Anthology Introduction

The New Land

Moving to a different and a newer house is always exciting, but migrating to a new country gives the immigrant a taste of both, excitement and sadness. Many times the immigrants feel they have left a wonderful world to see another. Other times it is not always so easy leaving a well settled life behind and starting a new one from scratch. Most leave in hope for a better life and some leave in hope for more opportunities for their children. There are usually two parts of this whole process; the first part is missing and remembering homeland and the second is adjusting to the new environment.

It is always interesting to see which part would be stronger for the immigrants. Will they be depressed all the time and remember the old life or will they move on and accept the new life? I have experienced this situation in my personal life and was successfully able to choose the path of accepting America as my new mother land. The anthology I have put together was chosen very carefully to show mine and other immigrants’ thoughts and experiences that we have been thorough.

The eight poems I have selected describe the inner feelings of the immigrants that occurred before and after their journey to a new place, America. These poems work hand in hand, because it shows two different thoughts and feelings, while talking about the same situation. One side shown by some of the poems is how the immigrant feels about leaving their mother land, relatives, friends, house, and etc. For example, from “Remember” Rossetti says, “Remember me when I am gone away, Gone far away into the silent land.” This sentence is so important because it not only shows the part where the immigrant is leaving, but also how he/she will miss what is left behind when they go to the ‘silent land.’ This thought is expanded by John Howard Payne in “Home, Sweet Home” when he says, “Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble there’s no place like home!” If both of these sentences are looked together the reader will understand that an immigrant is not only missing their family, but they will also miss their mother land.

The other side presents the feelings of immigrants when they are in a new country (America, to be specific); the adjustment process, meeting new people, patriotism, and being in the land of free. Immigrants are forced (at times) to adapt to the newer environment and accept the new land as their country. Some of the immigrants accept their new home with happiness and immediately become patriotic to it, while others take some time. Samuel Francis Smith in “America” presents the patriotism that the immigrants come and adapt to; for example “My native country, thee, Land of the noble free,--” Then, Mukesh Williams, in “Foreign Lands” mentions how one eventually sees the brighter side of the gamble and learns to accept the new life. “If you feel better now in a foreign country, the gamble has been good.”

In the beginning, the person is always on the verge of having to choose between two roads; to move (relocate) or not to move. This particular choice is not always so easy and what some say, ‘bubbly’. Being an immigrant myself, I have encountered the same situation and ended up choosing a path that would later be for the betterment of my future. Robert Frost has beautifully summarized this situation in his poem “The Road not Taken.” Frost says, in the very end (to add emphasis), “I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” Many times when the immigrant is moving, they are not sure if they will ever return, “Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back” (Robert Frost, “The Road not Taken”). Even though they are not sure, the immigrants do always hope to return back to their homeland.

In the anthology I have put together, “The Road not Taken” is the very first step in the entire process of moving to a new country and starting a new life. This poem not only informs the reader about the situation but also shows how difficult it is to forget ‘The Road not Taken.’ This poem in then followed by three poems, “Immigration” by Gaby Tinoco, “Home, Sweet Home!” by John Howard Payne, and “Remember” by Christina Rossetti. I have chosen these three particular poems because they present a summary of what things are going to be left behind. Tinoco (“Immigration”) talks about how difficult it is to be separated from your family and see all your accomplishments becoming useless. Then Payne (“Home, Sweet home”) adds on mentioning the difficulty of leaving your house; which can be expanded into mother land, environment, neighbors, and etc. Finally, Rossetti (“Remember”) talks about how you are leaving the love you received from everyone. Rossetti writes about how an immigrant is so attached to their family (because of the love received from them) that they don’t want them to remember him/her and be saddened by it.

The second half of the anthology is a group of poems that tell the reader what everyone has to adapt to, make new friends, whether it was the right path or not, and how some actually feel it was a disaster. “America” by Samuel Francis Smith is a patriotic poem, something the immigrant has to adapt to and accept. Mallik Bulusu presents a poem, “New Friend,” in which a lonely person who has just taken a journey finds a new friend. “One Morning, I began a solo journey....As I walked, I found myself lost…..My hope got better like never before….I found smile and a new friend.” Immigrants, like me, sometimes question themselves whether coming to America was right or wrong. Mukesh Williams in “Foreign Lands” tries to answer that question by mentioning, the gamble is good if you feel you have entered “Into a strange word of opportunity.” If the immigrant feels that gamble has been for the worse, they start to hate the new country and the environment. “The American dream, land of the free, tearing up families, leaves questions, with disbelief” (Anthonio Vallejo, “Immigration”).

The poem I made myself was an attempt to summarize the whole journey of me coming to America, everything thing from seeing my family crying to accepting America as our new motherland. This particular poem is also supposed to summarize my anthology, in the sense that it shows a little bit of everything. The poem starts out after one of the paths have already been chosen (moving to America), like in the poem from Robert Frost. Then it continues and mentions what is going to be left behind, “I was happy to leave, to leave my old life,” summarizing the second part of my anthology (“Remember,” “Immigration,” by Tinoco and “Home, Sweet Home!”). The last poems of my anthology (“Foreign Lands,” “New Friend,” “America,” and “Immigration” by Vallejo) is about accepting the new land of free, as summarized in “A New Wind.”

“I came a long way, accepting a new mother land.”

I can tell, from personal experience that these poets are not lying when they mention how hard it is to leave the old life behind. I myself came from India to America, approximately thirteen years ago, leaving a life behind that I loved. These poems describe the exact things that I felt when I was leaving for example, Gaby Tinoco say “It hurts to see our family get torn apart, to see everything my parents earned go down the drain” in “Immigration.” That is exactly what happened to my family, because my dad had to close a great business, just so he can come to America. All his wealth, hard work, and dedication went down the drain and was never seen again, it all became just a memory. As a young child I might not have felt too sad, but my mother almost broke down because she was giving up everything for nothing (at least that is what she felt at that time).

When I first came to America, everything was new, different, and scary. I had to learn everything from speaking English to being able to live with my aunt and uncle in a small house. As time passed, I came to realize that the ‘gamble’ was good, because I picked up a lot of new skills that I would not have been able to learn otherwise. As Williams mentioned, I feel better now in this foreign country; the irony is…it is not so foreign to me anymore. I believe America is my country now, “My country, ’t is of thee, sweet land of liberty.” (Samuel Francis Smith, “America”)

America has been the land of free for a long time and now it is becoming a home to many people from all over the world. Even though most immigrants have not forgotten their birth country, most of their children have been brought up to love and live the American dream. These poems are written by completely different poets from different times, and yet they seem to speak to each other. Experiencing this situation at first-hand motivated me to put together an anthology of poems that would describe the inner thoughts of an immigrant. These particular poems have been chose over others because they not only present the feelings of the immigrants, but also show before and after steps. Each poem sounds good alone, but does present the entire journey, of leaving the old life and adapting a new one. Together, they expand the meaning and help the reader better understand the steps of migration from living a life of love to living as an American citizen.

Sentimental

Poets sometimes use sentiments as a source in their poem, but sometimes it becomes excessive. To be able to work around such a problem is very difficult for the poets, but none the less, very important. Poets try to use many techniques, like including a few facts, to try an avoid getting too sentimental. In poems such as “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath and W.D. Snodgrass’s “Mementos, 1” it becomes very easy for the poets to become too emotional.

Although, Plath’s “Daddy” is a very touching poem and should be sentimental to a big extent, it would not be a poem if there was an excess amount of it. Plath theme in the poem is very strong and seems to be based on her true life while reading the poem. The poem talks about her hating her dad so much that she sort of feels tortured even after his death. Some of Plath’s sentences are very neural, in the sense that almost anyone can relate to it. For example, “Every woman adores a Fascist;” in this sentence Plath actually means the opposite, something not only a woman can relate to but also men. Although, she does get extremely close to being too sentimental, for example, “Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I'm through.” W.D. Snodgrass on the other hand also does a decent of not making his poem, “Memento, 1” too sentimental. The poem is about him remembering someone that was dear to him. Even though this could be very emotional, he works around it by including memories that people can relate to (people who loved someone, i.e. spouse). For example, “That you wore to our first dance. The sight of you stunned us all.”

Poets have to be very careful when they are writing an emotional poem, but it is very easy to get too sentimental. Both poets, Snodgrass and Plath, did a great job in avoiding such mistake, even though they get very close. An emotional poem is successful only when everyone can relate to it, or else it is a story.

Beats and the NY School

Poets often use different styles and ways to help their readers or audience better understand the poems. There is no real right or wrong way to write poetry; poets use different styles to reach a different type of audience or to explain in a different way. For example, after reading the poems “Sometime During Eternity” and “Why I am not a painter” the audience is given the objectives of the poem in different ways.

After reading, “Sometime During Eternity” it feels as if the poet is presenting his poem in the form of a story. There is a sequence of events presented in the story, rather than just a list of thoughts and ideas. There are some instances in the poem where it feels like the poet added a few thoughts, but only to make the audience realize that the poet is only a narrator and not a character; for example, “as if he is THE king cat.” In the beginning of the poem the poet mentions the existence of the character, “and that the cat” and then goes through events and in the end says, “real dead,” giving it a ending. On the other hand, in “Why I am not a painter” the poet presents the poem as if he is talking to his friend. For example, “for instance, Mike Goldberg is starting a painting. I drop in.” This is a completely different technique used by the author than the one used in “Sometime During Eternity.” O’Hara uses this technique as a tool to list his thoughts and talk as if he is presenting a small part of his autobiography in this poem.

There are many other techniques used by the poets that make a different impact on different audiences. Some of the poets have used popular life as technique, while others have written poems that are meant to be read fast. The above two poems both have their own ways of impacting the audiences (not necessarily making one better than the other).

"Plain Speech"

The poets have shifted their writing style from modernism to writing in a more contemporary style or ‘Plain Speech.’ Their poems are written in free verse and sound more like a list of facts, without any real metrical pattern. Free Verse is, “composed of variable, usually unrhymed lines having no fixed metrical pattern.” (Dictionary.com) This allows their readers to connect more with their audience and also makes it seem like a hybrid of poetry and prose. The poets used everyday life situation into poetry, but the problem is they have to still stick to be true to what poems are.

Poets have used many elements in their poetry to try and match the poems of their ‘ornamental ancestors.’ One of the elements that Philip Larkin used was metrical variation as a means of telling the audience directly a message or moral. The line he uses is, “Get out as early as you can.” Also, John Berryman uses a theme to connect all of his little sections in “Dream Songs.” He uses the character, Henry, to get his point across to his audiences; as seen in poems of older poets. The poets also use real life experiences like it was used in Dickinson’s poems. For example, “I am afraid, only that it will change, as I am changing” from “Next Day” by Randall Jarrell. Also some of these poems had shown a sadder side in the poets’ life as in the “Dream Songs.”

Although, these poets have used a new technique to write their poetry, it shows more of a connection with their audiences. Apart from the older poets, these poets seem to give a moral, rather than just putting their plain thoughts on paper. The ‘Plain Speech’ not only does it help the audience relate the poems to themselves, but still follows the guidelines of poetry.

"We Real Cool"

Black Arts Movement was a time period that helped inspire African-Americans to shows their talent in literature. Many of the African-Americans poets started to put down their thoughts in terms of poetry using techniques such as metaphor. Gwendolyn Brooks uses metaphor in “We Real Cool” to help her readers better understand the meaning of the poem.

Brooks presents her metaphor in a way that the meaning could be interpreted differently by each reader. For example, when she uses “We” no one really knows what the poet is referring to. Maybe she is talking about all black boys, maybe the seven boys she wrote it for, or even African-Americans in general. The poem’s biggest metaphor is the first sentence, “We real cool. We left school.” This sentence represents all of the African-American boys who either dropped out of school or left school thinking that is the way of life, not just the seven boys she was referring to. Another great metaphor is the sentence “We sign sin.” This sentence by itself does not make sense, but it represents the way all the boys talk (usually vulgar or “ghetto”). The poem then continues and says “We thin gin. We jazz June;” which represents the increase in partying and drinking alcohol among young African-Americans (probably talking about the boys).

The metaphor in this poem helps its targeted readers, because it speaks their language, while telling teaching them a lesson. The poem is written like one of the readers themselves have wrote, giving t a very emotional and personal effect. Along with metaphor, the irony in this poem also helps it readers, because in a sense the poem it self is an irony. Brooks probably helped many young African-American boys in going to school with this poem and the use of metaphor in it.

The Influence of Others

Poets have changed their style of writing and format over the years, but still have been influenced by poets from an earlier generation. While some show extreme differences others, like Robert Frost, seem to show similarities with poets from periods like the British Romantics. Also, the same concept is shown in the poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay as was shown in the poems by Emily Dickinson.

British Romantics was a time period when poets used to write about things that did not necessarily exist, nature and experiences of childhood. Although, Robert Frost does not include too much of imaginary things and childhood experiences, he does make heavy use of nature in his poems. For example, in “Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening” he talks about how he has miles to go and the entire time he is in the woods. “To stop without a farmhouse nearBetween the woods and frozen lake” Robert Frost spent his childhood on a farm and therefore, seems to be very influenced by the Romantics poets who wrote about nature; as it seems most of his poems have something to do with nature.

Emily Dickinson also was a very influential poet in the eyes of Edna St. Vincent Millay. Dickinson focused writing about the reality and how the world really is. Millay seemed to show a lot of reality in her poems, usually giving a negative atmosphere. For example, in “Spring” she writes: “know what I know. The sun is hot on my neck as I observe” Millay also shows resemblance with Dickinson’s poems by writing about how life in general is not positive. Dickinson showed that life had no mercy and everything seemed to be falling; the same concept is seen when Millay writes “Life in itself, Is nothing,”

There were many other poets who also seemed to be influenced by earlier poets and their themes. Poetry itself is many times written to influence or send a message to people or the poet’s chosen audience. Although, there will be many different styles of poetry, influences from the past will never fade or lessen.

D.H. Lawrence "Piano"

Most of the poems have more than one poetic element in it that add to the meaning of the piece. Although, there is only one element that alone can give the entire meaning of the poem. In “Piano” by D.H. Lawrence, the poetic element that seems to stick out is imagery. Lawrence uses imagery in a way which shows not only the actual scene, but he also shows what he remembered by the scene (flashback).
The entire poem is about a lady in a dark room singing and how that brings back his memories of childhood. The beginning image of the lady singing and him remembering his past sets the mood of it being happy. The images given in this poem is basically the meaning of the poem and in no sense is it used just decorative purposes. Each image shows how much he misses his childhood and his mother. The images are very clear and extremely easy for the reader to image what is going on. As a reader, one can easily see the poet sitting under the piano pressing his mom feet who is playing the piano while smiling. He presents two images, which interconnect with each other. The first image is of the woman singing and the second is his childhood. The soft singing of the woman takes him back to his childhood and makes him realize in the end how much he misses it. In the end, Lawrence presents a scene of him crying, which changes the mood to sad and sorrowful.
The images present in this poem are not dramatic or full of thrill, but rather are a glimpse of the poet’s happy childhood. He does use other poetic elements that add to the meaning like sentence structure and a casual tone for language, but imagery is the most vital. The imagery is vital, because the speaker sees the images in his mind and puts them down on paper in the form of words, so that the reader can understand what he sees.