Varpness AP Lit. Poems for Test

The World is Too Much with Us

• William Wordsworth

• Petrarchan sonnet

• Critiques materialism and humanity's disconnect from nature.

• The speaker longs for a pagan connection to the natural world, finding solace in ancient mythology.

I'm Nobody! Who are you?

• Emily Dickinson

• Open form poem

• Celebrates individuality and privacy, contrasting the speaker's contentment in being a "Nobody" with the perceived dreariness of being a public "Somebody."

I Hear America Singing

• Walt Whitman

• Free verse, open form

• Celebrates the diverse voices and labors of American workers.

• Each worker has a unique "song" that contributes to the collective identity of America.

The Clasp

• Sharon Olds

• Uses vivid descriptive language and figurative language, like the simile "He was standing the way a stump stands."

• Explores themes of family, violence, and the complexities of human relationships, particularly a mother and a son.

When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer

• Walt Whitman

• Contrasts the analytical, detached approach of the astronomer with the speaker's intuitive, emotional experience of nature.

• Emphasizes the value of experiencing the world directly rather than through abstract learning.

• Uses rich imagery of the lecture hall to describe the setting, and nature to describe the speaker's escape

Lady Lazarus

• Sylvia Plath

• Extended metaphor comparing the speaker to Lazarus, a biblical figure who rose from the dead.

• Explores themes of death, rebirth, suffering, and the objectification of women.

• Uses dark humor and shocking imagery to convey the speaker's intense emotions.

How happy is the little Stone

• Emily Dickinson

• Personifies a stone, portraying it as content and independent.

• Suggests that a simple, unburdened existence can be fulfilling.

George Foreman in Zaire

• Jack Bedell

• Dedicated to Norman Mailer

• Poem is an example of a historical allusion

• Poem makes mythological allusions to David and Goliath, Samson, and Hercules

Phenomenal Woman

• Maya Angelou

• Celebrates female confidence, self-acceptance, and inner beauty.

• Repetition of the phrase "I'm a woman / Phenomenally" emphasizes the speaker's pride and self-assuredness.

I know why the caged bird sings

• Maya Angelou

• The poem uses the contrast between the caged bird and the free bird to symbolize the oppression faced by African Americans.

• Expresses the longing for freedom and the resilience of the human spirit.

A Girl

• Ezra Pound

• Allusion to the Greek myth of Apollo and Daphne.

• Explores the transformation of a girl into a tree, symbolizing the loss of innocence or the merging of humanity with nature.

Sonnet 14 - If thou must love me, let it be for nought

• Elizabeth Barrett Browning

• The poem argues that love should be based on the intrinsic qualities of the beloved, not on superficial attributes or external factors.

One Year

• Sharon Olds

• Uses vivid imagery to convey a complex range of emotions relating to divorce and its impact.

Nothing Gold Can Stay

• Robert Frost

• Explores the transient nature of beauty and the inevitability of change and loss.

• Employs natural imagery to convey the message that all things, even the most precious, are temporary.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

• Robert Frost

• Depicts a traveler pausing in the woods on a winter night, contemplating the allure of nature and the pull of duty.

• Explores themes of nature, solitude, and the choices we make in life.

The Lockless Door

• Robert Frost

• Extended metaphor of a lockless door, representing the speaker's vulnerability and fear of the unknown.

• Explores themes of anxiety, isolation, and the human desire for security.

Snow

• E.E. Cummings

• Uses unconventional syntax and typography to create a visual and sensory experience of falling snow.

dying is fine)but Death

• E.E. Cummings

• Contrasts the natural process of dying with the abstract concept of Death.

• Uses unconventional punctuation and syntax to create a unique rhythm and emphasize the difference between the two states.

Brown Penny

• William Butler Yeats

• Metaphor of a "brown penny" to symbolize love and the passage of time.

• Contrasts the speaker's youthful optimism with the realities of aging and the complexities of love.

When We Two Parted

• Lord Byron (George Gordon)

• Explores themes of lost love, heartbreak, and the lingering pain of a past relationship.

• The speaker expresses regret and sorrow over the end of the affair.

Because I could not stop for death -

• Emily Dickinson

• Extended metaphor of death as a courteous carriage driver who takes the speaker on a journey to eternity.

• Explores themes of mortality, immortality, and the acceptance of death.

A Week Later

• Sharon Olds

• This poem focuses on two events: a divorce and the death of a mother.

• The juxtaposition of these events highlights the cyclical nature of life, death, and renewal.

• Husband has moved on and is happy; her not as much

Rime of the Ancient Mariner

• Samuel Taylor Coleridge

• Narrative poem that tells the story of a mariner who shoots an albatross and suffers supernatural consequences.

• Explores themes of sin, guilt, redemption, and the power of nature.

• The mariner is forced to share his story as a form of penance.