Nanouce Saint Fort
Ludmila Hart
Composition II
April 18, 2013

Form, Figurative language and symbolism in Poetry The art of rhythmical composition, written or spoken, for exciting pleasure by beautiful, imaginative, or elevated thoughts. In “Digging”, Seamus Heaney symbolizes the hard working generation yet to follow. He does so by presenting experiences with his grandfather, his own father and finally himself and he depicts the generations working with their green thumbs.
In “The Road Not Taking” by Robert Frost we observe the symbolism in his decision regarding the road that he took and often wonders about the other one; hence the road not taken. “Harlem Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes shows how the poet wonders what happens to a dream when it changes. Life has taught us to endure and to keep on going even in the most difficult phases that we face in our lives. In Langston Hughes’ “Mother to Son”, Hughes enables a mother to communicate her struggles and obstacles in life in the form of a caring advice to her son.
Using literary terms such as metaphors and connotations Hughes gives the poem a more realistic meaning of an experienced mother and lets the poem flow smoothly. The protagonist of this poem is a mother whose life has not been easy; yet she has not given up or stopped reaching to get further with her life. Saint Fort page #2
The poem "Digging" by Seamus Heaney is about a person looking out of a window at their father digging. The poet is describing what he sees while their father is working hard. Then the poem goes on to describe the feelings and emotions that the individual is feeling while the digging is occurring.
The first and most obvious clue that allows me to identify the author is in line one, "Between my finger and my thumb." The poet writes in the first person throughout the poem creating the belief that he is speaking about himself. He writes about his Father and his Grandfather and he seems to move from describing his Father to describing his Grandfather. He does this so smoothly that the reader hardly notices the transition from Father to Grandfather took place. The second clue to revealing the author is slightly more hidden. The poet mentions turf. Now Ireland is one of the only countries left in Europe that still has turf bogs. Since Seamus Heaney is Irish there is an obvious link to his country. When the poet writes about his Grandfather, he implies that there used to be a lot of turf cutters in his day. The poem “Barbie Doll”, written by Marge Piercy, describes the life of a female, with physical features outside the measurements that society deems attractive. The title “Barbie Doll” is indicative of the mold that society provides for the female form and personality. The poem progresses through the female character’s life from birth to death and alludes to the pressures that face females to belong to societies ideal. This ideal is detrimental to a female’s confidence and diminutive of her role in society.