Study Document
Poetry Analysis of "And the Sun Still Essay
Pages:3 (1017 words)
Sources:1
Subject:Arts
Topic:Poetry Analysis
Document Type:Essay
Document:#97541208
Poetry Analysis of "And the Sun Still Dared to Shine"
The Holocaust during World War II is one of the best documented and most horrendous periods of human existence. There have been other times in history where as many were senselessly killed in a short amount of time, but never have they been subjected to all of the horrors to which the Jews in the concentration camps were participants. A book of poetry by Peter Sheponik called "And the Sun Still Dared to Shine" was recently gathered to showcase free verse poetry written by survivors of the Holocaust. It is powerful book, filled with many themes that speak even more deeply to the horror and loss experienced during those dark years. This paper will look at three poems -- "In the Country," "Children of the Gas" and "Bread of Life" -- through which the theme of youth and the despair such a time brings to those who should be laughing and playing rather than giving their childhood up to worry about destruction.
Every person has some memory of being young, and to most it is a carefree time. Unfortunately, there is a small segment of the population that does not care about the innocence of youth due to their own selfish desires. Adolph Hitler convinced his people, in his charismatic way, that even the blameless, children of the Jews could not be left alive to infect the Aryan race. He may have even believed that the children were the most to be despise because they could grow into long-lived members of the hated race. These three poems discuss what effects Hitler's obsession had on children.
The first poem is entitled "In the Country." The first lines of the poem relate "Below a barn floor/an opening like a grave dug for one/filled with two sisters/who lay side by side for months"(1-4). The initial takeaway from this poem is that death hung over the two sisters. They were in a depression in which the children are hidden. At first reading, it is not possible to tell what the condition of the sisters is. But, then death is seen in the fact that they allow "the razor sharp bite of rats' teeth/gnawing the tender flesh" (18-19), and that "they floated like pickles/in the belly of the salt barrel" (24-25). The terms of their death was not pleasant, though death can hardly ever be said to be a pleasant experience, but these little girls were tortured by their need to be quiet.
"Children of the Gas" is more obviously about children, and the subject is easily seen in the title of the poem. The opening stanzas of this poem state that "The very young, three to five-year-olds,/slipped between the spaces/of the twisted dead,/finding just enough air/among the bodies so tightly packed/that the gas couldn't reach." These children were thrown into the gas chamber with their parents and they were able, for a time to survive because they found pockets of air because the bodies were so tightly packed. Unfortunately, even though they…
Sample Source(s) Used
Work Cited
Sheponik, Peter. And the Sun Still Dared to Shine. New York: Mazo Publishers, 2011. Print.
Related Documents
Study Document
Poetry During the 17th Century Often Shared
Poetry during the 17th century often shared similar themes, narratives, and messages. These topics often revolved around concepts of innocence, romance, loss, temptation, and desire, especially when it came to courtship. Andrew Marvell, a prominent English metaphysical poet and politician, whose "To His Coy Mistress," thought to have been written during the 1650s, explores themes of innocence and temptation, especially in terms of courtship. Moreover, "To His Coy Mistress" can
Study Document
Poetry / Maya Angelou Maya
/ Weakened by my soulful cries." (Angelou, 7) Thus, the overall message of the poem is not very different from that of the first text, Phenomenal Woman. Again, the writer celebrates her own self as an emblematic image of the entire people. Pride and self-esteem are the major ingredients in the writer's cogent and powerful discourse. She declares her haughtiness and the pleasure she takes in her own self, suggesting
Study Document
Dead Body in War Poetry
Dead Body in War Poetry Analysis of Poets War Poetry War is a brutal reality on the face of history. Thousands of lives have been wasted in the name of battles and millions of people were affected by it. Poet is a rather sensitive part of our society and feels the brutality of war more than a normal individual. During World War I, the world went through havoc during which millions of
Study Document
Poetry Landscape With the Fall of Icarus
Landscape With the Fall of Icarus William Carlos Williams was an American poet well-known for his unique writing style and subject matter. A renowned imagist writer, Williams offers a curt description of Pieter Brueghel's painting "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus." Williams' interpretation of Breughel's painting is quite different from the lush, descriptive writing of W.H. Auden who also referred to Breughel's "Landscape with the Fall of Icarus" in his poem
Study Document
Poetic Critical Analysis Victor Hugo's "A L'ombre
Poetic Critical Analysis Victor Hugo's "A l'ombre d'un enfant" It is not until the end of the poem that the reader comprehends that Hugo or the narrator or the reader as narrator, converses with a heavenly orphan. This poem is beautifully heart breaking and tragic. The turn of phrase is masterful. This is truly what critics refer to as "poetic." Let the analysis commence from the poem's beginning since the poem's end
Study Document
Sonnet Analysis the Quality of Beauty, Love,
Sonnet Analysis The Quality of Beauty, Love, and Sonnets Sir Thomas Wyatt's sonnet "How the Lover Perisheth in His Delight as the Fly in the Fire" describes how love, passion, and/or beauty can be all-consuming and self-destructive. The poet uses a long-running metaphor of birds as a substitute or symbol for male lovers generally and the speaker of the poem specifically, while the sun is the female lover and possessor of great