Favourite Poet

My favourite poet would be William Blake.

Willian Blake was born in London on November 28, 1757. Unfortunately, out of his six siblings, two had died in infancy. From early childhood, Blake spoke of having visions—at four he saw God "put his head to the window"; at around the age nine, while walking dathrough the countryside, he saw a tree filled with angels. Although his parents tried to discourage him from "lying," they did observe that he was different from his peers and did not force him to attend conventional school. He learned to read and write at home. When he was twelve, Blake began writing poetry. Later in the years, he studied briefly at the Royal Academy.

Blake married an illiterate woman Catherine Boucher in 1782 whom he had taught to read and write. Sadly, they had no children. However, thanks to Boucher, Blake was still remembered today because of his illuminated poetry which was produced with the help of Boucher. Blake produced his first printed work in 1783, Poetical Sketches. He also believed that his poetry could be read and understood by common people. Although Blake's poetry was not well known by the general public, he was mentioned in A Biographical Dictionary of the Living Authors of Great Britain and Ireland, published in 1816.

William Blake spent the final years of his life in great poverty and died in 1827 while he was working on his Dante Series.

Here are 3 of his poems:

To The Evening Star

THOU fair-hair'd angel of the evening,
Now, whilst the sun rests on the mountains, light
Thy bright torch of love; thy radiant crown
Put on, and smile upon our evening bed!
Smile on our loves, and while thou drawest the
Blue curtains of the sky, scatter thy silver dew
On every flower that shuts its sweet eyes
In timely sleep. Let thy west wind sleep on
The lake; speak silence with thy glimmering eyes,
And wash the dusk with silver. Soon, full soon,
Dost thou withdraw; then the wolf rages wide,
And then the lion glares through the dun forest:
The fleeces of our flocks are cover'd with
Thy sacred dew: protect them with thine influence!

To Spring

O THOU with dewy locks, who lookest down
Through the clear windows of the morning, turn
Thine angel eyes upon our western isle,
Which in full choir hails thy approach, O Spring!
The hills tell one another, and the listening
Valleys hear; all our longing eyes are turn'd
Up to thy bright pavilions: issue forth
And let thy holy feet visit our clime! Come o'er the eastern hills, and let our winds
Kiss thy perfumèd garments; let us taste
Thy morn and evening breath; scatter thy pearls
Upon our lovesick land that mourns for thee. O deck her forth with thy fair fingers; pour
Thy soft kisses on her bosom; and put
Thy golden crown upon her languish'd head,
Whose modest tresses are bound up for thee.

Night

THE sun descending in the west,
The evening star does shine;
The birds are silent in their nest.
And I must seek for mine.
The moon, like a flower
In heaven's high bower,
With silent delight
Sits and smiles on the night.

Farewell, green fields and happy grove,
Where flocks have took delight:
Where lambs have nibbled, silent move
The feet of angels bright;
Unseen they pour blessing
And joy without ceasing
On each bud and blossom,
On each sleeping bosom.
They look in every thoughtless nest
Where birds are cover'd warm;
They visit caves of every beast,
to keep them all from harm:
If they see any weeping
That should have been sleeping,
They pour sleep on their head,
And sit down by their bed.
When wolves and tigers howl for prey,
They pitying stand and weep,
Seeking to drive their thirst away
And keep them from the sheep.
But, if they rush dreadful,
The angels, most heedful,
Receive each mild spirit,
New worlds to inherit.
And there the lion's ruddy eyes
Shall flow with tears of gold:
And pitying the tender cries,
And walking round the fold:
Saying, 'Wrath by His meekness,
And, by His health, sickness,
Are driven away
From our immortal day.
'And now beside thee, bleating lamb,
I can lie down and sleep,
Or think on Him who bore thy name,
Graze after thee, and weep.
For, wash'd in life's river,
My bright mane for ever
Shall shine like the gold
As I guard o'er the fold.'

Figurative Language

A Dream Within A Dream by Edgar Allan Poe
Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow--
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand--
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep--while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?

1. How are the figurative language used in the poem? Give the specific word(s), explain what type of figurative language it is and why the poet chose to use this figurative language?

The poet exaggerated the fact that he is having a dream about someone and to show the poet's emotions by repeating the use of the word "dream" in the poem which is a form of hyperbole. In the poem personification is used on the words "hope" and "wave". The poet described hope as a bird that has flown away from him and "pitiless" on the word "wave" to describe it as if it was a person with emotions. The poet used symbolism on the words " grains of the golden sand" to show that the grains of sand in his hand symbolises his hope. In the sentence:
"Grains of the golden sand--
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep--while I weep!"
the poet shows that he has lost all hope by saying that the grains of golden sand has crept through his fingers. This also shows his unhappy emotions to the reader of the poem.

I like this poem because of the description of emotions by the poet and the way he uses figurative language to make the person who reads the poem feel that it is very real and emotional. Although the poem appeared to be very real when I read it, the last line in each part of the poem turned out to tell readers that the whole poem was actually talking about a dream . I also like the part of the poem when the poet used symbolism to show that hope was like a bird that flew away from him and that the waves were like people.