John Berryman
Dream Song 14
Life, friends, is boring. We must not say so.
After all, the sky flashes, the great sea yearns,
we ourselves flash and yearn,
and moreover my mother told me as a boy
(repeatingly) "Ever to confess you're bored
means you have no
Inner Resources." I conclude now I have no
inner resources, because I am heavy bored.
Peoples bore me,
literature bores me, especially great literature,
Henry bores me, with his plights & gripes
as bad as Achilles,
who loves people and valiant art, which bores me.
And the tranquil hills, & gin, look like a drag
and somehow a dog
has taken itself & its tail considerably away
into the mountains or sea or sky, leaving
behind: me, wag.
Note: When the speaker says "Henry bores me," he is referring to himself. In the longer set of poems known as The Dream Songs, the main character is named Henry and often refers to himself as Henry. In fact, he switches from first to second to third person in a non-conventional way. Also note: Achilles, the main character in Homer's Iliad, complained because his commander, Agamemnon, had treated him unjustly concerning the spoils of battle. Achilles refuses to fight on the Greek side and the Trojans start to get the upper hand as a result.
1. What does this poem sound like? Supply a simile (for example, "It sounds like a nursery rhyme" or "it sounds like someone walking on crutches" or "it sounds like a parrot squawking." Try to be accurate to you own experience. Don't worry about being thought outlandish. NOTE the rhyme patterns in the three stanzas above.
2. What are the five single most important words in this poem, in your opinion? After listing them, explain why in the case of ONE of the words.
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18 comments:
This sounds like someone talking to themselves in a train station bathroom after being delayed for three and a half hours, with no one around and all of their electronics have died.
Different variations of the word "bored" were used, but I could not see a consistent rhyme scheme.
The five most important words to me are:
Boring-this word was repeated very frequently throughout the poem and each time it was used, the meaning intensified. It described his state of mind and how nothing interested him, he was unphased.
Confess
Tranquil
Leaving
Wag
Hey everyone,
This poem to me sounds like my mother is giving me advice during the dusk of summer on our back porch.
The five words are:
Valiant
Yearn
Boring
Plights
Flashes
In my opinion valiant is the most outspoken word. Valient usually means outrageous and adventurous, however, in this context he is talking about how valiant is boring. That seems like the opposite to me, so that is probably the main reason why it intrigues me so much.
I look forward to reading what my fellow classmates have to say.
Thanks!
To me this poem sounds like a politician addressing a crowd. telling them a memory he hador just telling a story- like he has hit a point of confusion almost insanity and does not realize what he is saying and to who. This speech sounds like a man with an extreme case of stage fright grasping to understand a feeling in the past.
The five words would be:
Life
Boring
Yearn
Love
Tranquil
I choose to observe the word yearn because it seems to capture the essence of the poem- from my understanding. That this man is yearning for assurance and certainty. That he can not manage to suppress this hunger for more in life, and what he does have is boring and unsatisfying. He is alone and yearns for the warmth of love and tranquility that makes up more than this life he has now, which is just boring.
Hey Guys
So, when I read this poem, It sounds to me like an old man in a wheelchair slowly wheeling his way down a retirement home, alone and confused as he ponders at the art on the wall. The five juicy words I chose from this poem are: Valiant, Wag, Tranquil, Flash and Yearn. The one word that really stuck out to me was tranquil. I think the reason why it sticks out to me so much is because this word was taken from the french word "Tranquille", which means soft and peaceful and gentle. My mom used to always tell me "Joue avec ta soeur tranquillement", which translates to "play with your sister nicely now". I find it interesting and it brings back memories when the poem used this adjective to describe a hill and its current state.
Hope you guys enjoy my enterpretation!
Mason
It sounds to me like one of those stories or movies where the animals have personalities. It sounds like it is the voice of a horse as he is talking to himself as he walks along a vacant road, thinking.
My five words are:
Yearn
Confess
Valiant
Bores
Leaving
Bores is an important word because it is used multiple times throughout the poem in a variety of forms. It is often a word describing or related to dissatisfaction. It makes the emotion, boring sound more important and has the reader focus on it.
This poem sounds like a person staring out their window, watching cars pass, people walking, squirrels and birds and life outside. It's like an observation of the world outside and the inside is extreme boredom. Not thinking about anything in particular. It also sounds like a boy hitting a stick against a fence while walking slowly home after a long day at school. Or kicking the dirt and smooshing your shoe in it while waiting at a bus stop. It reminded me of so much!!!
-drag
-yearns
-bored
-away
-wag
I think a lot of these words I chose relate to the desire to be somewhere else. I think the most important one is bored. Throughout the poem, boredom is talked about. It gives the overall mood and showcases a bland tone.
Maybe this simile popped into my head because the author talks about being bored, but I feel like this poem sounds like someone snoring. It feels slow and lazy in a way, rising a bit and then falling, as a snore would, but very slowly and predictably. Some words seem a bit more emphasized (the loud parts of the snore) and others are more understated (the exhalation.) It makes me want to take a nap. haha :)
My 5 words are: plights, bore, yearn, repeatingly, and wag.
I think repeatingly is important because it reinforces the idea of life being boring. Often, repetitive things are boring. He seems to be saying that hearing his mother say this made things even more boring. The fact that it is in parentheses is interesting, because it is important, yet sort of understated.
Have a nice evening!
This poem sounds like a slow heartbeat of a dying man. The flow of the poem sounds slow yet mellow.
Life
Bored
Leaving
Sky
Tranquil
Sky is the most important word because it is a connotation of life, world, mind, soul and space. Sky reminds me of the emptiness this person feels because he is sick of his old routines. It feels like the sky that Henry was once under, left him and thus, he feels utterly bored because he was in epiphany that nothing interests him.
This poem sounds like a storm raging outside. I don't really know why, but it does. Maybe it is because of some of the words the poet uses.
Flashes
Yearn
plights
gripes
valiant- This is most important becuase rather than saying bold art he decides to say valiant art. Valiant also makes the poem flow a little nicer. It gives the reader a different feeling. The reader almost feels more sophisticated or educated because of it.
Hello.
The poem sounds like an old man sitting in a rocking chair and recalling the many memories of his childhood and his youth. At certain times he gets excited, but mostly he is solemn.
Flashes
Yearns
Plights
Valiant
Tranquil
I feel that one of the most interesting words is "yearns." I think it is a good use of diction and personification by Berryman because the sea does many things, but by giving the sea a humanly trait such as "yearning" it makes the sea seem sad in a way, and also provokes a strong emotion as a reader, though what emotion exactly I am not entirely sure. For me, the author's use of the word "yearning" when used with the sea intrigued me and made me read more closely. I think his use of humanly features was very effective.
Thanks.
This poem reminds me of a crunched up paper.
My five words are:
1.Boring
2.Friends
3.Resources
4.Literature
5.Tranquil
In my opinion, the word "tranquil" seems important. The word "tranquil" means calm. The speaker in this poem is taking about the the hills, and he is describing it as "tranquil." I guess the "tranquil hills" bore him too.
This piece to me sounds like someone trying to tell me "advice". Adults constantly seem to be attempting to "impart their wisdom" upon us and i think that this is someone ironically structured similar to that that an adult might use. I think that it is even more ironical when juxtaposed against the fact that Henry's reasoning is so counter-productive to that of which adults try to convince us is "right".
Important words = Bored, Repeatedly, Friends, Life, Wag.
I feel that the word "friends" in the first line is extremely significant because it is at the beginning of the piece of art and develops the imaginary circumstances around which the story will be built. Friends obviously has important connotations.
To me this poem sounds like a large man in a deep sleep who is snoring a lot. The words seem to rise and fall like the breath of a sleeping man.
Five words:
Flash
Yearn
Tranquil
Bore
Confess
I chose flash because it stands out among all the other words since it has a connotation of something that is not boring. It is ironic because everything in the poem seems to be talking about things that are boring and how the author is so often bored. But flash is not something that is boring and it stands out at me.
OH MY GOODNESS KACIE I JUST READ YOURS AFTER I DID MINE AND THEY ARE THE SAME AND I SWEAR ON MY WHOLE ENTIRE LIFE THAT I DIDNT COPY YOU. that is crazy that we thought of the same thing. okay goodnight.
This poem sounds like a depressing rainy day, where it has been recently hot outside but today is rather cold and damp. I think the most prevelent most important words are bored, inner, me, people, and confess. I feel these five words almost summarize the poem. He is bored. His inner self cannot supply him with excitement and joy for life. Me means him. People are not intersting to him and he confesses he doesnt find the world interesting.
Hey everyone,
In my opinion this poem sounds like somebody's alarm woke them up early on a sunday morning and they can not fall back asleep. Thus they are sitting in there bed wide awake, reflecting their thoughts on life.
My five most important words are.
Yearns
Heavy
Valiant
Plights
Gripes
I find it extremely interesting how a word as simple as heavy sticks out as the most interesting word to me. I find it interesting because of the context it is used in. "i am heavy bored" It sounds normal when somebody refers to another person as heavy, or that person is carrying a heavy load, or even the clouds look heavy. But i have never heard of someone being heavy bored. This shows how the writer is so incredibly bored that he has no control over his actions. Everything is the same, each day adds more weight onto his boredness.
This sounds like a person giving themselves a lecture in the morning while getting ready for work and going off on tangents through their thoughts.
5 words:
1) is
2)flash
3)resources
4) valient
5) bores/bored/..: this word is important because the poem is shaped around boredom and the poet uses it throughout the poem. it explains how this person feels about everything
Hi its pall again
I think this poem sounds like a speech by president obama. (not necessarily in content, but in sound)
Five most important words
1. Bored
2. Yearns
3. Flashes
4. Inner Recourses
5. Life
I say that 'Bored' is an important word in this poem because the authors boredom seems to be the poems subject, and the word appears many times through out.
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