POEMS

The Road Not Taken

Setting — Morning autumn walk in the woods

Symbolism — Woods : Life , Fork in the road : Decisions , Path : Life’s journey , Autumn : Time of change

Irony — He says to take the path less traveled, but the title is “Road Not Taken”

Ambiguity — We don’t know his actual choice

Theme — Make a decision and stick with it, as there is no reason to look back. 

Once by the Pacific

Setting — Storm coming in from Pacific Ocean

Allusion — “Let there be light” allusion to Bible — End to life on Earth

Imagery — Sky down low, dark and gloomy sea

Personification — Ocean looked over the waves, thinking of doing sth that water would never do to land

Theme — Nature (Ocean) and God are capable of taking life

Atmosphere — Menacing 

Annabel Lee

Speaker — Annabel’s lover

Tone — Mournful, romantic, optimistic, nostalgic 

Atmosphere — Solemn and sympathetic, romantic / loving, creepy, obsessed

Setting — Mythical, ethereal “Kingdom by the Sea” where they grew up together

Characters — Speaker : Annabel’s lover , Annabel Lee : Beautiful and youthful love who died from a cold-related illness, Kinsfolk : Annabel’s high-born relatives, Seraphs — Envies of the two

Theme — Love endures even after people pass away — Speaker’s love is eternal

The Raven

Title — Raven is a large black bird often perceived as a bad omen — symbol of death
Speaker — Physically and mentally exhausted who is tormented by a woman

Tone — Melancholy, despair, somber reflection — It changes — amused, reflection to despair

Setting — Narrator’s bedroom at midnight and a “Bleak December night”

POV — First person

Diction —- Tired and depressing

Imagery — Bleak December, dying ember, ghost upon the floor
Symbolism — Raven : Death, unending grief — Bust of Pallas : Goddess of wisdom, symbolizing futility of ratemalite and knowledge

“Hope” is the thing with feathers

Figures of Speech — Word or phrases used in a non-literal sense for rhetorical or vivid effect

Metaphor — Hope is compared to a bird. Like a bird helps singing, hope —> comfort

Symbolism — Gale (Strong wind), Storm represents low points in lives

Theme — Hope continues to give comfort despite circumstances , Hope doesn’t ask for anything but is always there

Fog

Metaphor — Fog to a cat

Personification — Fog “sits looking over the harbor”

Atmosphere — Ominous, silently, stealthily, dangerous, eerie

Fire

Metaphor — Desire to fire : Both consume and destroy quickly. Hate to ice : Cause to crack and break

It’s possible for world to end in a violent war — People to become rigid, unmoving that the world breaks into fractions

“Internment”

• Corraled — to confine or gather animals in an enclosure or pen (a corral). It can also informally mean to collect or gather people or things.

• Herded — to gather, keep, or drive animals in a group It can also refer to moving a group of people together.

• Branding — marking livestock, typically cattle, with a hot or freeze iron to burn or alter the hair follicle on the hide, creating a unique, permanent mark that signifies ownership.

• Pasture — An area of land covered with grass or other low-lying plants suitable for feeding grazing livestock (like cattle and sheep); grassland.

• Cattle — Large domesticated bovine animals (cows, bulls, oxen, or steers) kept and raised for their meat or dairy products. The word is typically used to refer to a group.

Simile — “Barbed wire holding them in, like stolid cattle”

Theme — Injustice and dehumanization

“Women”

• Husky: Denotes a large, strong, or powerfully built voice or physique; it connotes a rough, persistent, and determined strength often associated with hard labor.

• Stout: Denotes being sturdy or thick in build; it connotes resilience, substance, and an unshakeable resolve.

• Fists: Denotes a tightly closed hand; it connotes determination, readiness for battle, or the holding of a powerful, internal strength.

• Battered: Denotes something being repeatedly beaten or damaged; it connotes the hardship and constant struggle the women endured.

• Symbolism: The books, desks, and doors symbolize the knowledge, education, and opportunities that the women fought to secure for their children.

• Imagery (of war): Imagery like "battered," "thrusting," "fought," and "charge" evokes a sense of warfare and fierce struggle, emphasizing the women's battle against poverty and oppression.

• Metaphor: The women's mission is a metaphor for a military campaign, where they are "grandmothers who / marched... and fought," treating the fight for education as a fierce battle for survival and progress.

• Tone: The tone is deeply reverent, appreciative, and proud, honoring the women's relentless courage and unwavering commitment to their children's future.

• Theme: The main theme is the heroic strength, resilience, and sacrificial determination of Black women in securing a better, educated future for the next generation.