Knowledge- Kim Addonizio
Even when you know what people are capable of,
even when you pride yourself on knowing,
on not evading history, or the news,
or any of the quotidian, minor, but still endlessly apparent
and relevant examples of human cruelty—even now
there are times it strikes you anew, as though
you'd spent your whole life believing that humanity
was fundamentally good, as though you'd never thought,
like Schopenhauer, that it was all blind, impersonal will,
never chanted perversely, almost gleefully,
the clear-sighted adjectives learned from Hobbes—
solitary, poor, nasty, brutal, and short—
even now you're sometimes stunned to hear
of some terrible act that sends you reeling off, too overwhelmed
even to weep, and then you realize that your innocence,
which you had thought no longer existed,
did, in fact, exist—that somewhere underneath your cynicism
you still held out hope. But that hope has been shattered now,
irreparably, or so it seems, and you have to go on, afraid
that there is more to know, that one day you will know it.
Key:
Personification
Symbol
Analysis-
“Knowledge” by Kim Addonizio is a free verse poem with no rhyme scheme. It speaks about the terrible things that happen in this world and goes in detail about the extremes of human cruelty. In this poem, many themes prevail, but one of the main topics is love. It is not as apparent as the other themes in this poem because you have to think about the meaning behind the poem and why the author wrote it. The author starts off the poem by getting the reader to think about how well he or she knows and understands their loved ones and what they are capable of by saying “Even when you know what people are capable of, even when you pride yourself on knowing”. (Line 1-2, Addonizio) In lines 7-8 the author writes, “You’d spent your whole life believing that humanity was fundamentally good” (Addonizio) and this implies that people spend their lives thinking everyone has good intentions and the world and our society is upstanding and loving. As the poem goes on we learn that it is shocking when you hear of the terrible acts of the world and we were blind to see the bad because we spent all of our time looking past it. In lines 19-20 the author says, “…you have to go on, afraid that there is more to know, that one day you will know it.” (Addonizio) The deeper meaning behind this is that we love the people in our world but we were blind to see the bad. We believed that the society was good and we never saw the “relevant examples of human cruelty”. (Line 5, Addonizio) Throughout the poem, the author wants us to step back and look at what is really going on in the world and gain knowledge instead of letting love block it out. She says we held out our hope but now it is shattered so now we have to go on.
Seeing You- Jean Valentine
Mother
I was born under the mudbank
and you gave me your boat.
For a long time
I made my home in your hand:
your hand was empty, it was made
of four stars, like a kite;
you were afraid, afraid, afraid, afraid,
I licked it from your finger-spaces
and wanted to die.
Out of the river sparks rose up:
I could see you, your fear and your love.
I could see you, brilliance magnified.
That was the original garden:
seeing you.
Lover
Your hand was empty, it was made
of four stars, like a kite;
blessed I stood my fingers
in your blue finger-space, my eyes’ light in
your eyes’ light,
we drank each other in.
I dove down my mental lake fear and love:
first fear then under it love:
I could see you,
Brilliance, at the bottom. Trust you
stillness in the last red inside place.
Then past the middle of the earth it got light again.
Your tree. Its heavy green sway. The bright male city.
Oh that was the garden of abundance, seeing you.
Key:
Simile
Repetition
Hyperbole
Analysis-
Jean Valentine is a poet known for writing about her mother and her lovers. “Seeing You” by Jean Valentine is poem written in two sections; Mother and Lover. This poem compares the two relationships but ties them together with the theme of love. It shows us her revelation and realization in her life and how her relationships developed. In the first section, Mother, she says “For a long time I made my home in your hand: your hand was empty”. (Line 4-5, Valentine) This is implying that she grew up with her mother’s love and her mother guided her through life but it came to a point where she had to make a life for herself. Then in line 13, “That was the original garden” (Valentine) and she means her mother and the original love she received from her was her starting point. Her mom raised her and cared for her to get her to the place she is now. In the second section, Lover, she begins with the same idea of living in his hand. This related back to the Mother section, but she grew and matured her love in his hand. Line 20 says, “we drank each other in.” (Valentine) and this statement is using figurative language to explain their relationship to the reader and how their relationship was evolving. Throughout the rest of the Lover section, the author says she takes on her fear of love and dives into it like a “lake”. There are many connections between the two sections; however, in the end she is explaining her own evolution of love and how she overcame her fear.
Even when you know what people are capable of,
even when you pride yourself on knowing,
on not evading history, or the news,
or any of the quotidian, minor, but still endlessly apparent
and relevant examples of human cruelty—even now
there are times it strikes you anew, as though
you'd spent your whole life believing that humanity
was fundamentally good, as though you'd never thought,
like Schopenhauer, that it was all blind, impersonal will,
never chanted perversely, almost gleefully,
the clear-sighted adjectives learned from Hobbes—
solitary, poor, nasty, brutal, and short—
even now you're sometimes stunned to hear
of some terrible act that sends you reeling off, too overwhelmed
even to weep, and then you realize that your innocence,
which you had thought no longer existed,
did, in fact, exist—that somewhere underneath your cynicism
you still held out hope. But that hope has been shattered now,
irreparably, or so it seems, and you have to go on, afraid
that there is more to know, that one day you will know it.
Key:
Personification
Symbol
Analysis-
“Knowledge” by Kim Addonizio is a free verse poem with no rhyme scheme. It speaks about the terrible things that happen in this world and goes in detail about the extremes of human cruelty. In this poem, many themes prevail, but one of the main topics is love. It is not as apparent as the other themes in this poem because you have to think about the meaning behind the poem and why the author wrote it. The author starts off the poem by getting the reader to think about how well he or she knows and understands their loved ones and what they are capable of by saying “Even when you know what people are capable of, even when you pride yourself on knowing”. (Line 1-2, Addonizio) In lines 7-8 the author writes, “You’d spent your whole life believing that humanity was fundamentally good” (Addonizio) and this implies that people spend their lives thinking everyone has good intentions and the world and our society is upstanding and loving. As the poem goes on we learn that it is shocking when you hear of the terrible acts of the world and we were blind to see the bad because we spent all of our time looking past it. In lines 19-20 the author says, “…you have to go on, afraid that there is more to know, that one day you will know it.” (Addonizio) The deeper meaning behind this is that we love the people in our world but we were blind to see the bad. We believed that the society was good and we never saw the “relevant examples of human cruelty”. (Line 5, Addonizio) Throughout the poem, the author wants us to step back and look at what is really going on in the world and gain knowledge instead of letting love block it out. She says we held out our hope but now it is shattered so now we have to go on.
Seeing You- Jean Valentine
Mother
I was born under the mudbank
and you gave me your boat.
For a long time
I made my home in your hand:
your hand was empty, it was made
of four stars, like a kite;
you were afraid, afraid, afraid, afraid,
I licked it from your finger-spaces
and wanted to die.
Out of the river sparks rose up:
I could see you, your fear and your love.
I could see you, brilliance magnified.
That was the original garden:
seeing you.
Lover
Your hand was empty, it was made
of four stars, like a kite;
blessed I stood my fingers
in your blue finger-space, my eyes’ light in
your eyes’ light,
we drank each other in.
I dove down my mental lake fear and love:
first fear then under it love:
I could see you,
Brilliance, at the bottom. Trust you
stillness in the last red inside place.
Then past the middle of the earth it got light again.
Your tree. Its heavy green sway. The bright male city.
Oh that was the garden of abundance, seeing you.
Key:
Simile
Repetition
Hyperbole
Analysis-
Jean Valentine is a poet known for writing about her mother and her lovers. “Seeing You” by Jean Valentine is poem written in two sections; Mother and Lover. This poem compares the two relationships but ties them together with the theme of love. It shows us her revelation and realization in her life and how her relationships developed. In the first section, Mother, she says “For a long time I made my home in your hand: your hand was empty”. (Line 4-5, Valentine) This is implying that she grew up with her mother’s love and her mother guided her through life but it came to a point where she had to make a life for herself. Then in line 13, “That was the original garden” (Valentine) and she means her mother and the original love she received from her was her starting point. Her mom raised her and cared for her to get her to the place she is now. In the second section, Lover, she begins with the same idea of living in his hand. This related back to the Mother section, but she grew and matured her love in his hand. Line 20 says, “we drank each other in.” (Valentine) and this statement is using figurative language to explain their relationship to the reader and how their relationship was evolving. Throughout the rest of the Lover section, the author says she takes on her fear of love and dives into it like a “lake”. There are many connections between the two sections; however, in the end she is explaining her own evolution of love and how she overcame her fear.