My English Poems

English Poetry

3/30 /17

This is the first time this year that we are going into poetry. I've already worked on a poetry project in seventh grade, so I'm already familiar with them, but we are still going slow with the process of reading and creating them. Whenever we read poems in class, we always have to answer questions like "Who is the narrator?" and "Who are the audience?" We also have questions like what does this remind you of and how can you connect with the author's feelings. Some examples of the poems we read in class are "Still I Rise", "Mother to Son", "Desiderata", and "I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud".

Still I Rise

Maya Angelou, 1928 - 2014

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops,

Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don’t you take it awful hard

‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines

Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I’ve got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise.

Mother to Son

BY LANGSTON HUGHES

Well, son, I’ll tell you:

Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

It’s had tacks in it,

And splinters,

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet on the floor—

Bare.

But all the time

I’se been a-climbin’ on,

And reachin’ landin’s,

And turnin’ corners,

And sometimes goin’ in the dark

Where there ain’t been no light.

So boy, don’t you turn back.

Don’t you set down on the steps

’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.

Don’t you fall now—

For I’se still goin’, honey,

I’se still climbin’,

And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

Desiderata

By Max Erhmann

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

by William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed—and gazed—but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

Personal Poems

In this section, I'll be talking about some of the poems I have created. The first poem assignment I had to create was to choose a photograph and write a poem inspired by it. For instance, I chose the picture with a heart on the sand and wrote about unrequited love and betrayal. The moment I'm trying to build is the feeling after you realize everything you believed in was a lie, that no one actually loved you. I want to express how that moment of grief and betrayal feels like to those who hadn’t yet experienced it. The sense of longing, regret, and loneliness that crashes upon them when they find out how painful the truth is.

The second poem was about a personal experience that I learned from. For this assignment, I chose to write about my fifth-grade friend who lied and used me. Back then, I had no friends, so I was always grateful that she would hang out with a person like me. I had very little self-esteem, so I would always believe in whatever she said and do whatever she wanted. I would do her homework for her when she asked me to because I wanted to please her. I felt like that was the correct way to return the favor for being my friend. She also lied about a bunch of things to pique my interest, like reading the same books as me, playing the same games as me, or liking the same things I did. Thinking back now, I was kind of like her servant to manipulate. This taught me to never trust anyone who lied to me again. I was being too nice before and gave too many chances.

The third poem was the last and most challenging poem of the year. This assignment was to create a two to five-minute song/rap/poem that teaches others about a concept you learned in any STEM Class. For this poem, I chose to write about ALEKS, a math program in my math class. In the beginning, I wrote down all of my ideas down in paragraph form by answering the brainstorm questions and coming up with keywords and phrases. The next step I took was to convert all of them to a poem version and pouring all of my ideas into them. First of all, I was very disappointed with my poem, since it was really messy and didn’t rhyme. I also had the problem of finding the right song for my poem, since I had a lot of math terms, so I wanted a fast song. I organized everything by copying and pasting the lyrics of the song and comparing them with my poem. From thereon, I would change and adjust my poem to match with the song. It was the most painful thing I did in all of the 3 poems. I just couldn’t get the beats down right, so I decided to write another poem. This time, I chose another song with a slightly slower beat and more instrumental music breaks, so I wouldn’t have to write so many lyrics. I mixed and matched some of the sentences from my 2 poems to create one poem that matched the song. Even then, I still had some problems with word choice. This assignment just made me feel more limited in my writing.

Were You Ever My Friend?

by Tracy Nguyen

I don’t want to do this,

But what choice do I have?

Where else would I go,

If you’re the only friend I have?

I feel like this is wrong;

But--I don’t trust myself enough.

I still end up doing it anyway;

Since you’ll leave me if I don’t.

You made me follow your steps;

And carry all of your debts.

You made me believe in those lies;

That made me run home and cry.

Tell me, were you ever my friend?

If this was all I got in the end?

I’ve always trusted you,

Really, you were my everything.

But I gave you so many chances,

Yet--all you did was lie.

Was I just your servant to control?

A worthless, despicable troll?

Tell me, were you ever my friend?

If all you did was pretend?