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Monday, January 11, 2010
Example
Use an example from a poem we’ve read for class, or an outside one, of indirect language. Explain WHY the poet uses indirect language in this example. [Hint: Metaphors and similes are examples of indirect language.]
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 leaves in glee; A poet could not be but 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.
William Wordsworth uses personification as his indirect language to create the image of the flowers beauty and movement. He says the daffodils dance in the breeze, and we know daffodils can't dance; so authors such as William Wordsworth use personification to get their point across or make you imagine how what they are describing could look like.
Alone- by Edgar Allen Poe From childhood's hour I have not been As others were; I have not seen As others saw; I could not bring My passions from a common spring. From the same source I have not taken My sorrow; I could not awaken My heart to joy at the same tone; And all I loved, I loved alone. Then- in my childhood, in the dawn Of a most stormy life- was drawn From every depth of good and ill The mystery which binds me still: From the torrent, or the fountain, From the red cliff of the mountain, From the sun that round me rolled In its autumn tint of gold, From the lightning in the sky As it passed me flying by, From the thunder and the storm, And the cloud that took the form (When the rest of Heaven was blue) Of a demon in my view.
There are many examples of indirect language in this poem. For example, when Poe says that he "could not bring his passions from a common spring" he is signifieing that he was not like the other kids. His ambitions and interests were completely different. When poe states "the cloud that took the form (When the rest of Heaven was blue) Of a demon in my view" he is implieing that when it seemed like everyone's life around him was joyous, his life was depressing. He was the guy that got rained on by the one cloud in otherwise blue sky.
It is clear that indirect language is present in this poem. But the question still remains as to why indirect language is used. In Poe's case, indirect language is used to hide a deeper meaning under nicer, more poetic sounding words. Since he primarily relied on poetry to make money, it was necesary to make the poems flow as nicely as possible. Indirect language enabled him to still have deep meaning in his poems, and have them sound nice, and not too depressing.
I ask them to take a poem and hold it up to the light like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive
I say drop a mouse into a poem and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem's room and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski across the surface of a poem waving at the author's name on the shore.
But all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with a rope and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose to find out what it really means.
This poem, by Billy Collins uses indirect language. When he says to "tourture a confession out of it", he does not mean to literally torture a poem because that is physically impossible. He is pretty much saying throughout the poem that you should not look so deep into poetry, because it is very easy to understand if you accept the basics of it.
Billy Collins uses indirect language to create an interesting effect on the poem. It shows the way most kids and some adults try to read poetry. They read it without emotion, trying to find meaning for it. Really, you should let it come natural and just read it until you find the meaning of it, rather than consistantly strangling a poem in search for a meaning.
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! -- An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . . Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, As under I green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, -- My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.
This poem uses indirect language by instead of saying he was chocking on the gas, Wilfred Owen says that "Come the gargling form the froth-corrupted lungs;..." This way the reader gets a better idea of what the character is experiencing.
One of the poems that I think is a good example of indirect language is "Acquanted with the Night". It is a poem that has much indirect language in it and can be interpreted in many ways. It can show lonlyness and sorrow whithout saying how the man feels. Using metaphors and similies, the poems show a meaning that wouldn't be seen or known by the reader without the use of indirect language.
One example is "when far away an interrupted cry came over houses from another street. But not to call me back or say goodbye." This can show the sadness that the narrator is having as he walks. Somebody is crying out, and the man is wishing that it was to call him back so that he could be accepted somewhere, but it is just wishful thinking. The author never really says that the narrator is sad and gloomy . However through his words that describe setting and the description of the narrator's thoughts, the reader can infer what the poem is really about.
Another example is the "one luminary clock against the sky (that) proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right". One way is that this shows that the narrator of the story has no care for what time it is and it doesn't matter. He is simply walking around in the night and not caring about the real things in life. He has suspended reality for a while and there is no time or space or money. He is simply acquainted with the night.
Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost.
Whose woods these are I think I know. His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer To stop without a farmhouse near Between the woods and frozen lake The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. The only other sound's the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep.
People have many interpretations of this poem, some are happy and some are sad. Some people believe that the man is stopping in the woods and starts dreading but then remembers he has to get home. others say that the man wants to die and thinks that the woods is the perfect place but then remembers that he still has a family to take care of. I think Robert Frost made the meaning of the poem very vague so that the readers could have different interpretations.
Due to copywrite laws and its extensive length i cannot include a copy of The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss. The poem is about two different people groups, the yooks and the zooks. They are fighting over which side the butter goes on on toast. They have a wall that separates them and they use weapons to attack eachother over the wall. The weapons get more and more powerful untill both sides have bombs that they are willing to drop on eachother. The indirect language in this is an alegory for the cold war and the arms race. The yooks and zooks represent the two sides of the war of words, the communists and the capitolists. Dr. Seuss uses indirect language to write these things because he was living during the time of the cold war and he did not want to be persicuted for writing things about the war. Also, he was a children's writer. He couldn't just outright say his views on the war. He probably wanted to get his views to the most impressionable people in our country, children. This could prevent another cold war.
Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chillest land, And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me.
Emily Dickinson uses an extended metaphor of a bird to describe hope within this poem. This tiny bird is found within all of us, as Dickinson descibes "perches in my soul". Dickinson is describing how we all can find hope inside despite eachothers differences. She uses a metaphor of "chillest land" and "strangest sea" in order to symbolize the difficult times in her life. At these moments of strong emotions, she is able to find hope to carry on. This tiny bird of hope comes at the strangest times, but in reality, the times we need it the most.
This metaphor of a bird is able to also portray that although hope may be small or miniscule within, it has a major impact on our life. This tiny bird is vital in our most difficult situations, and has massive strength despiste its small size to pull us through. All in all, this metaphor is able to capture what hope embodies within giving a dictionary definition. It does a better job and describing the emotions of hope than just simply stating a definition.
An example of a poem that uses indirect language is "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost. In this poem, Frost uses indirect language such as metaphors. An example of this is when he says, "Spring is the mischief in me". Spring and mischief are completely different things, but Frost compares them to show how in spring he gets very curious about his neighbor. Frost says he wants to trick his neighbor into not building the fence, or do some bad to find out why the fence is necessary.
The name of the author is the first to go followed obediently by the title, the plot, the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel which suddenly becomes one you have never read, never even heard of,
as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain, to a little fishing village where there are no phones.
Long ago you kissed the names of the nine Muses goodbye and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag, and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,
something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps, the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.
Whatever it is you are struggling to remember, it is not poised on the tip of your tongue, not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.
It has floated away down a dark mythological river whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall, well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.
No wonder you rise in the middle of the night to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war. No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.
I think Billy Collins uses indirect language in this poem to describe what it is like to forget things. Forgetfulness is a tough feeling to describe because like he says "your memories retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain"; you lose something that just seems to disappear. Billy Collins uses a lot of metaphors and similes to get the reader to relate to what it feels like to forget. He uses this indirect language because it is easier for the reader to connect to this feeling of forgetfulness and experience and know exactly what the author is saying.
A poem that uses indirect language is "A Red, Red Rose" by Robert Burns.
O My Luve's like a red, red rose, That's newly sprung in June; O My Luve's like the melodie That's sweetly played in tune.
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass, So deep in luve am I; And I will luve thee still, my dear, Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear While the sands o' life shall run.
And fare thee weel, my only luve, And fare thee weel, awhile! And I will come again, my luve Tho' it ware ten thousand mile!
Robert uses indirect language in this poem because he is describing what love is to someone else by using something that is already known to the author. It also shows that love is something that is not affected by distance because it is such a strong feeling that bonds two people together no matter where in the world they are. Robert also compares love to a melody that is "sweetly played in tune" because it flows effortlessly just like love should.
The light house, the guardian angel of the night She shines her light for all the lost sailors passing by Her beam bright as the sun, flashing through the night sky
The lighthouse, a soldier during the storms Standing tall, unafraid of the chaos Her light piercing through the storm like sharp knives
The light house the night owl of the day Sleeping and cozzed away until the night Her beam off as silent as a deer not wanting to be found
In this poem, "The Lighthouse", Katherine Sessor uses similes and metaphors as her indirect language. I believe that the lighthouse is representing what we all wish to be and what we he great people as, strong, powerful, and something that all people look up to. Katherine Sessor uses similes and metaphors in this poem because anyone could have their own interpretation of the symbolism inside it, yet we all would come up with the same idea- that it would represent someone or something great, humble, and honorable.
A poem by Dr. Seuss called, "The Lorax" is an example of a poem with a lot of indirect language. It is about an animal that lives in the forest and then gets his home torn don by another animal who wishes to make items out of the trees that he can sell. His business becomes so profitable that he tears down all of the trees in the forest and drives out all of the inhabitants in it. He keeps one seed from a tree, though, and when one day an animal who cares enough for the forest passes along the path of this industrialist, he isgiven the seed. This poem used metaphors to show that tearing down animals homes and pollution was a bad thing and implanted this in young kids minds while they were froming opionions on things a t an early age. He uses this giant metaphor as a way to keep kids from killing the "Lorax."
There is a place where the sidewalk ends And before the street begins, And there the grass grows soft and white, And there the sun burns crimson bright, And there the moon-bird rests from his flight To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black And the dark street winds and bends. Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow, And watch where the chalk-white arrows go To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow, And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go, For the children, they mark, and the children, they know The place where the sidewalk ends.
A lot of indirect language can be found in this poem. It is clear that the poet is not referring to an actual sidewalk but rather indirectly referring to something bigger. In ode words the Poet is using the poem as an extended metaphor to refer to life and its struggles. The end of the sidewalk represents the pursuit of happiness and the challenges on it.
For Example: Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow. Is a Metaphor suggesting that life goes by slowly.
14 comments:
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 leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but 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.
William Wordsworth uses personification as his indirect language to create the image of the flowers beauty and movement. He says the daffodils dance in the breeze, and we know daffodils can't dance; so authors such as William Wordsworth use personification to get their point across or make you imagine how what they are describing could look like.
Alone- by Edgar Allen Poe
From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were; I have not seen
As others saw; I could not bring
My passions from a common spring.
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow; I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone;
And all I loved, I loved alone.
Then- in my childhood, in the dawn
Of a most stormy life- was drawn
From every depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still:
From the torrent, or the fountain,
From the red cliff of the mountain,
From the sun that round me rolled
In its autumn tint of gold,
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by,
From the thunder and the storm,
And the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view.
There are many examples of indirect language in this poem. For example, when Poe says that he "could not bring his passions from a common spring" he is signifieing that he was not like the other kids. His ambitions and interests were completely different. When poe states "the cloud that took the form
(When the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view" he is implieing that when it seemed like everyone's life around him was joyous, his life was depressing. He was the guy that got rained on by the one cloud in otherwise blue sky.
It is clear that indirect language is present in this poem. But the question still remains as to why indirect language is used. In Poe's case, indirect language is used to hide a deeper meaning under nicer, more poetic sounding words. Since he primarily relied on poetry to make money, it was necesary to make the poems flow as nicely as possible. Indirect language enabled him to still have deep meaning in his poems, and have them sound nice, and not too depressing.
Introduction to Poetry
By Billy Collins
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with a rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
This poem, by Billy Collins uses indirect language. When he says to "tourture a confession out of it", he does not mean to literally torture a poem because that is physically impossible. He is pretty much saying throughout the poem that you should not look so deep into poetry, because it is very easy to understand if you accept the basics of it.
Billy Collins uses indirect language to create an interesting effect on the poem. It shows the way most kids and some adults try to read poetry. They read it without emotion, trying to find meaning for it. Really, you should let it come natural and just read it until you find the meaning of it, rather than consistantly strangling a poem in search for a meaning.
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind.
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! -- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . .
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under I green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, --
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
This poem uses indirect language by instead of saying he was chocking on the gas, Wilfred Owen says that "Come the gargling form the froth-corrupted lungs;..." This way the reader gets a better idea of what the character is experiencing.
One of the poems that I think is a good example of indirect language is "Acquanted with the Night". It is a poem that has much indirect language in it and can be interpreted in many ways. It can show lonlyness and sorrow whithout saying how the man feels. Using metaphors and similies, the poems show a meaning that wouldn't be seen or known by the reader without the use of indirect language.
One example is "when far away an interrupted cry came over houses from another street. But not to call me back or say goodbye." This can show the sadness that the narrator is having as he walks. Somebody is crying out, and the man is wishing that it was to call him back so that he could be accepted somewhere, but it is just wishful thinking. The author never really says that the narrator is sad and gloomy . However through his words that describe setting and the description of the narrator's thoughts, the reader can infer what the poem is really about.
Another example is the "one luminary clock against the sky (that) proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right". One way is that this shows that the narrator of the story has no care for what time it is and it doesn't matter. He is simply walking around in the night and not caring about the real things in life. He has suspended reality for a while and there is no time or space or money. He is simply acquainted with the night.
Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost.
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
People have many interpretations of this poem, some are happy and some are sad. Some people believe that the man is stopping in the woods and starts dreading but then remembers he has to get home. others say that the man wants to die and thinks that the woods is the perfect place but then remembers that he still has a family to take care of. I think Robert Frost made the meaning of the poem very vague so that the readers could have different interpretations.
Due to copywrite laws and its extensive length i cannot include a copy of The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss. The poem is about two different people groups, the yooks and the zooks. They are fighting over which side the butter goes on on toast. They have a wall that separates them and they use weapons to attack eachother over the wall. The weapons get more and more powerful untill both sides have bombs that they are willing to drop on eachother. The indirect language in this is an alegory for the cold war and the arms race. The yooks and zooks represent the two sides of the war of words, the communists and the capitolists.
Dr. Seuss uses indirect language to write these things because he was living during the time of the cold war and he did not want to be persicuted for writing things about the war. Also, he was a children's writer. He couldn't just outright say his views on the war. He probably wanted to get his views to the most impressionable people in our country, children. This could prevent another cold war.
Hope is The Thing by Emily Dickinson
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
Emily Dickinson uses an extended metaphor of a bird to describe hope within this poem. This tiny bird is found within all of us, as Dickinson descibes "perches in my soul". Dickinson is describing how we all can find hope inside despite eachothers differences. She uses a metaphor of "chillest land" and "strangest sea" in order to symbolize the difficult times in her life. At these moments of strong emotions, she is able to find hope to carry on. This tiny bird of hope comes at the strangest times, but in reality, the times we need it the most.
This metaphor of a bird is able to also portray that although hope may be small or miniscule within, it has a major impact on our life. This tiny bird is vital in our most difficult situations, and has massive strength despiste its small size to pull us through. All in all, this metaphor is able to capture what hope embodies within giving a dictionary definition. It does a better job and describing the emotions of hope than just simply stating a definition.
An example of a poem that uses indirect language is "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost. In this poem, Frost uses indirect language such as metaphors. An example of this is when he says, "Spring is the mischief in me". Spring and mischief are completely different things, but Frost compares them to show how in spring he gets very curious about his neighbor. Frost says he wants to trick his neighbor into not building the fence, or do some bad to find out why the fence is necessary.
"Forgetfulness" by Billy Collins
The name of the author is the first to go
followed obediently by the title, the plot,
the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel
which suddenly becomes one you have never read,
never even heard of,
as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor
decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,
to a little fishing village where there are no phones.
Long ago you kissed the names of the nine Muses goodbye
and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag,
and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,
something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps,
the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.
Whatever it is you are struggling to remember,
it is not poised on the tip of your tongue,
not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.
It has floated away down a dark mythological river
whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall,
well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those
who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.
No wonder you rise in the middle of the night
to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war.
No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted
out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.
I think Billy Collins uses indirect language in this poem to describe what it is like to forget things. Forgetfulness is a tough feeling to describe because like he says "your memories retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain"; you lose something that just seems to disappear. Billy Collins uses a lot of metaphors and similes to get the reader to relate to what it feels like to forget. He uses this indirect language because it is easier for the reader to connect to this feeling of forgetfulness and experience and know exactly what the author is saying.
A poem that uses indirect language is "A Red, Red Rose" by Robert Burns.
O My Luve's like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June;
O My Luve's like the melodie
That's sweetly played in tune.
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear
While the sands o' life shall run.
And fare thee weel, my only luve,
And fare thee weel, awhile!
And I will come again, my luve
Tho' it ware ten thousand mile!
Robert uses indirect language in this poem because he is describing what love is to someone else by using something that is already known to the author. It also shows that love is something that is not affected by distance because it is such a strong feeling that bonds two people together no matter where in the world they are. Robert also compares love to a melody that is "sweetly played in tune" because it flows effortlessly just like love should.
The Lighthouse by Katherine Sessor
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The light house, the guardian angel of the night
She shines her light for all the lost sailors passing by
Her beam bright as the sun, flashing through the night sky
The lighthouse, a soldier during the storms
Standing tall, unafraid of the chaos
Her light piercing through the storm like sharp knives
The light house the night owl of the day
Sleeping and cozzed away until the night
Her beam off as silent as a deer not wanting to be found
In this poem, "The Lighthouse", Katherine Sessor uses similes and metaphors as her indirect language. I believe that the lighthouse is representing what we all wish to be and what we he great people as, strong, powerful, and something that all people look up to. Katherine Sessor uses similes and metaphors in this poem because anyone could have their own interpretation of the symbolism inside it, yet we all would come up with the same idea- that it would represent someone or something great, humble, and honorable.
A poem by Dr. Seuss called, "The Lorax" is an example of a poem with a lot of indirect language. It is about an animal that lives in the forest and then gets his home torn don by another animal who wishes to make items out of the trees that he can sell. His business becomes so profitable that he tears down all of the trees in the forest and drives out all of the inhabitants in it. He keeps one seed from a tree, though, and when one day an animal who cares enough for the forest passes along the path of this industrialist, he isgiven the seed. This poem used metaphors to show that tearing down animals homes and pollution was a bad thing and implanted this in young kids minds while they were froming opionions on things a t an early age. He uses this giant metaphor as a way to keep kids from killing the "Lorax."
Where the Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein.
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.
A lot of indirect language can be found in this poem. It is clear that the poet is not referring to an actual sidewalk but rather indirectly referring to something bigger. In ode words the Poet is using the poem as an extended metaphor to refer to life and its struggles. The end of the sidewalk represents the pursuit of happiness and the challenges on it.
For Example: Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow. Is a Metaphor suggesting that life goes by slowly.
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