I have to be honest. I love writing poetry and I love reading most poetry (that which I can understand). However, most of the time I hate analyzing it. Particularly because the language is so confusing and I have no idea what the author's intent is and it kind of frustrates me. I want to know what it means but it's so hard for me to get there.
It takes a lot for me to genuinely enjoy a poem that I am presented in class because oftentimes it is old, outdated, and I cannot relate to it at all. But "The Snow Man" really connected to me this week. For one, the language was easy for me to comprehend. The two beginning lines "one must have a mind of winter to regard the frost and boughs..." started the poem off in such a good way. If you do not like winter than you are not going to appreciate the snow-ridden outdoors. Simple enough.
I also really enjoy the use of punctuation. It breaks up the flow of the piece just the perfect amount where it still has a nice rhythm, but also, creates such a different meaning to the words if there hadn't been that punctuation.
For example, the first line in the last stanza "For the listener, who listens in the snow..." . It is such a beautiful line and gives a description to the listener without being overwhelming. It creates an aside that is necessary to give the reader a better understand and it also flows so nicely.
I really enjoyed reading your personal anecdote at the very beginning of your blog entry. You're observations about the punctuation was really interesting, because I thought that there wasn't a lot of punctuation in the piece. Now that I reread it, though, I can see the rhythm that you talked about. It's gentle and almost understated. It's like you're outside in the snowy landscape breathing in the cold air.
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