This is How We Rock the Poetry World: The Bat

The Bat
Theodore Roethke

By day the bat is cousin to the mouse.
He likes the attic of an aging house.

His fingers make a hat about his head.
His pulse beat so low we think him dead.

He loops in crazy figures half the night
Among the trees that face the corner light.

But when he brushes up against a screen,
We are afraid of what our eyes have seen:

For something is amiss or out of place
When mice with wings can wear a human face.

Kristen's analysis of "The Bat"
I think the speaker of this poem is a person who witnesses a bat everyday. The person's description of the bat is very descriptive, so he must have seen the bat quite a few times to fully capture the picture of the bat. The diction of this poem is interesting and unique. I can picture the bat looping in crazy figures, as it says in the poem, "He loops in crazy figures half the night..." I can also picture the old attic in a dusty, old house, as it says in the poem, "He likes the attic of an aging house." I can also picture myself being very scared when a big bat just comes up to a screen, and you are just maybe 3 inches away from it, but with a thin screen in between you, as it says in the poem, "But when he brushes up against a screen, we are afraid of what our eyes have seen:..." The imagery of the poem is a very clear picture in my head. The author of this poem uses very good words, I can picture the whole scene in my head. There is not really any figurative language in this poem, but the poem is still really good and fun to read. A pattern I have realized in this poem is the words on the last line rhyme with the last words on the next sentence. Those are the types of poems I enjoy reading! In the first stanza, mouse rhymes with house, in the second stanza, head rhymes with dead, and so on. I also noticed that each stanza describes a different thing about the bat. In the first stanza, the author describes where the bat likes to be in, and what he is sort of related to. In the second stanza, the author describes his fingers and pulse, which are the bat's characteristics. In the third stanza, the author describes what the bat does in the night and where he does it. In the fourth stanza, the author describes what other people's reactions are when they see the bat up close. In the last stanza, I don't really understand it too much. I don't understand what the author means when he says "When mice with wings can wear a human face." I think it goes back to the first line of the poem when the author says "By say the bat is cousin to the mouse." Then, the author is comparing the mice and the bat again. He is saying "mice with wings that can wear a human face" which I think means the mice look like bats with wings, and "wear a human face" means the mice can also scare humans. I think the meaning of the poem is two things that are not similar can share some similarity traits. The mouse and the bat are not related, but they can both scare humans to death.

This is How We Rock the Poetry World: The Bagel

The Bagel
David Ignatow
I stopped to pick up the bagel
rolling away in the wind,
annoyed with myself
for having dropped it
as if it were a portent.
Faster and faster it rolled,
with me running after it
bent low, gritting my teeth,
and I found myself doubled over
and rolling down the street
head over heels, one complete somersault
after another like a bagel
and strangely happy with myself.

Analysis of this Poem:

This poem describes a time when the author, David Ignatow, dropped his bagel on the street. The bagel rolls away, and he chases after it, all the while making a complete fool of himself. He realizes by the end that it was fun to chase the bagel, he was happy.

In my opinion, the speaker seems like the type of person that finds joy in everyday life. Something very sad, or annoying could happen to him, yet he would still laugh at it and make it fun. If someone drops a bagel on the street and has to chase after it, most poeople would be frustrated and very agitated. This man however, wasn't.

"...and strangely happy with myself," said the speaker. He didn't let a little mishap ruin his day.

I think the diction, or word choice, was very unique. From the words, you can really see the scene. I pictured the man dropping a bagel, chasing it as it rolled away, catching the bagel, then laughing at it. I had a very clear image of the scenerio. The poem almost reminds me of a movie i've seen, i forget the name. The main character trys to impress a girl by tipping his hat to her. It was a very windy day, so his hat blew away. He chased after it and ran. He finally caught up to it, and laughed a lot.

I think that the meaning of the poem is this; don't let life slip away through your fingers. Sometimes, life can get hard, and it's easy to let it go. But, when you hold onto it, life gets better. In this begining of the poem, the speaker was annoyed at dropping the bagel. By the end, he realized it wasn't that big of a deal. He didn;t lety the hard times ruin his life, he fought through it.

This is How We Rock the Poetry World. (Because i could not stop for death)

Because I could not stop for Death –
He kindly stopped for me –
The Carriage held but just Ourselves –
And Immortality.

We slowly drove – He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility –

We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess – in the Ring –
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain –
We passed the Setting Sun –

Or rather – He passed us –
The Dews drew quivering and chill –
For only Gossamer, my Gown –
My Tippet – only Tulle –

We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground –
The Roof was scarcely visible –
The Cornice – in the Ground –

Since then – 'tis Centuries – and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses' Heads
Were toward Eternity –


She's talking about death. Each capitalized word is another point in her life, from Children, to Recess, to Gazing Grain, they all personify a part of her life. Children and School and Recess represent her childhood. Gazing Grain represents the middle of life. and the setting sun represents death.

FIRST BLOG! =)

Hello anyone who is reading this. I'm Zoe, the "Z" in ZGK015. the "G" is for Gina, and the "K" is for Kristen. We're all in an English 9 class (period 3 with Ms. Hart) and we're learning about poetry, hence ,the title of the blog: "Spectrums of Poetry." We were told to create a blog for her class for poetry, about poetry and only pertaining to, you guessed it, poetry!

I personally love to read and write poetry. I love to try and see what the poet is trying to convey, though I often don't "get" a simple part of a poem. Like in the poem "The Base Stealer," I didn't read the title and thought it was just about a kid skipping rope, or I'll read something, get the deep down message it may or may not be communicating, but not paying attention to the overly open and out there meaning, or that there is no meaning at all and I'm just imagining things.(I hate that, especially when I'm talking in class and no one understands a word I'm saying.)

I find poetry to be a great outlet for thoughts, feelings, ideas, and just a way to make sense of things. I write poetry for fun (free verse only, meaning no rhyme or meter) and that's usually how I write my poems, not to describe a scene, an action, or to just shock (though I do plenty of that) Iwrite to express, to think, to feel, and to figure out. I need to get my words down on paper, to figure it all out, to to let it out without a scream directed at someone or something. 'Cause otherwise, I'll probably get in trouble.


Hi everyone! I'm Gina! And now that Zoe it done talking i can tell you about my take on poetry: I think poetry is fun. It can mean so many different things and it can help you in everyday life. Poetry is more than just words, it had meanings. These meanings teach us things we never knew, or things we need to be reminded of.

Hi, I’m Kristen, and I think poetry is interesting to read. Poetry is sometimes hard to analyze, but once you actually understand the poem, its diction, and its meaning, then it’s fun to read. I like writing poems, too, especially the ones that have rhyming words at the end of each sentence. Studying poetry is interesting, and it helps make the meaning, diction, etc. clearer to understand.

So, here are some examples of vocabulary words having to do with poetry!

Irony: There's free tickets to the Superbowl tonight! But only in your dreams.

Apostrophe: (you get into a big fight with your best friend. She spreads a rumor about you. You go into the bathroom in school and say...) Jessica! I can't believe you did that! You stupid best friend!

Metonymy: That paleface man almost looked like a ghost!

Paradox: To gain peace in World War II, more people had to be sent into the war.

Personification: After one year of not being used, the washing machine was over- joyed to be cleaning cloths again.

Synecdoche: In ancient times, bread was a part of their daily meals.

Tautology: The cookies smelled amazing, they were such a delicious sensation.

Understatement: The day of the 9-11 bombing was not fun.