Inessential things

Inessential things- Brian Patten



what do cats remember of days?

They remember the ways in from the cold,
The warmest spot, the place of food.
They remember the places of pain, their enemies,
the irritation of birds, the warm fumes of soil,
the usefulness of dust.
They remember the creak of a bed, the sound
of their owner's footsteps,
the taste of fish, the loveliness of cream.
Cats remember what is essential of days.
Letting all other memories go as of no worth
they sleep sounder than we,
whose hearts break remembering so many
inessential things.



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*T(title1): When I first read the title of this poem, not many things came into my mind. I was not sure about what this poem will be about, and I guessed maybe the poem is about some ways to get rid of the inessential things.


*P(paraphrase): Basically, poem says that cats only remember essential and VERY necessary facts that directly relates with their lives, such as their enemies, place to eat foods, etc. Author says that like cats who only remember essential things, human should also remember things that are essential to us.

*C(connotation): Although I am not sure if this counts as poetic devices or not, I want to pull out listing and comparison in this poem.

1. Listing- Author simply lists the important facts which are remembered by cats. When the reader reads the poem and actually see some facts cats remember, realization that people should only remember essential things goes into readers' mind effectively. Therefore, I think author used method of listing to emphasize the message.

2. Comparison- Author compares cats, which only remembers the essential things with human, who remembers every inessential things that gives pain in this poem. Through this, author emphasizes the necessity of people and persuading them to only thinnk about necessary things in our lives.

*A(attitude): In this poem, author does not show specific tone or mood very much because it is a little bit objective compared to other poems I read. (Or maybe it has a mood or tone but I am not recognizing it) I also thought that because author is trying to convey message to people in logical way, his tone is objective.

*S(shift): I think there is no shift in this poem because the author's tone does not change.

*T(theme): Although grown-up people does not think that children(and teenagers) has lots of thoughts, they have their own thoughts and pains and opinions just like adults. I think the difference between adults and children are that although children does not hold on to the inessential things very much, adults sometimes hold on to inessential things so much that they cannot see things that are REALLY essential for them. I think author's message is that we should think about essential things more than inessential things in order to not miss some essential things because we concentrated on inessential things.

*T(title2): I think this poem's title is a little bit common, but it clearly shows the main theme of this poem.

[Just for fun] Instructions For Growing Poetry

*Instructions For Growing Poetry- Tony Mitton


Shut your eyes.

Open your mind.

Look inside.

What do you find?

Something funny?

Something sad?

Something beautiful, mysterious, mad?

Open your ears.

Listen well.

A word or a phrasebegins to swell?

Catch its rhythm.

Hold its sound.

Gently, slowly roll it around.

Does it please you?

Does it tease you?

Does it ask to grow and spread?

Now those little words are sprouting poetry inside your head.

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Not for analysis, but just for fun....
I like learning poems because it has lots of meaning in even one sentence...
Even one basic word can be VERY powerful.
I think poetry is slowly becoming my friend...!

The tide rises, the tide falls

*The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


The tide rises, the tide falls,
The twilight darkens, the curlew calls;
Along the sea-sands damp and brown
The traveler hastens toward the town,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.

Darkness settles on roofs and walls,
But the sea in the darkness calls and calls;
The little waves, with their soft, white hands,
Efface the footprints in the sands,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.

The morning breaks; the steeds in their stalls
Stamp and neigh, as the hostler calls;
The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveler to the shore.
And the tide rises, the tide falls.


*T (title): When I thought about the tide that is continuously rising and falling, I presumed that this poem will be about something that is happening everyday and the feeling of the poem sounded a little bit sad.

*P (paraphrase--by stanza):

1st stanza- While tide is continuously rising and falling, the traveler who is going to the town along the wet sea is walking quickly because it is getting dark.

2nd stanza- Now it became all dark but the sea is calling continuously. At the sea, little waves are removing the footprints that are on the sand.

3rd stanza- Although the dark passed and morning comes, traveler who came yesterday does not come back. However, tide is still rising and falling.

*C (connotation):

1. Repitition- Throughout the poem, same line (And the tide rises, the tide falls) is repeated four times. I think author tried to emphasize this line because it is important part. Also, I think the method(?) of 'repeating' the same line is representing the property of tide that is continuously repeating the action of rising and falling. Furthermore, because the last line of every stanza is same, I felt that the overall poem has rhyme.

2. Symbol- I think this poem is filled with symbolism. I think 'tide' represents the everyday life of people, which is continuously being repeated over and over. Also, I think the calling of 'sea in the darkness' symbolizes the upcoming death.

3. Personification- The personification I found in this poem is the part where it says that 'The little waves, with their soft, white hands, efface the footprints in the sands'. Sea waves effacing the footprints can be not humanlike action, but I focused on 'with their soft, white hands'. I thought that maybe author used the word 'soft' and 'white' to express that although those words may look nice and cute, it is clearly erasing good memories and that is sad thing.

*A (attitude)- Author's tone in this poem is very clear and not emotional, although the overall atmosphere is very sad and lonely.

*S (shift)- I do not think there is a shift in this poem because author is keeping the tone-Author continuously used clear tone. Also, the atmosphere of poem is unchanged too. Although the morning came and tide is still rising and falling in the last stanza, the traveler does not came. Therefore, the mood is not changed.

*T (title2)- Title is expressing overall atmosphere of the poem, which is sad and quiet.

*T (theme)- In my opinion, theme of this poem is that 'life continues despite of many traumatic events'. In the last stanza, although the traveler does not come back as before, tide is still rising and falling just as before. It is continuing the action just like yesterday, the day before yesterday, and it will repeat its action in future, too. I thought that tide represents people and traveler symbolizes some painful events. Although people feel like they are going to die or not able to live as before, but when time passes, they live like they never experienced those painful events(or emotions). I think this poem and this theme is sad because...'erasing from the memory' is sad, even if the erased memory is about a painful thing.


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I was quite shocked because of the burning of South Gate, the No.1 National Treasure, in Seoul. I hope no one forgets this incident easily and remember the shock of the day of burning to look at Korea's treasures with respect toward the long history of them.