Reiko Gomyo: Imagining a Growing Future

Reiko Gomyo’s haiku “Vision of Loneliness” captures daily life at the internment camp within America by utilizing imagery as a way to spark hope to combat the imprisonment of Japanese Americans. The haiku being written in free verse establishes the sense of freedom that the audience can experience from the speaker’s experience. The speaker mentioning “Vision of loneliness” creates that image of a person alone, and a melancholic feeling that a person could experience (Gomyo 1). This can be translated to the internment camps because many Japanese Americans would have experienced that sense of loneliness, feeling imprisoned from the world, adding onto when they were finally released, they returned to find their home and belongings taken from them, and were still not socially accepted with most Japanese Americans remaining unemployed between 1945 to 1988. Thus, “vision” becomes a foreshadow to American repression against Japanese Americans, based on the racial prejudices and discrimination on physical appearance. 

Though the haiku takes a first person narrator, mentioning “I endure in the green of spring” (2-3). Being written in first person narration gives the speaker a sense of individuality and push through the suffering of loneliness, which can be reflected in the lives of Japanese Americans in these internment camps. The speaker uses the spring season as a traditional symbol for growth; an endurance to continue growing when faced with loneliness as a Japanese American in the internment camps. Neiji Ozawa, a Japanese American poet pioneering the usage of haiku, had also mentioned how Gomyo’s haiku are “lyrical and serene” (Matsuda De Cristoforo 104). This can be seen by contrasting the melancholic with the hopeful outlook of endurance and emphasizing on the color green of spring to create that imagery of growth which bolsters with its consonance repeating the “g” sound. Rhythm can also be detected: the first line holds no rhythm as loneliness disrupts the possibility of growth, until the last two lines where trochees mimic the process of growth through the stressed syllables – “I enDURE/IN the GREEN of SPRING.” Gomyo’s imaginative world helps bring a hopeful message when faced with the loneliness of daily life at internment camps, to continue growing as individuals and endure.

Phillip Gallo

From One Within to One Outside

~Alondra Garcia~

Reading the poems prior to the watching the recordings on how other people perceive the poems was interesting. Whilst I rushed in and sped up the tempo of the writing as a form of making it sound, to myself at least, as a strong and bold literature piece in comparison to a softer slowed version seen in the video was different. I believe I can at the piece strong due to how the previous Walt Whitman piece From “I Sing the Body Electric” was done in a fast tempo with a strong voice kind of set the tone for me in terms of reading Whitman. When listening to his other piece form different voices and perspective it made me see Ambroggio’s piece differently, and so I did another reread but with a different tempo. The slowed tempo made it feel more impactful and even gave the poem a more depth to it. Though the difference in tempo does not mean it differs to Whitman’s “I Sing the Body Electric” all that much. 

When comparing Whitman’s piece to Luis Alberto Ambroggio I can see the inspiration drawn from Whitman’s poem to Ambroggio’s. For starters we have that lack of rhythm in the sense that it lacks in rhymes, in a type of non structured form that flows freely, something we see seems to continuously see in Whitman’s pieces. The poem like Whitman’s may lack in rhyme but makes up for it in the feeling of the rhythm when speaking it. Another thing I noticed was the similar yet different take on the themes. Obviously they would be similar due to Whitman being the inspiration for Ambroggio, the “intro” is a quote of Whitman’s and there is a shoutout to him as well. But they do have this similar vibe to each other of the love of the body and soul, the different take being Whitman focuses on no one and nothing in general but the person themselves while Ambroggio has a more centered approach to ethnicity, nationality, and color giving more shoutout to specific minorities and a specific connection to them. 

The Soul Translated Self

Luis Alberto Ambroggio’s We Are All Whitman: #2: Song of/to/My/Your/Self translates Walt Whitman’s I Sing the Body Electric by focusing on ethnicity, and how each Self in the world creates the whole identity of who we are as humans. 

Whitman focuses on how the anatomy of the body is constructed, using electricity galvanizing through the body into life. This is followed through how the poem is structured, the poem coursing through the body like electricity, “Mouth, tongue… ribs, belly… man-balls, man-root… the womb, the teats” (Whitman 7, 14-15, 24). The comma used in each line further dissects each area of the body, and there is a rhythmic pattern in the stressed, monosyllables that the poem itself holds a sharp sound that strikes like electricity to each part. The focus on the genitals are also affected and create a metaphor to “sexuality” that Waltman comments (22). Waltman expresses how this electricity gives life even to the soul, meaning that it isn’t the body itself but the innermost feelings such as the sexuality of a person that is affected by this electricity. The cacophony heard in those lines parallels the sound of this electricity, triumphantly expressing to the audience “these are the soul” (36). The anatomical pattern also shifts to actions performed by humans, “food, drink, pulse, digestion, sweat, sleep, walking, swimming” (26). A consonance can be heard between food and drink, with the “s” sound repeating among pulse, digestion, sweat, and sleep, and the suffix between walking and swimming. The cacophony continues to be heard, but this shift to human actions reflects how even human acts are a reflection of the soul itself, that movement is similarly powered by this cacophonic electricity. 

Ambroggio focuses not on the body, but on the ethnicity that defines the Self. Whitman’s poem that shifts around anatomy is changed from that of ethnicity in Ambroggio’s poem. His poem brims with diversity, filled with “multitudes” that constructs the poem as the “universal soul.” Ambroggio establishes this in his first stanza, “This Self – Hispanic, Latin, blond, black, olive-skinned, native and immigrant… was here with everyone” (Ambroggio 1-2, 4). The poem sets up its diversity, but the lines contain multitudes of assonances between the “a” and “o” sound and consonances between black and olive-skinned. The shifting between ethnicities returns later in the poem, “Contrasting to Whitman, Ambroggio includes the conflicts that the Self confronts, “This Self is Puerto Rican, Chicano, from Cuba free dancer of merengues, from Santo Domingo and all the Caribbean” (43-45). The cacophony parallels this loud expression of one’s identity, and the switch between different ethnicities can be seen translated from Whitman’s electrical course between different parts of the body. 

However, these identities become threatened “by propellers and shrapnel…” but ends positively, “I celebrate myself, and sing myself” (60, 118). The war-like imagery to me becomes reminiscent of the Israeli-Palestinian war, where the Self becomes threatened. But the conclusion of the poem, where the Self shall endure, is spoken in euphony that changes this cacophony of conflicts and various identities into an acceptance of the Self and everyone included. Thus, Ambroggio’s rhythmic enumeration can be seen from Whitman’s poem by its cacophony, consonances, and overall structure of poetry embodying the Self/soul.

Phillip Gallo

Rhythm and Sound

 Luis Alberto Ambroggio’s poem “We are All Whitman: #2: Song of/to/My/Your/Self.”  translates the rhythmic list of body parts in Whitman’s poem ‘I sing the Body Electric in three major aspects. The first is that like Whitman, Ambroggio wrote a lengthy, free-verse poem. Both poems don’t have a settled structure or form, nor are they concentrated on a strict rhyme scheme or meter. The second was both poems are intended to be read without taking long pauses. There are commas and a couple of periods added, however, for most, they are run-on sentences. An example would be, “Head, neck, hair, ears, drop and tympan of the ears. Eyes, eye-fringes, iris of the eye, eyebrows, and the waking or sleeping of the lids. Mouth, tongue, lips, teeth, roof of the mouth, jaws, and the jaw-hinges, nose, nostrils of the nose and the partition.” (Whitman, Stanza 9). From Ambroggio’s poem, his given structure is quite similar to Whitman’s, “It comes from Mexico, Central America, from Costa Rica, Tikal, Guatemala, from their rainforests, lakes of salt and honey, from Panama, Colombia, Peru and Venezuela, the corn crops of the Argentine pampas, Chile’s veins of grapes, Bolivia’s reed flute, from the Mayas, -“ (Ambroggio, Stanza 5?) From what I noticed though; reading these sections, Whitman used more repetition than Ambroggio did, but both used their words to create a sense of rhythm.

This leads to the third major aspect of how Ambroggio’s poem translates the rhythmic enumeration of body parts in Whitman’s poem. Both poets bring up an emotional and physically sensual experience, and they do this by providing cacophony. By placing certain terms together, sound is formed. At first, it may not be perceived but alliteration is present making it easier for readers to catch, the “Broad breast-front, curling hair of the breast, breast-bone, breast-side. Ribs, belly, backbone, joints of the backbone.” (Whitman, Line 13). From pronouncing the “b” repeatedly while reading, a beat can be heard sounding close to a drum or a bass instrument. Ambraggio does the same approach in his poem, “Everyone, yesterday and again today; today and tomorrow; does not stop,-“ (Ambroggio, Stanza 1). The “t” sound can be made out. It sounds like a cymbal is lightly being tapped. Both poems are free verse, they have to be read without long pauses, and intentionally, literary devices, such as repetition, Alliteration, and cacophony are used to create a sense of rhythm and sound. Altogether, this demonstrates how Ambroggio’s “We Are All Whitman; Song of/ to/ My/Your/Self translates to the rhythmic enumeration of body parts in Walt Whitman’s “I Sing the Body Electric.”

Citations: Ambroggio, Luis Alberto. “We Are All Whitman: #2: Song of/to/My/Your/Self…” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/150382/song-of-to-my-your-self. Accessed 31 Jan. 2024.

Claudia Dominguez

The Beauty in Art

The poem that is most effective in representing the nature of art would be Herrick’s “Delight in Disorder” mainly because of how its title brings significance to the poem. Just by reading it, it could be immediately concluded that Herrick wrote about a woman, but is he? That’s where the poem gets effective. The title may be questionable, especially in the aspect of how it connects to ‘disorder’ and “delight’, however by scanning its metrical and rhythmical side, its connection can be found. The poem begins with an Iambic Tetrameter, this is cut short when the word “Kindles” is introduced. It is a trochee. At first, while scanning the poem, I started to think more trochees would appear, which another did on line four, “Into”. This may seem like that’s how the metric feet are meant to be, but closely scanning through, I noticed the trochees were set as a distraction. The trochees were inputted on purpose to make the reader scan through the entire poem and not realize the poem’s prosody is an Iambic Tetrameter, which was answered on the first line. The way the trochees stand out reflects how it’s a disorderly poem overall, and the way the poet expresses it is quite interesting since he could have simply expressed it with words, but instead he hid the message with meters.

On the other hand, though Jonson’s poem also has a dominant iambic tetrameter, and his sound pattern is more organized and straightforward, his poem is generally suspicious. The meters and rhythm fit rather too perfectly with the words Like “Give me/a look, give me/ a face”. The tone and the rhythm sound like a heartbeat. This is where I believe he did very well in expressing his main idea. But overall, I was still left with many unanswered questions about his poem. Like what was his motive to make his poem so neat? Why make readers suspicious? Is he trying to purposely have readers overthink his poem’s intent? This is why I chose Herrick’s.  I believe Herrick was more precise on the nature of art than Jonson.

Claudia Dominguez

Chaotic Beauty in Simple Form

Each poem makes a note of how art is not a precise and “neat” form that needs a step by step way of creating nor is it something that is always complex but can be rather simple. From Herrick’s poem I get, as in the title, a more chaotic disorder of what art is, definitely giving me the idea that beauty portrayed here is not a clean and all straightened up thing but more of as stated “Kindles in clothes a wantonness” (Herrick line 2) wantonness being a reckless and freeing act which is being corelated to beauty and art. Herricks poem gives me the sense of not only beauty and art but of love, a sort of romantic feel, something I see closely within the genre of Romanticism. There is that hint of disorder often associated with the genre that shows hints of itself within this poem. Although Herrick’s poem is lovely I dare say Jonson’s poem is seemingly more effective to portraying art. Jonson’s Still to Be Neat also has that unruly and disorderly description to it but in a way the structure and rhythm has a sweeter note. It describes the neat way of how art can be seen and viewed but then goes on to describe how the neat “lady” ,as art is being personified as, does not give the writer the same feeling or as he put, “Such sweet neglect more taketh me” (Jonson line 10) how the neglect of order and formality does not catch his attention as much as the “neglect” or unruliness that art is given form to does. His poem personifying art as a lady who does not need to be a “proper” lady with all her presumption but is better as a lady with “Robes loosely flowing”(line 9), it gives a sense of freedom and carelessness, is much more effective in representing the nature of art and all of the chaotic beauty it entails.

The Beauty of Messy Art

I believe Herrick’s poem, “Delight in Disorder” is more effective in representing the nature of art than Jonson’s poem. (Both poems are in iambic tetrameter). Art is created for many purposes. It can be argued, there is no right purpose of art. It is created for aesthetics and for viewing pleasure. It is created to make a statement, oftentimes social or political. It is created for entertainment purposes, i.e., books and poetry. The list goes on. And no art is the same. Just like no two people are the same. But all art aims to capture their audience. To enthrall or to move them. Herrick speaks of this enthrallment in his poem. At the end of the poem, he wrote:

 “do more bewitch me than when art 

Is too precise in every part.” 

This was after Herrick had described the disorder of a dress–of a person’s getup. He described the carelessness of a shoestring. A neglectful cuff. In these things, he saw a “wild civility” (Herrick 12). And it is this ‘wild civility’ that bewitched him. Not art that is ‘too precise’. Precise as in exact or careful. It seems Herrick believes art is best when it is messy. Or, in his own words, disordered. Which means untidy or unkempt. To convey this, he described one’s disheveled attire. I thought this was brilliant. Especially if we were to look at this poem through a modern lens. Nowadays, there is a greater appreciation for clothing styles that, at one time, had been deemed strange or unusual. And people are not afraid to experiment and mix different styles. Oftentimes, it is these people who receive praise and are deemed fashionable. It is these people who inspire others to step out of their comfort zone and explore different styles. The same can be applied to art. Artists should not strive for perfection. Perfection is boring. Perfection does not move people. It is the flawed, the messy, the most unusual pieces of art that capture and enthrall people. That provokes them to look at themselves and the world around them differently. Jonson’s poem was good, but it did not conjure the same feelings as Herrick’s did. The second stanza was similar to the whole of Herrick’s poem. But because the first stanza fell flat and failed at conveying its message to me, I had to go with Herrick.

Bella Cortez

Order in Disorder

Robert Herrick’s “Delight in Disorder” and Ben Jonson’s “Still to be Neat” both play on the balance between neatness and disorder in art. 

The prosody in “Delight in Disorder” is written in iambic tetrameter, though its structure reflects this union between neatness and disorder. It follows the iambic pattern; “a SWEET disORder IN the DRESS,” but often a trochee is seen; “KINdles” or “RIBbons (1-2, 8). The speaker’s intentions on clothes specifically rather than a person is emphasized through the spondee “IN CLOTHES” that breaks the rhythmic pattern (2). The syllables relating directly to clothing materials are stressed, in which the stresses parallels the kindling of these clothes into a destructive imagery. This kindle shifts into a storm, with the ribbons flowing “conFUSedLY,” and the “temPEStuOUS PETtiCOAT” utilizing consonance to emphasize the P sound. The poem ends with the speaker mentioning, “beWITCH me” and its emphasis invoking the supernatural and desiring the unknown to emerge rather than the neatness where everything is already expected. The poem itself holds neatness through its iambic rhythm, but its anomalies often reflect how despite the disorder, there is a union with this neatness to convey emotions. The oxymoron “wild civility” invokes these emotions that shows this unity to allow art to hold an emotional connection to audiences.

Jonson follows a similar pattern in “Still to be Neat” that expresses the nature of art best. The “civilized” aesthetic is seen in the first stanza where disorder lacks, and the aestheticism described as “not sweet.” The second stanza with this disorder is where the sweetness resides, and invokes a more emotional response. The prosody is iambic tetrameter, but it is often that the beginning of most lines start as a trochee. The first line is a trochee, “STILL to” which continues in the proceeding line until it reaches “though ART’S” (Jonson 1, 5). The break in the rhythmic pattern reflects the speaker’s intent of displaying how art breaks conformity. The speaker also finds disturbance in the neatness by its spondee’s in the first line, “BE NEAT,” “BE DRESSED,” where the ending emphasizes the speaker’s feelings to the aesthetics as “NOT SWEET,” and “NOT SOUND” (1, 6). The speaker finds no “hid causes” that express emotions of an individual; it is a society where everything works according to expectations.

The second stanza coincides more with Herrick’s poem on aestheticism, mentioning,“ROBES LOOSEly FLOWing, HAIR as FREE; such SWEET neGLECT more TAKEeth me” (3-4). The spondee on “ROBES LOOSE” is the last time a trochee is used before following the neat iambic rhythm. What the speaker argues is that art needs to show causes for why it exists, this poem parallels this as its aestheticism exists to argue that art is spontaneous. The last line mentions that such conformity to a “precise” society may make an observer notice, but not evoke emotions. Herrick and Jonson’s poems both focus on the disorder through aestheticism, but also use neatness to argue that too much ruins the meaning of art.

Phillip Gallo

Everything, but Perfect

By Michael Davis 

I am 

not per fect or pure.

Not some thing easy to love, 

or some one you would facetime to comfort you.

Neit ther do I symbolize romance- 

of new exper iences, 

of old mem ories to appreciate. 

Although i’m not per fect, 

the imperfections make me, me 

I am 

a free spirit in this per fect world. 

F-r-e-e 

like a bird fly ing in the sky, 

my skin feel ing 

every bit of bre eze. 

Often I am over looked. 

Perf ection is expected, 

I am nothing without mistakes. 

In this “pe rfect” world, 

we all have our flaws.

Flaws make us unique. 

Review:

I decided to recreate the poem, ‘The Rose and The Poppy’ by Adrianna Puente.  I did not completely change the meaning of the poem, I just simply made it more straight forward. The poem talks about a poppy flower that’s overlooked because it is not a “perfect rose”. Adrianna Puente uses personification in this poem to make the poppy flower the speaker of this poem. The speaker of the poem talks about everything they’re not, but accepts everything that they are.  For my poem I changed it up and talk about how all of our imperfections make us who we are. From lines 1-7 of my poem, the speaker acknowledges that they are not perfect. In these lines the tone of the poem is very mellow.  In lines 3-4 the speaker says, “Not some thing easy to love, 

or some one you would facetime to comfort you.” The speaker is preparing their future partner for their relationship. Whoever ends up with the speaker needs to be all in for their love to last. When the speaker talks about facetime they are saying they do not feel that they are worthy of comforting someone during a tough time. From lines 8-9 the tone shifts from mellow to upbeat and powerful. Lines 8-9 say, “Although i’m not per fect, 

the imperfections make me, me”… Again the speaker puts it out there that they are not perfect, but now the speaker is comfortable with that. These imperfections make him his true self. In today’s world a lot of people cannot accept that they are not perfect. People are driven to get surgery in hopes to look “perfect”. Social media is a big factor in why people aren’t happy with themselves. On social media there’s guys with six packs and girls with tiny waists, and that’s what people think they have to look like. I hope that after reading my poem, people start accepting who they are. Throughout my poem a lot of  the words are broken up in half. For instance, “I am 

a free spirit in this per fect world. 

F-r-e-e 

like a bird fly ing in the sky, 

my skin feel ing 

every bit of bre eze.” I broke up these words to show that even words have their imperfections. There were a couple of times that I did not break up the words. In lines 9, 18, and 20 none of the words were broken up.  These are intact because the speaker is accepting that the imperfections, flaws, and mistakes make them special. The lines with non broken up words represent acceptance of who you are. 

How to perceive, write and explicate a comparison essay

By: Mitaya La Pierre

The grades I have given for these blog posts, go as follows:

Tropic Shadows- B+

White America- C+

The Great Divide- B

While all of the above essays provided textual evidence and good format for their blog posts; it appeared to me that their approach to their thesis, as well as analytical skills, towards their subjects concerning Claude McKay’s poems referenced something lacking. Now, mind you these blog posts weren’t bad; they offered good supplemental evidence for their claim, did to some extent explain the quotes’ purpose, and for some part of it did leave me with a new interpretation of the poems. However, I do believe that Tropic Shadows did do the best over all. 

Tropic shadows didn’t imploy a new and supported thesis at the beginning of the paragraph, but more so did one I could recognize as a theme in both poems; “Sub Way Wind” and “The Tropics in New York”. But they did go on to use evidence for that claim as well as have many quotations; of which they then followed (with line numbers by the way, for citation) with purpose and analysis. They then ended their essay with an acute homage to the real thesis of the blog post and concluded with a very compelling turn of phrase. It did have some marks, especially being short; but then again this was a blog post, not an entire essay. The only thing they could have done just a little better was hook me in with a fresh thesis from the get go.

The other ones, unfortunately, were not so up to par. But they did make a very valiant effort; as well as get the main point of the prompt. White America and The Great Divide both have a similar approach to the thesis; but when it comes time to discuss the elements of that thesis, it is either their citations are forgotten, or they completely leave out evidence anyways. Their words and usage are very mature and well noted for their piece, but their conclusions were not very strong, and neither were their intros. However though similar, The Great Divide made a much more traumatic effort of an essay styled blog post unlike White America. Their’s seemed to be much more competent and confident in their claims and were not afraid to explain those claims. Whilst White America seemed distant from their thesis, almost trying to escape it and fill in the spaces with fluff. Where there was some grammar difficulty they made up for in formatting. Which in the end made The Great Divide a clear winner for me between the two.