The Man He Killed

Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn,
We should have sat us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!
"But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him and he at me,
And killed him in his place.
"I shot him dead because –
Because he was my foe,
Just so – my foe of course he was;
That's clear enough; although
"He thought he'd 'list perhaps,
Off-hand like – just as
I – Was out of work – had sold his traps –
No other reason why.
"Yes; quaint and curious war is!
You shoot a fellow down
You'd treat if met where any bar is,
Or help to half-a-crown."

TPCASTT
T-title: A brutal murder and how the murderer hid

P-paraphrase:
If we met at a bar I would
Have bought him a drink
But unfortunately we met
At the battlefield as infantries

C-connotation: looking for deeper meaning. Diction and symbolism
Imagery: And staring face to face, I shot at him and he at me, and killed him in his place.
Mood: And killed him in his place/ No other reason why

A-attitude: a dialogue with a friend, heroic, sympathy, philosophical

S-shifts: From the first stanza to the second it becomes more serious and totally changes the theme of the poemT-title: the title gives off the soreness that the author has for the ‘man he killed’ that he was not able to becomes friends merely because they met at the fieldT-theme: What does the poem mean? What is it saying? How does it relate to life?

One Perfect Rose

One Perfect Rose
Dorothy Parker (1893-1967)

A single flower he sent me, since we met.
All tenderly his messenger he chose;
Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet-
One perfect rose.

I knew the language of the floweret;
‘My fragile leaves,’ it said, ‘his heart enclose.’
Love long has taken for his amulet
One perfect rose.

Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
Ah no, it’s always just my luck to get
One perfect rose.



TPCASTT

T-title: A perfect lover

P-paraphrase:
A single perfect flower was all I got
Why not a limousine?


C-connotation: looking for deeper meaning.
•Imagery: wet, perfect
•Rhyme scheme: abab format
•Alliteration: met-wet, chose-rose, floweret-amulet, yet-get, suppose- rose
•Mood: Sad, romantic-> humorous, self centered
•Allusions: A single rose -> low satisfaction in her love life

A-attitude: Sarcastic, rude, self centered

S-shifts: From second stanza to the third. Before the third stanza the author seemed to be taking about a romantic love, but after the third the third the author messages seem to change to greed and low satisfaction of her love life.

T-title: Sarcastic, the word ‘one’ stress on her low satisfaction.

T-theme: Time to time it is no sufficient for lover to express his love but also nicely. And I think this relates to the world of today very much (shouldn’t but it is).

since feeling is first

since feeling is first

by e.e. cummings



since feeling is first
who pays any attentionto
the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;
wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world
my blood approves
,and kisses are a better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don't cry
-the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids' flutter which says
we are for each other: then
laugh leaning back in my arms
for life's not a paragraph
And death i think is no parenthesis


This poem can go two ways, it could either be Mr.cummings trying to woe a lady. Or it could be trying to tell us that the love affair has became such a easy thing; where lovers do no think through and just goes on with their feeling because for them life is something they should do as much in the way they want for death is unavoidable and obvious life is too precious to follow rules. However, by looking at cummings lifestyle and looking at the tone and the mood of the poem it is likely that comings is trying tempt a lover.