Introduction Portrait in Georgia is a poem written by the poet Jean Toomer. It first appeared in Jean Toomer’s modernist work Cain. Published in 1923, Cane is a unique blend of poetry and prose that explores the experiences of African Americans in the rural South and the urban North. Toomer’s writing in “Cane” reflects a … Read more
Introduction I, Too is a poem written by the famous African-American poet Langston Hughes. The poem was first published in Hughes’ first volume of poetry, The Weary Blues in 1926. This poem, along with Hughes’ other works, paved the way to define the Harlem Renaissance, an era of newfound cultural identity for African Americans in … Read more
Introduction The speaker of Shelley’s poem meets a traveler from a bygone era. The traveler talks of the enormous remains of a statue belonging to a renowned pharaoh. He draws the surroundings in addition to observing how the statue’s components are positioned on the sand. The desert and the weathered monument together allude to the … Read more
Introduction The simple poem “On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book” by Charles Tennyson Turner contrasts the death of a fly with that of a human. Turner demonstrates his proficiency with and comprehension of the poetic verse in “On Finding a Small Fly Crushed in a Book.” This particular poetry emphasizes how everyone … Read more
Introduction Had I the Choice is a poem by the famous American poet Walt Whitman. The poem first appeared in Whitman’s celebrated work Leaves of Grass. The poem comes under the section Fancies at Navesink published in the 1885 volume. In this poem, Whitman talks about the creative process of writing and speaks of his … Read more
Introduction Now I knew I Lost Her is a poem by the American poet Emily Dickinson. The poem appeared in several anthologies that were published posthumously after Dickinson’s death. One of the collections was The Poems of Emily Dickinson: Reading Edition edited by Ralph W. Franklin and published in 1998. The poem explores the emotional … Read more
Introduction Drinking Alone under the Moon is written by the famous Chinese poet Li Po. it was written around the year 743 during the T’ang Dynasty. Thus, this poem belongs to Li Po’s middle period, which lasted briefly with him being a court scribe in the capital from 742 to 744. The translated version of … Read more
Introduction Come Slowly-Eden is a poem written by the American poet Emily Dickinson. The poem can be found in Thomas H. Johnson’s edition, The Poems of Emily Dickinson, published in 1955, which is one of the most well-known and widely used compilations of her poetry. “Come slowly – Eden!” is included in this collection and … Read more
Introduction Elegy for Jane is a poem written by the famous American poet, Theodore Roethke. The poet wrote this poem after the death of his student, Janne Bannick, a young woman who fell off a horse and tragically passed away. This poem appears in Rothke’s Pulitzer Prize-winning poetry collection, The Waking, which was published in … Read more
Introduction Fleur Adcock’s “The Telephone Call” describes a phone call between the “Universal Lotteries” and the poetic ego. It is obvious from the title alone that there is a purpose to using “the” before “telephone conversation” rather than “a.” The poet’s life is somewhat affected by this conversation. It was a pivotal time in her … Read more
