Need help analyzing a poem

I am only too happy to help. You may present the following analysis *free* of referencing me. That's the kind of person I am: I do not need to take credit. I only want to teach.


No hawk hangs over in this air:
(no republicans are welcome at our hippy bong fest!)
The urgent snow is everywhere.
(and we snort coke too!)
The wing adroiter than a sail
Must lean away from such a gale,
(but I'm so high, I better not snort too much)
Abandoning its straight intent,
Or else expose tough ligament
And tender flesh to what before
Meant dampened feathers, nothing more.
(... cause if I'm too messed up, I won't be able
to have sex with all these hippy chicks!)

Forceless upon our backs there fall
Infrequent flakes hexagonal,
(dude, do I have dandruff or am I just seeing spots?)
Devised in many a curious style
To charm our safety for a while,
Where close to earth like mice we go
Under the horizontal snow.
(well, it's all good here in my mom's basement, dandruff or no).

 

Not exactly sure what part you're asking for help on. What is the poem about? It tells you in the title: a snow storm.

If they want you to explicate (and, if this is the bac, I'd assume they do), here is a little explanation on that: http://wwwpp.uwrf.edu/~sl01/explcat.html

You can google "poem explication" for more of the same.

 

I dont know what it means, but I would sure love to hear Van Chancellor read this on 610 AM Radio

 

No hawk hangs over in this air:
(Noone is dealing with these things which are apart of our everyday lives)
The urgent snow is everywhere.
(These things in life hover around us and do not go away)

The wing adroiter than a sail
(Must use my skills better than I think I can)
Must lean away from such a gale,
(To avoid the onslaught of one of these things)
Abandoning its straight intent,
(Must make a different choice to avoid a known consequence)
Or else expose tough ligament
(Or else must be willing to be strong)
And tender flesh to what before
(And feel what it is I've felt before)
Meant dampened feathers, nothing more.
(Which is arguably trivial by now...not much more)

Forceless upon our backs there fall
(Life is full of seemingly trivial things which weigh upon us lightly)
Infrequent flakes hexagonal,
(We tend to ignore these things as infrequent as they seem the same)
Devised in many a curious style
(These things disguise themselves in many forms)
To charm our safety for a while,
(And give us a false sense of security that we are dealing with all that life is throwing at us)
Where close to earth like mice we go
(And we scour about in a pack mentality)
Under the horizontal snow.
(Ignoring or sheltering us from these things which are a part of life)

Hell...I don't know. I thought I was on to something. I've opened up a new meaning in my life. This poem has shown me the error of my ways. I'm a new man. Woohoo!

Surf

 

Oh...I interpreted it to mean the "weight of responsibility, how we deal with things which come at us in life, how we tend to trivialize some things and not others, and how...a lot of the time...we are not owning up to our responsibility like we should be".

I don't know how on target I am but that's what I feel. Oh well...I tried. Tear.

 

I'll give my quickie interpretation... apologies if it's similar to Surfguy's or anyone elses.


A person who thought themselves strong-willed and capable is being beaten down by the vagaries of life, the common day to day demands that are pulling him off the course he's set. He used to be able to shrug it all off, but now he finds that harder and harder to do, and fears he's becoming one of the "mice".


Nice poem. That stuff happens to us all.

 

Oh...your good, Deckard. I see some parallels in our interpretations. I would say my interpretation wasn't quite as refined as it could have been but it follows some similar logic as yours. With a little more thought, I may have arrived at a similar conclusion to yours.

I refer to "things in life" where you refer to "vagaries or demands of life".

I refer to an "onslaught of things" and "making a different choice" where you refer to "demands pulling him off course".

I refer to "trivializing these things" where you refer to "shrugging it all off".

I refer to developing a "false sense of security" by trivializing(or making seem less important than it really is) that with which we are not willing to deal with differently and, thereby, trivializing to a degree. You refer to "finding it harder and harder" to "shrug it all off".

I refer to "scouring about in a pack(or maybe mob was more applicable) mentality" while "ignoring" or unwilling to deal with these things. You refer to "being beaten down" to a point where he's "becoming one of the mice" as if he's no longer able to cope with the demands.

I do tend to trivialize important things in life if I don't feel I can cope.

Anyway, good stuff.

 

Thanks, Surfguy. I thought we were on the same page... just used a different way to put it.


You're welcome, rezdawg. Poetry is cool. Free your mind.

(and don't ask me what I like... I just know it when I see it. )

 

This is about Bob Sura. He's a hawk in the middle of a snow storm. Took such a beatin over the triple double he's now laying low so as not to expose himself to more pain. To more critcism. Like a hawk's wound in a snow storm. The damage was done. But now he must contend with his alloted path in life. Which is to lie low like the rest of the nba suckitude. He's not a high flying hawk anymore. He's just another nba scrub that got whipped in public.

 

So who gets the A?



That was excellent Deck and Surf. I sat here for 10 minutes trying to figure it out.

I'm kind of going through Deckard's explanation these days.

 

Rezdawg, I think it will help your generation to have this poem translated from "Modern English":

Naw hawk hangs ova in dis air:
Da urgent snow be everywhere.
Da win' adroita than a sail
Must lean away from such a gale,
Abandonin' its straight intent,
Or else expose tough ligament
And tenda flesh to what before
Meant dampened feathers, nothin' more.

Forceless upon our backs there fall
Infrequent flakes hexagonal,
Devised in many a curious style
To charm our safety fo a while,
Where close to earth like mice we go
Unda da horizontal snow.

 

Another way of looking at it:

No hawk hangs over in this air:
The urgent snow is everywhere.
The wing adroiter than a sail
Must lean away from such a gale,
Abandoning its straight intent,
Or else expose tough ligament
And tender flesh to what before
Meant dampened feathers, nothing more.

This does seem to imply that the subject is prepared to divert course to avoid a painful consequence. It implies the subject as very capable when it says "No hawk hangs over in this air" meaning the hawk is usually there to take it on. While usually capable of dealing with situation, this situation has gotten heavy and has presented a problem in that the subject will open itself up to painful consequences if it were to stay on course. "The wing adroiter than a sail" - seems to imply a piece or characteristic of the subject which was more than capable of dealing with situations which came up before this. The subject appears to have dealt with it very well in the past coming out of it with barely a scratch but has decided to, or been forced to, abandon course this time.

Forceless upon our backs there fall
Infrequent flakes hexagonal,
Devised in many a curious style
To charm our safety for a while,
Where close to earth like mice we go
Under the horizontal snow.

Seems to imply that the subject has taken the seemingly safer path. The effects of the situation before are only slightly so present here and are non-threatening. Ah...this place feels safe. But, safety appears to be an illusion. The subject may not be "out of the woods" as the precarious situation before(or one like it) may be confronted yet again on its journey. The current, safe situation will not last....and the subject knows it.


Hehe...I hope I'm not wasting my time . I may be the one way off course. LOL.

 

Next time <i>you</i> have to tell what you think it means first!

 

It seems to be a poem about aging. Winter is an analogy for old age. The first stanza seems to be about how simple things such as movement are harder in old age and tougher to recover from.

The first stanza seems to be about not having a choice or not being able to stop the process of aging. This is totally guessing but it seems to say we welcome aging at first, (the charming snowflakes), but all the while its taking us down from our flight. (life)

 

Bob, I think I'm going to go with "addiction".


"Is it ADDICTION?"


X

Cocaine addiction would fit best. Heh.

 

The second pargraph should say second stanza