Through the looking glass Aliya L**********’s Grade 9 Poetry anthology.
This anthology is dedicated to my brother who has always been there for me. And all the people who have changed me to the person I am today. Thank you.
Table of Contents Everybody Wants Happiness by anonymous The Pain of Perfection By Aliya L*****-***** My Name Vignette By Aliya L*****-*****
im lost By Dalton Lakin My Wonderland By Aliya L*****-***** The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost Little Black Cat By Aliya L*****-***** Dreams By Langston Hughes Lost and Found By Aliya L*****-***** “Hope” Is The Thing With Feathers By Emily Dickinson Alice in Oz By Aliya L*****-***** Personal Connections Work Sited List Note: Each poem is followed by an analysis paragraph
Everybody wants Happiness
Everybody wants happiness no one wants pain but you cant make a rainbow without a little rain
By Unknown
This poem has always been one of my favorites. I, like many people would like a world full of peace and joy. A world without poverty but full of equality. But also like other people I know that this cannot be accomplished any?me soon. So for now we must endure the rain and learn to dance in it. The poem itself is a simile through the en?re stanza compar-‐ ing happiness and pain to a rainbow and rain. The tone instead of saying how un-‐ fortunate it is that there is rain but it is reassuring us that everything will get beDer and we will enjoy the beauty of the rainbow. So the overall tone of this poem is reasurance.
The Pain of Perfection
Scared of being judged, we put on a show for the rest of the world. Clean house clean family No secrets Perfect children Perfect life. Scared of the others, what they say is all that matters.
The long dark tunnel, years until we reach the end, years until we see the light. Invasions, confrontations, disap-‐ pointments, expectations all pile up. Never-‐ending judgment. Never-‐ ending darkness.
Everything fake, everything lies. Every-‐ thing dark. But wait! The light! Closer, within our reach!… gone. Gone like it was the days before. Dark for years to come… One day the light will reach me and I the light. One day that reaches closer and closer.
By Aliya L*****-*****
My poem is about my family. The metaphor about the dark tunnel is de-‐ scribing how horrible everyone feels when everyone is upset. And the light represents the end of anger and disap-‐ pointment. Sometimes it feels like all of these thing will never end, but deep down we all know that they will. I Also used parallelism all my stanzas. Ex: everything fake, everything lies, every-‐ thing dark. The tone of my poem is en-‐ during pain. I mean this in a way where I talk about how hard every-‐ thing is but don’t mention how every-‐ thing will be better but what it is like in the moment.
My Name “If you can’t Pind the light at the end of the tunnel It could be because you are the light.” -‐Unknown Just like a ray of sunshine to brighten your day this sublime light tries to shine for everyone. To me my name means that I bring happiness to the world around me. I could have been a Madeline or a Leila but people always say, “I don’t see you as a Madeline.” I think that my name Pits me. My name Pits me because I’m here for people the same way the sun is here to keep us all warm! I try to give out a posi-‐ tive vibe and be optimistic not because my name told me to; because that’s the way I think that the world should be. The meaning “Sublime light” comes from the Arabic Language, which is the language of my religion. But In Swahili my name means exalted, this is also impor-‐ tant to my name because my father grew up underneath the hot African sun in the area of Tabora and spoke Swahili. My parents made a choice that would affect my entire life, my name. And they dePinitely made the right choice. I would never change my name, why should I block out the light right before it is ready to shine? My name doesn’t determine who I am or how I act, I determine who I am which gives my name new meaning. I am Aliya ****, Sublime light, and I am the light that my name precedes.
im lost
Lost in thought Lost in pain Lost in fear That you can never retain Lost trouble Lost in grief Lost in heartbreak That you can never relief Lost in sorrow Lost in death Lost in misery That you can never refresh Lost in life Lost in words Lost in everything That you can never return Lost in chaos Lost in peace Lost in Burdens That you can ever release Because these are the things We think and feel Through the good and the bad It’s forever a done deal
By Dalton Lakin
Dalton Lakins piece “i’m lost” in my opinion is really interesting. The main literary component used in this poem is repetition ex: lost in… lost in… lost in… It talks about how event hough one day we wont be lost the moments that we were lost will always be with us. The rhyming scheme of this poem is ABCB. I think that the repetition is complimentary to the piece because it shows that a person can and appar-‐ ently was lost in many different as-‐ pects of life.
This Concrete Poem is about my favorite place in the world, Japan. It is so special to me be-‐ cause I had always wanted to go to Tokyo and I Pinally made it. One day I am going to go back in the winter so I can go skiing in Japan, that is my dream! If it were up to me I would move there in a heart-‐ beat! The reason I decided to do this poem in the shape of a pa-‐ per crane is because when I was in Japan I decided to make 1000 paper cranes after the Japanese legend saying if you make 1000 paper cranes. The tone of my poem is amazement. I think it demonstrates the cu-‐ riosity that every person no matter how old has.
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear, Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
by Robert Frost
In our lives we have to choose what paths we take knowing we can’t take more than one. I am trying to make my own path and create my own future. I am going to try to take the road less traveled. Parallelism is demonstrated in the first stanza second line and it carries out through the next 2 lines. The rhym-‐ ing scheme is ABAAB. “The Road Not Taken” demonstrates even the smallest decisions in life and how hard it can be for us. Robert Frost’s poem is extremely well known, I think this is because al-‐ most everyone in the world can relate to the poem.
Little Black Cat
Hot summer days: Purr Silky Black cat shedding Fur But now it’s cold; Burr
By Aliya L*****-*****
This Haiku is about a cat named Wally. I wrote about her because she plays an important part in my family. I think that everyone who has a pet knows that they do become a member of your family and a very important part be-‐ cause pets never seem to turn on you like a human would. I decided to use a aaa rhyming scheme in my haiku be-‐ cause it added to the tone of my poem. I think that the tone of this haiku is mindlessness. It focuses on something little that makes thing seem better.
Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow.
Scientist believe that we start dream-‐ ing before we are even born even though this isn’t the same type of dreaming why should we ever stop? I have lots of dreams and am deter-‐ mined to not let them die. The literary components in this poem are meta-‐ phor and some rhyming. The meta-‐ phor being life without dreams would be like a frozen, cold, empty, Pield. There is some rhymes towards the end in the last three lines in the rhyming scheme of ABCB and DEFE in the sec-‐ ond stanza.
Lost and Found
There is a point where everything is lost Memories, happiness, love, wars and fear Everyone goes through it and pays the cost But after the rain there will be no tears Because we are strong and we all have hope Hope helps us concur all of our problems Hope washes away our fears like soap And the happiness will start to blossom The memories return just like the sun Happiness is rekindled like a Flame The fear is lifted away like a ton And love concurs all like winning a game When all is lost we will always have hope And even though it’s hard we will always cope
The rhyming scheme of this sonnet like most Shakespearian sonnets is abab, cdcd, efef ,gg. This helps the rhythm of the poem come into play a little more because it rhymes people will read it in a way where a rhythm and tone can more easily be picked out. I used the similes to help the reader picture what I was thinking more clearly, but this was more of a challenge considering one of the ele-‐ ments in most sonnets is the fact that each line can only be 10 syllables and has to have a rhyming scheme.
“Hope” is the thing with feathers "Hope" is the thing with feathers— That perches in the soul— And sings the tune without the words— And never stops—at all— And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard— And sore must be the storm— That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm— I've heard it in the chillest land— And on the strangest Sea— Yet, never, in Extremity, It asked a crumb—of Me.
by Emily Dickinson
In the poem “Hope is the thing with feathers” Emily Dickenson paints the im-‐ age that hope is a bird and its song when it is needed but never asks anything from us. I need hope. The world needs hope. Hope makes everything worth liv-‐ ing for even in the previous poem I men?oned, “Everyone wants happiness” Hope is what keeps everything worth wai?ng for. Hope recently became one of the biggest things in my life. Hope for a beDer future during a painful present. Hope for happiness. I think that this poem demonstrates the value of this aspect and what it can do to a person. Rhyming is used in this poem but not all the way through. Also the line length of this poem par?cularly s?cks out because of all the dashes aRer each line. I think that those take away form the poten?al power that the poem has.
Alice In Oz Whenever I’m upset I go to my music And just like Alice I am taken to my wonderland My wonderland Full of peace Full of understanding Full of happiness Full of love. The music is the key the lets me in I’m in my wonderland Millions of melodies great me.
Whenever the world seems like it’s just too much I go to my music Just like Dorothy I am whipped off to Oz My Oz Full of mystery Full of curiosity Full of intrigue Full of hope The music is the tornado that whips me off I’m in my Oz Millions of lyrics great me.
When Drama surrounds me I go to my music Thousands of people who seem to un-‐ derstand great me Thousands of lyrics describing my ex-‐ act feelings Thousands of melodies depicting my exact mood Music is the key Music is the tornado Music is my escape. I’m in my Wonderland I’m in my Oz I’m in my own world
by Aliya L*****-*****
The literary elements in this poem are: parallelism, metaphor, and similes. This literary element is used in all stanzas. I used this element to show what is in the different worlds/my world. An example of repetition from the poem can be found in the third stanza; Music is the key, Music is the tornado, Music is my escape. In the Pirst stanza I explain how “like Alice I am transported to my wonderland” or “like Dorothy I am taken to my Oz” I used this similes to demonstrate that the music is taking me to a different place just like these two Pictional char-‐ acters. The metaphor used through out the poem are to show that the music is what lets me into my world just like a key was used for Alice to go into hers and the tornado was what whisked Dorothy to hers. The use of metaphori-‐ cal language in my opinion helps the reader imagine what my music does to me as the characters adventures did for them.
Personal Connections Past In the past I like most people have felt lost or forgotten. In recent events everything and everyone has seemed lost. This is where I felt the connection to “im lost” because everything has seemed lost, like I couldn’t find my way no matter what I did. My poem “The Pain of Perfection” came from family issues, this was particularly hard for me because my number one priority in life is my family so when something happened it changed how I viewed the world and situations forever. Without my family I was lost. We try to put things in our past but in reality we know the same feelings will return, but until then we should enjoy the happiness Present Though my Haiku “Little Black Cat” isn’t a serious poem it does relate back to my identity. The poem is about my little black cat, Wally. Wally is the only thing that seems to stay consistent and happy. Sometimes the simple things in life bring us the most joy, for me this simplest thing is Wally. In a way I envy her or the people who see the world like her. She is full of curiosity and is care free because she doesn't have to care. The future and the past can be really frighting what will I do when I grow up? How will this thing that happened in the past affect my future? So as long as I have something like Wally I can focus on the present just like her approach things with curiosity and freedom. Future I don’t know what I want to do when I grow up. It used to be fashion design, child author, elementary teacher, artist, photographer, and most recently a psychologist. Though the past has shaped whom I am today in the present in the end the future is all that matters in our world. From the day we are born we are born into expectations about who and what we are going to do with our lives, and even on our deathbeds we speak of going to heaven or going to hell. There is always going to be a future so in the end that is an element that will change what I do in my life just as much as the past has. I don’t know what I want to do in the future but I do know that I want to do something with originality and take “the road less traveled by” and be my own person. I have decided this because of my past because of the expectations of others that have fallen and destroyed the people I love around me. I will take the road less traveled by, this is where The Road Not Taken and I have a personal connections. One way I can aim for my goals in the future is by dreaming. Dream about what life I will have, who will be in my life, and what I will do in my life. Dreams are the windows to our desires to our hopes, to our perfect world. If we stop dreaming then what will the future be like? What can we aim for? Dreams is a perfect poem explaining the importance of the simple task of dreaming. Hope The past, the present, and the future. All of these elements tie together but on thing they all have in common is hope. I hope for a better world in the future, I hope for better things to happen then in the past, I hope for the present to be wonderful. Hope like in “Hope is the thing with feathers” never asks for anything from me. The reason that I have so many poems about hope is because in my opinion its one thing that helps keeps us all sane. Because no matter how bad things are everyone has hope whether it be when people like me are sad or when people in a different country want a better life the one thing that everyone can use for free without returning the favor is hope. Everybody wants happiness is a perfect example of the real world, not everything is perfect all the time but we know that it will get better and that we can hope for an amazing life after the “rain”. Hope is what makes up lots of my existence. Individuality My poetry anthology has really looked at what I feel not who I am or what I do, which brings me to my last pillar, individuality. My poem Alice in Wonderland really describes what my escape is. Not self-harm, not drugs, not alcohol but music. Music helps people everywhere connect, it helps me be who I am and figure out who I am. My other poem “My Wonderland” talks about my favorite place in the word, Japan. I have a strong connection with the country because ever since I was little I had always wanted to go and when I did finally go it was better then I ever thought it would be. For as long as I can remember I had always said I want to go not really knowing where home is… but I honestly believe that I belong in Japan where everything is vibrate and beautiful and unique, just like me.
Works Sited List http://s430.photobucket.com/user/RAIDERSBABY_2008/media/Decorated%20images/animation4wl2.gif. html Photo by Raidersbaby_2008 Photo name: Rainbow Rain Publishing date: N/S Date Visited: Oct/5/2013 Publisher Photobucket.com http://www.cbc.ca/nl/blogs/ryansnoddon/2012/06/countdown-to-saturday.html Photo by N/S Photo name: N/S Date published: June/5/2012 Date Visited: Oct/5/2013 Publisher cbc.ca (article by Ryan Snoddon) Photo by: Aliya L*****-***** Date Published: 16 months ago Date Visited: Oct/5/2013 Publisher: Not published
http://www.filemagazine.com/thecollection/archives/2006/05/im_lost.html Photo By: Maile Lani Date Published: 2008 Date visited: Oct/5/2013 Publisher: File magazine
http://www.sodahead.com/fun/are-you-ready-for-a-new-season/question-2121785/?link=ibaf& q=&esrc=s Photo by: Brightspite62 Date Published: Aug/30/2013 Date visited: Oct/5/2013 Publisher: Not published http://karachicityupdates.blogspot.ca/2013/03/sun-rise-sun-set.html Photo by: Hamin Hanif Date Published: March/5/2013 Date Visited: Oct/7/2013 Publisher: Blogspot
http://feross.org/japan/ Photo by: Feross Aboukhadijeh Date Published: Jan/2/2013 Date visited: Oct/7/2013 Publisher: Self published http://www.picstopin.com/640/glow-cosmos-moon/http:%7C%7Cwww*iobklady*cz%7Cobk lady_dlazby%7Cdlazby%7Cglow%7CGLOW_COP*jpg/ Photo by: N/S Date Published: N/s Date visited: Oct/7/2013 Publisher: Picstopin http://blogs.webtrends.com/2012/11/shedding-light-on-the-multi-touch-paid-search-funnel /bright-light/ Photo by: N/S Date Published: N/S Date Visited: Oct/7/2013 Publisher: Webtrends
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/hope-is-the-thing-with-feathers/ Poem by: Emily Dickinson Date Published: Jan/13/2003 Date Visited: Sep/28/2013 Publisher: N/S http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/dreams-2/ Poem by: Langston Hughes Date Published: Jan/3/2003 Date Visited: Oct/1/2013 Publisher: N/S http://www.poemhunter.com/poe m/the-road-not-taken/ Poem by: Robert Frost Date Publisehd: Jan/3/2003 Date Visited: Sep/29/2013 Publisher: N/S
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/im-lost-9/ Poem by: Dalton Lakin Date published: Jan,28,2009 Date Visited: Oct/5/2013 Publisher: Self Published
http://www.anonymousartofrevolution.com/2012/10/everyone-wants-happiness-no-one-wants.html Poem by: Unknown Date Published: oct/6/2012 Date Visited: Sep/28/2013 Publisher: N/S