"Who Am I?" by Carl Sandburg

 

Who Am I?

My head knocks against the stars.

My feet are on the hilltops.

My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of

universal life.

Down in the sounding foam of primal things I

reach my hands and play with pebbles of

destiny.

I have been to hell and back many times.

I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.

I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.

I know the passionate seizure of beauty

And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs

reading "Keep Off."

 

My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive

in the universe.

 

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poem video👇

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Who wrote the poem "Who Am I?"

Carl Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967)

 

Carl Sandburg was an American poet, biographer, novelist, journalist, and folklorist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes (two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln). He has often been compared to Walt Whitman for his use of free verse and admiration of the working class.

"Who Am I?" explanation

In the poem, the speaker poses a riddle “who am I?” Using personification and metaphor, he presents more clues to the riddle and finally reveals the answer: Truth. The poet describes the omnipresence, power, and elusiveness of truth in a unique way.

 

"Life in a Bottle" by Robert Browning

Life in a Bottle

Escape me?

Never--

Beloved!

While I am I, and you are you,

So long as the world contains us both,

Me the loving and you the loth,

While the one eludes, must the other pursue.

My life is a fault at last, I fear:

It seems too much like a fate, indeed!

Though I do my best I shall scarce succeed.

But what if I fail of my purpose here?

It is but to keep the nerves at strain,

To dry one's eyes and laugh at a fall,

And, baffled, get up and begin again,--

So the chace takes up one's life, that's all.

While, look but once from your farthest bound

At me so deep in the dust and dark,

No sooner the old hope goes to ground

Than a new one, straight to the self-same mark,

I shape me--

Ever

Removed!

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poem video👇 

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Who wrote the poem "Life in a Bottle"?

Robert Browning (May 7, 1812 – December 12, 1889)

Robert Browning was an English poet and playwright in the Victorian era and was widely known for his dramatic monologues. His father was a bank clerk and assembled a personal library of 6,000 books, which became the foundation of Browning’s education. He married the eminent Victorian poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, in 1846, and the couple moved to Italy and lived there until the wife’s death in 1861. He began to attain literary fame in his 50’s and was widely respected in his later years. 

"Life in a Bottle" explanation

In the poem, the speaker expresses his deep love for his beloved and fear of losing her.

"Because She Would Ask Me Why I Loved Her" by Christopher Brennan

 

Because She Would Ask Me Why I Loved Her

If questioning would make us wise

No eyes would ever gaze in eyes;

If all our tale were told in speech

No mouths would wander each to each.

 

Were spirits free from mortal mesh

And love not bound in hearts of flesh

No aching breasts would yearn to meet

And find their ecstasy complete.

 

For who is there that lives and knows

The secret powers by which he grows?

Were knowledge all, what were our need

To thrill and faint and sweetly bleed?

 

Then seek not, sweet, the "If" and "Why"

I love you now until I die.

For I must love because I live

And life in me is what you give.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

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Who wrote the poem "Because She Would Ask Me Why I Loved Her"?

Christopher Brennan (November 1, 1870 – October 5, 1932)

 

Christopher Brennan was an Australian poet and scholar. His poems were not popular with the public because his original works were published in small editions or circulated privately. However, his works were highly regarded by literary critics for their vitality and sincerity.

"Because She Would Ask Me Why I Loved Her" explanation

In the poem, the speaker tries to answer his loved one’s question of why he loves her. There are no words to describe why he loves her. To him, loving her is the very meaning and reason of his life.

"October" by Paul Laurence Dunbar

 

October

October is the treasurer of the year,

And all the months pay bounty to her store;

The fields and orchards still their tribute bear,

And fill her brimming coffers more and more

. But she, with youthful lavishness,

Spends all her wealth in gaudy dress,

And decks herself in garments bold

Of scarlet, purple, red, and gold.

 

She heedeth not how swift the hours fly,

But smiles and sings her happy life along;

She only sees above a shining sky;

She only hears the breezes' voice in song.

Her garments trail the woodlands through,

And gather pearls of early dew

That sparkle, till the roguish Sun

Creeps up and steals them every one.

 

But what cares she that jewels should be lost,

When all of Nature's bounteous wealth is hers?

Though princely fortunes may have been their cost,

Not one regret her calm demeanor stirs.

Whole-hearted, happy, careless, free,

She lives her life out joyously,

Nor cares when Frost stalks o'er her way

And turns her auburn locks to gray. 

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poem video👇

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Who wrote the poem "October"?

Paul Laurence Dunbar (June 27, 1872 – February 9, 1906)

Paul Laurence Dunbar was an African-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. Born to parents who were freed slaves from Kentucky, Dunbar began writing stories and poems from 6 and published his first poem at 16. He was the only African-American student at Central High School in Dayton, Ohio. But he was well accepted among students and was elected as president of the school’s literary society, and became the editor of the school newspaper. Dunbar later became one of the first African-American writers to gain an international literary fame. He died from tuberculosis in Dayton, Ohio at 33.

"October" explanation

In the poem, the speaker compares October to a beautiful girl who celebrates her life joyfully without worrying that her beauty will eventually fade away.

"An October Garden" by Christina Rossetti

 

An October Garden

In my Autumn garden I was fain

To mourn among my scattered roses;

Alas for that last rosebud which uncloses

To Autumn’s languid sun and rain

When all the world is on the wane!

Which has not felt the sweet constraint of June,

Nor heard the nightingale in tune.

 

Broad-faced asters by my garden walk,

You are but coarse compared with roses:

More choice, more dear that rosebud which uncloses,

Faint-scented, pinched, upon its stalk,

That least and last which cold winds balk;

A rose it is though least and last of all,

A rose to me though at the fall.

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poem video👇

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Who wrote the poem "An October Garden"?

Christina Rossetti (December 5, 1830 ~ December 29, 1894)

 

Christina Rossetti was an English poet who was lauded as one of the foremost female poets of the 19th-century Victorian era. She wrote romantic, devotional, and children's poems, marked by symbolism and intense feeling. Her literary status was often compared to that of Elizabeth Barren Browning, and upon Browning's death in 1861, Rossetti was hailed as Browning's rightful successor. She opposed slavery, cruelty to animals, and the exploitation of girls in under-age prostitution. Rossetti suffered from Graves' disease in the later decades of her life. In 1893, she was diagnosed of breast cancer and died of a recurrence in 1894.

"An October Garden" explanation

In the poem, the speaker laments waning of last roses in her autumn garden. But, a rose is still a rose and mesmerizes her with its beauty and scent.

"My Heart Leaps Up" by William Wordsworth

 

My Heart Leaps Up

My heart leaps up when I behold

A rainbow in the sky:

So was it when my life began;

So is it now I am a man;

So be it when I shall grow old,

Or let me die!

The Child is father of the Man;

And I could wish my days to be

Bound each to each by natural piety.

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poem video👇

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Who wrote the poem "My Heart Leaps Up"?

William Wordsworth  (April 7, 1770 – April 23, 1850)

William Wordsworth was an English poet who pioneered the Romantic Movement with his close friend and fellow poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. He famously defined poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.” Using the ordinary language “really used by men,” he wrote beautiful poetry with sweet imagery, often based around the natural world. He suffered from depression, which was reflected in somber undertones in his poems. He was the Poet Laureate for Queen Victoria from 1843 until his death from pleurisy in 1850.

"My Heart Leaps Up" explanation

In the poem, the speaker looks at a rainbow in the sky with joy and awe. He wishes to maintain this childlike wonder (as to the beauty of nature and the divine presence behind it) we all once had, as we grow older. This poem also shows the poet’s characteristic use of plain, everyday language unlike most contemporary poems using dense and archaic language.

"Which Are You?" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

 

Which Are You?

There are two kinds of people on earth to-day;

Just two kinds of people, no more, I say.

 

Not the sinner and saint, for it's well understood,

The good are half bad, and the bad are half good.

 

Not the rich and the poor, for to rate a man's wealth,

You must first know the state of his conscience and health.

 

Not the humble and proud, for in life's little span,

Who puts on vain airs, is not counted a man.

 

Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying years

Bring each man his laughter and each man his tears.

 

No; the two kinds of people on earth I mean,

Are the people who lift, and the people who lean.

 

Wherever you go, you will find the earth's masses,

Are always divided in just these two classes.

 

And oddly enough, you will find too, I ween,

There's only one lifter to twenty who lean.

 

In which class are you? Are you easing the load,

Of overtaxed lifters, who toil down the road?

 

Or are you a leaner, who lets others share

Your portion of labor, and worry and care?

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poem video👇

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Who wrote the poem "Which Are You?"

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (November 5, 1850 – October 30, 1919)

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet who wrote “Solitude,” which contains the famous lines “Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone.” Popular among people rather than among literary critics, she often displayed in her poems cheerful and optimistic sentiments in plain and rhyming words. After she married Robert Wilcox in 1884, the couple became interested in spiritualism and promised each other that whoever died first would return and communicate with the other. After her husband died in 1916 after over 30 years of marriage, she was overwhelmed by grief and waited long to hear from her deceased husband in vain. She also believed in reincarnation. She died of cancer in 1919.

"Which Are You?" explanation

Some people always make things worse, dragging people around them down. Only a few will make noble sacrifices to make other people’s lives better. Ordinary people sometimes try to help others and other times become a burden to others. Which are you?

"October" by Robert Frost

 

October

O hushed October morning mild,

Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;

Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild,

Should waste them all.

The crows above the forest call;

Tomorrow they may form and go.

O hushed October morning mild,

Begin the hours of this day slow.

Make the day seem to us less brief.

Hearts not averse to being beguiled,

Beguile us in the way you know.

Release one leaf at break of day;

At noon release another leaf;

One from our trees, one far away.

Retard the sun with gentle mist;

Enchant the land with amethyst.

Slow, slow!

For the grapes’ sake, if they were all,

Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,

Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—

For the grapes’ sake along the wall.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

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Who wrote the poem "October"?

Robert Frost (March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963)

Robert Frost was an American poet who was born in San Francisco, California. Frost’s life was marked by grief and loss. When he was 11, his father died of tuberculosis, leaving just eight dollars. Frost’s mother died of cancer when he was 26. Mental illness ran in his family. He and his mother suffered from depression, and his sister and his daughter were committed to mental hospitals. Using realistic depictions of rural life, his poems often examined complex social and philosophical themes. Frost’s first book was published at the age of 40, but he ended up winning four Pulitzer Prizes for poetry and becoming the most famous poet of his time.

"October" explanation

In the poem, the speaker asks the nature to slow down before the leaves fall and the winter comes in a time of transition, October. The poem perhaps reflects the poet’s lamentation of the inevitable death of the living or the trend of industrialization and/or his wish to seize the fleeing moment.

"Fall, Leaves, Fall" by Emily Brontë

 

Fall, Leaves, Fall

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;

Lengthen night and shorten day;

Every leaf speaks bliss to me

Fluttering from the autumn tree.

I shall smile when wreaths of snow

Blossom where the rose should grow;

I shall sing when night’s decay

Ushers in a drearier day.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/XHQOaqAXghs

Who wrote the poem "Fall, Leaves, Fall"?

Emily Brontë (July 30, 1818 – December 19, 1848)

Emily Jane Brontë was an English poet and novelist. She published poems under the pseudonym Ellis Bell with her sisters Emily and Charlotte, and by herself. She also wrote her only novel, Wuthering Heights, which is widely considered a classic of English literature. She died of tuberculosis at the age of 30.

"Fall, Leaves, Fall" explanation

In the poem, the speaker describes the change of season from autumn in a calm and peaceful manner with her yearning for winter. Some believe that the poem gives some hints about a deeper emotional aspect of the poet, who is known as a shy person.