes the outcasts of society- the male biker, gay vegetarian, bisexual woman, Jewish lady- who long for love just as the "accepted" members of society do. Each stanza gives a short description of who the person is and what they are looking for when it comes to love. Obviously, these people are lonely and let lonesome feelings compel them to seek love. The stanzas are filled with desperation as at the end of each either the question "Do you live in North London?" or "Can someone make my simple wish come true?" is posed. Aside from desperation, the poem also gives an air of satire. Needy, picky people who have the "perfect" image of someone in his or her closed mind and look only for that person are seemingly made fun of.

"Edward" by Anonymous

#13


I would remain anonymous too if I wrote such an awkward, strange, depressing poem. How motherly to advise a son to kill one's husband; it just goes to show the corrupt nature of humans and its timelessness.
The irony in "Edward" becomes evident in the last line of the poem when the mother's motives are exposed: "such counsels you gave to me" explains that she prompted Edward to go through with killing the father. Even as he lies at the beginning by saying, "O I have killed my hawk so good" and "O I have killed my red-roan steed," the mother knows he has really killed the father. Edward talks about killing two things very dear to him before saying he really killed his "father dear." It is ironic that the mother keeps asking what he's killed though she knows all along.
Edward's statements are full of regret especially when he says at the end he gives his mother only "the curse of hell... shall ye bear." This is also ironic as the mother's motives centered around obtaining the wealth and fortune of her dead husband, but all Edward gives her is a curse for what she's made him do.

"Delight in Disorder" by Robert Herrick

# 17

(Talk about mismatched clothing!) -->

Curiously, the structure of "Delight in Disorder" compliments the disorder described in the poem. The poem is written with a broke rhyme scheme, where some lines rhyme in no particular order. The speaker clearly appreciates and finds pleasure in the simple aspect of dress as the first description is "sweet disorder." Words and phrases like "cuff neglected," "fine distraction," "ribbons flow confusedly," and "a careless shoestring" set a tone for acceptance in imperfection of dress. The speaker sees that a lack of perfection is indeed the perfect form of art.
Perhaps disorder is appreciated on many levels of society. People pride over Picasso's abstract paintings; style combines mismatched clothing articles for a new look; people in New York two years ago would PAY to have their nails painted so the polish looked chipped; and kids are encouraged to get into a bit of trouble every once in a while for "experience purposes." Society seems to embrace disorder as a natural way of living.