Poetry+2+-+2

  “School Day Blues” a parody of "Funeral Blues" by W. H. Auden

Stop all the homework, cut off the monotonous drone Prevent the stress from making all the students groan Silence the teachers and with a joyous cheer Bring out the sunscreen; summer is almost here

Let graduation caps fly overhead Send out the message "No more tears need be shed!" Put away the textbooks for another year Let the anxiety and sleepless nights both disappear

School put our knowledge and patience to the test It was our working week and our weekend rest Our moaning and groaning became our theme song We thought school would never end; luckily, we were wrong

The grades do not matter now; forget every one Pack up the projects, and let us have fun Clean out the lockers and sweep up the empty halls For we will soon be free, without a care at all  “If I Could” by Londis Carpenter



If I could roll back the years And return to yesterday I know I’d like to change some things, Do them a different way. But days lived out make up the past; That’s how it always seems And only what we do today Creates tomorrow’s dreams.

Analysis:  The narrator of this poem, Londis Carpenter, begins by saying that if she were able to, she would like to change the things she regrets from her past. However, she then writes "days lived out make up the past," so all of our choices, mistakes, triumphs, etc. compose the past, even if we, being older and wiser, might have done things differently now. Carpenter concludes the poem with a statement to ponder: "and only what we do today/creates tomorrow's dreams." She is conveying the fact that the decisions we make today build our future. "If I Could" is written in a first person point of view. The mood of the poem is thoughtful and hopeful.  “Fire and Ice” by Robert Frost

Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if I had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice. Analysis: In this poem, Robert Frost poses the question of whether the world will end in fire or in ice. He compares fire to desire and ice to hate. From his experience with desire, if given the choice, he would choose death by fire. However, he concludes that if he had to die twice, the cold, seemingly hateful death of ice would also be adequate.

“Traffic in the Sky”   by Jack Johnson

There's traffic in the sky And it doesn't seem to be getting much better There's kids playing games on the pavement Drawing waves on the pavement Shadows of the planes on the pavement It's enough to make me cry But that don't seem like it would make it feel better Maybe it's a dream and if I scream It will burst at the seams This whole place would fall into pieces And then they'd say...

Well how could we have known? I'll tell them it's not so hard to tell If you keep on adding stones Soon the water will be lost in the well

Puzzle pieces in the ground But no one ever seems to be digging Instead they're looking up towards the heavens With their eyes on the heavens There are shadows on the way to the heavens It's enough to make me cry But that don't seem like it would make it feel better The answers could be found We could learn from digging down But no one ever seems to be digging Instead they'll say...

Well how could we have known? I'll tell them it's not so hard to tell If you keep on adding stones Soon the water will be lost in the well

Words of wisdom all around But no one ever seems to listen They're talking about their plans on the paper Building up from the pavement There are shadows from the scrapers on the pavement It's enough to make me sigh But that don't seem like it would make it feel better The words are all around But the words are only sounds And no one ever seems to listen Instead they'll say...

Well how could we have known? I'll tell them it's really not so hard to tell If you keep on adding stones Soon the water will be lost in the well

Analysis: Jack Johnson begins this song with a verse that tells of "traffic of in the sky" that "doesn't seem to be getting much better." When he says this, he is alluding to military planes and the constant wars that go on in the world. These wars don't seem to have a direct effect on the people, as the "kids are playing games on the pavement," but in reality, the effect of war is felt by all, as Johnson exemplifies when he says there are "shadows of the planes of the pavement." These words are ironic, because the children are playing, presumably happily, while just overhead so much grief is felt by the people affected by war.

Next Johnson tells the listener that crying is worthless, as it doesn't solve anything. All of the world's problems feel like a nightmare to him, and he wishes he could make all the trouble of the world go away. However, most people in the world just try to put the blame on anyone and anything but themselves, as Johnson points out when he says "and then they'd say...well how could we have known?" The people aren't taking responsibility for their actions. Johnson uses figurative language to explain this further, when he speaks of stones and the water in the well. By these lyrics, he means that an attempt to try to push the problems of the world away or to shield oneself from these problems doesn't solve them or make them go away. Instead the people who try to do this only miss out on the beauty and goodness of life.

The "puzzle pieces" Johnson refers to in the next verse symbolize the answers that people seek. He points out that these answers are available, but people don't want to put in the effort that finding these answers takes. Instead, they just want everything handed to them, without having to work. But this is the wrong way of doing things, as Johnson makes clear when he says "there are shadows on the way to the heavens." When the people "look up to the heavens" they are expecting to just find answers, but the "shadows" symbolize that this is wrong.

Again, Johnson speaks of the uselessness of crying and reemphasizes that the only way to find the solution to a problem is to look for one, but most people don't want to try. Johnson uses repetition through the chorus to stress the main theme of the song, which is that hiding from one's problems only causes one to miss out on the good things in life.

The third and final verse continues the message Johnson has been sending throughout the song. There are "words of wisdom all around/but no one ever seems to listen." People don't bother to see or hear the answers that are right in front of them. The following lines, however, introduce a new idea. The people are "talking about their plans on the paper," or planning for the future, so that it may be better than the present. When Johnson says "there are shadows from the scrapers on the pavement" he is trying to illustrate that changing the present is the best way to prepare for the future.

Yet again, Johnson expresses that sitting around and crying or sighing about a problem won't solve it. Then he says "the words are all around/but the words are only sounds." By this, he means that people can say whatever they want, but only action can cause change. He also points out that "no one ever seems to listen," thus indicating that people won't always pay attention to what someone may be saying. Johnson ends the song with the chorus.

Sources: http://sc2.saugus.k12.ca.us/~ltalmadge/images/Homework.gif [|http://pages.towson.edu/ncctrw/summer%20institutes/summer3.jpg              http://www.ua.com.ua/photo/images/ice&fire.jpg [|http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/5825/coverononxu9.jpg  http://blogs.salon.com/0001970/images/2004/11/06/Desert%20Sunset.jpg