Dont forget to VOTE for your favorite site.
To Jill B.'s essay on
the poem Sympathy
written by Paul Laurence Dunbar
In
the poem Sympathy the author uses very detailed, descriptive
words. They are used in a very unique way, in my point of view.One really good line that stood out to me was,
"The blood is red on the cruel bars." That line almost makes you feel the
pain the bird is going through, but I think the author is using the bird as a reference to
his own pain. Back when he wrote this poem, slavery had not been over for very long and he
was a young African-American. The situation must have been very hard on him. With
this line, you can actually picture the blood on the bars in the back of your mind.Another example would be, "The pain still
throbs in the old scars." In this line, I think he's talking abou the scars on his
parents and himself caused by slavery and the treatment of African-Americans. These scars
are on the inside as well as the outside. The emotional pain in this poem is very great.
Because his parents were slaves, you can tell he is showing that they, and he, edured an
enormous amount of pain and suffering.The line, "When his wing is bruised and
bosom sore." lets you know that he is in a lot of pain because of the bruises, inside
and out. As bad as the description sounds, you get the impression that he doesn't know if
the pain will ever stop.As you can see, the author uses very
interesting words and a different way of comparing things. Paul isn't quite done yet,
though. In his poem, he throws in an awesome simile, "And the river flows like a
stream of glass." Paul is describing how calm the water is and how smooth it can be.
I think he is talking about what freedom is like, compared to slavery with it's bloody
bars and bruises.I adore the way Paul Dunbar uses his
vocabulary. He sounds like he puts a lot of thought and effort into his words. If you ever
get the chance to read any of his work, go for it! It will change the way you look at
things.
You can use the drop menu below to navigate our site!
You are person number