Oxen Schmoxen.

It seems to me that "The Oxen" is about Jesus, or it is at least supposed to remind us of Jesus. It is on Christmas Eve, involves a flock, straw, kneeling, and oxen. I think that it might be an allusion to Jesus. The speaker seems to be doubting his faith, or the truths behind it. He doubts whether the shepherds or folks like that actually came to see Jesus. He does say, however, that if he was told to go see some kneeling oxen, he would follow. The message and point of this poem isn't that clear. There are multiple ways that the poem can be interpreted. However, it is making me think, and that was the goal of the poet. This poem was not exactly one of my favorites.

What is a Dover Beach?

The beginning of the poem "Dover Beach" had some rather nice imagery in it. The calm sea and moon-blanched land has a very tranquil feel to it. It calms the reader down to where the speaker wants him to be, allowing him to get the full effect of the poem. It also sets a tone of calmness that has that same effect. I reminds me of a time in Sedona when I was sitting on my balcony of my hotel looking out over the area, and I felt a real, true calmness. Thought this poem deals with oceans and not red mountains, it did have that same effect on me.
The rest of the poem after the first stanza have a different effect. It compares faith to that ocean, but it has a negative connotation, because that faith has been lost. The speaker forces the reader to feel calm, then shoots him down by telling him that that calmness is gone. That is cruel yet effective.

Crossing the Bar

This guy has a pretty good message in his poem. In the poem, he wishes for a death without sadness. He understands that death is going to happen, so he doesn't want to feel sad himself and he doesn't want others to feel sad either. He wants to go in a peaceful way and know that he is going to be going to a better place. This is a good message for anyone in any time period to listen to. We are all going to die at some point, so why be sad while doing it? He also wants no sadness of farewell, so he doesn't want those around him to mourn either. That is the most difficult part. Most people have trouble dealing with the loss of a loved one, so being happy when someone dies is not a very easy task. And though it isn't easy, it will ease the pain in the end. This is a timeless message that everyone can relate to at some point in their lives.

This isn't a play.....

My mistress' eyes is one of the few that actually make sense this week. The tone makes a hard shift towards the end. It starts as almost a negative tone towards his lover. He says everything that is better than her. It sounds like he is just bashing her for no reason. He then gets to the point of the poem. He switches to a loving tone that says that he loves her despite all of the things he mentioned.
I think that this is a really true poem that has a timeless message. Most people have friends or girlfriends or parents that they get mad at sometimes, but love them despite that. Shakespeare writes about a topic that is easy to relate to. I know I have felt that tone shift and I'm sure most people are in that boat with me.

APO 96225 phone home.

I loved this poem. The point of the poem just smacks you in the face as soon as you read it, and after reading The Things They Carried, I am able to understand the poem quite well. The mom says that she wants to know what is really going on with her son. He keeps trying to sugar-coat his situation for her, but she insists that he tell the truth. Once he does, she gets upset and he starts to lie again. This is rather ironic. She thinks that she wants to know, but I think she really wants him to say that he isn't lying and that it actually isn't that bad where he is. The boy should understand this, and he does at the beginning, but he eventually gives in.
This poem uses that irony to show the disconnection between the families of soldiers and the soldiers themselves. The soldiers were experiencing things that they never thought were possible, and the families had no idea how truly bad it was. This poem shows that they didn't want to know either.

Much Madness is Divinest Sense.

Ms. Dickinson, you never disappoint. This poem made absolutely no sense to me. She seems to think that being mad is perfect or even divine. With how she writes, this doesn't surprise me. She also thinks that having sense makes a person mad. Obviously she is trying to be tricky here, and it's working. I think that she is trying to say that if a person thinks outside of the box, they are good thinkers, so they have divine sense. That kind of makes sense. If a person thinks like everyone else, then they don't think well, so they are "mad." She thinks that the brilliant people are the ones that think crazy yet genius thoughts. Maybe this is why she writes like she does?
Despite all of that, she uses a paradox of sanity and insanity to make the reader think. She obviously achieved that goal with me.
I didn't like this poem very much, but it was humorous to read, as most Dickinson poems are.

...in a barbie world

The poem "Barbie Doll," though written a while ago, couldn't be more relevant in today's world. It is a poem that uses irony to point out society's flawed picture of what beauty is. The girl, because she is seen as being fat and having a big nose, is told she needs to be funny to make up for her bad looks. Though the girl is healthy, she sees a need to change herself in order to fit other people's idea of healthy. She does something to herself that "kills" her previous self but makes her "pretty." Ironically, after she had died, everyone finally says how pretty that new body she has is. Though this sounds ridiculous, the author is showing society that this is what they do to girls today. Girls often feel forced to change themselves to become more acceptable in society. The same happens to boys, but it usually isn't with looks, but with some action or behavior. No matter what it is or to what extent, society is pushing people into doing things that they do not need to do. I like to think that I don't care what others think of me, so this doesn't apply to me, but I'm sure I have done something to please others. No matter if it applies to me or not, it is still a valuable message that society should listen to.