Comments on: Sonnets

by: Eddie Poff

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:34:49 +0000

My favorite part of tattoo tears was the tremendous emotion of humanity that ran throughout it. This poem has a few ideas winding throughout it as if to illustrate the way that blood flows through all of humanity in nearly the same way, it’s the manner in which we are all connected. By far, my favorite line from this poem came from the tenth stanza, “The jukebox in the bar is horsepowered. The street lights making shadows on the basketball court are horsepowered. Seymour’s new drum is diesel, gets great gas mileage but stutters when it climbs hills.” I’m not sure if there is a word for this…if he were making non-living objects sound like human ones it would be personification, but instead he is weaving together bits of technology that likely have never existed together in the same time or place. If I had to boil the poem down into two concepts, they would be humanity and his/her influence and appropriate place in history and time. Even though the author seems concerned with the problems of the Native American community, he is still unwilling to separate them, as parts of humankind, from all other kinds of people. This intrigues me, because it seems like as a culture we spend way too much time emphasizing the differences between us, and it’s easy to forget that we are all connected as humans and responsible for one another.

by: Stacey Claridge

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:37:45 +0000

The sonnet that I found to be most interesting was tattoo tears. The reason I really enjoyed hearing this sonnet was because of the fact that it didn’t fit the mold for how a sonnet should be written. I never would have thought to consider the 14 stanzas as the 14 lines in a sonnet. After hearing this poem, I thought about all of the emotion that is within this sonnet. If this sonnet had not broken form, I don’t think it would have been as effective to the reader. What I really liked about the author’s writing was the fact that each new idea incorporated some part of the previous idea, a word or a phrase that connected the two thoughts. Time is changing, and the author knows that it wont stand still for anyone. One of my favorite lines in the sonnet is “Seymour’s new drum is diesel, gets great gas mileage but stutters when it climbs hills.” I just think about everything they had to give up. Their heritage was beginning to be lost in American culture. What use was a drum to someone living in the United States over having a truck? That trade would be practical to us, but to someone like Seymour, it is giving up a piece of his culture.

by: Elizabeth Reininga

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 14:35:57 +0000

Tattoo Tears was utterly beautiful. I thought that it was perfect how the author let every ending line connect to the beginning of the next line in the stanza. Then at the end, the last stanza is a compolation of all the thoughts. Its just fantastic, and is really special. I think that the person who wrote this sonnet really wanted to captivate the readers. There is so much emotion, metaphor, and passion contained within the words of this work.

As a reader I was instantly drawn to this sonnet because I live near a reservation, and have interacted with the native americans my whole life. I understand a lot of what this poem is saying, and know most of it to be very true. Since the native american population has one of the highest rates of depression, I am not surprised to read some of these lines. To know that on Independence day, there may be a small flicker of saddness because they are seeing us celebrating a freedom that they already had before we came here. It is ironic to me to think about this situation. When I celebrate the 4th of July this year, it will take on a whole new meaning for me.

by: Ben Beachy

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:05:51 +0000

At first I was confused why such a narrative-like poem was in the sonnet section of our class text. But after reading through this poem, Tattoo Tears, both on my own and in class, it became evident to me that there is a real message within the authors intentions to make this a sonnet. In adopting the sonnet form of fourteen lines, he was able to show the true intensity and seriousness of the many issues revealed through this poem. Going beyond the norm of simply 14 reasonably lengthed lines put on display for the readers the huge importance of this story. For many people including myself, using this sonnet form caused me to take a second look not only at the structure of the poem, but at the meaning beyond the form as well. The not-so-simple and usual sonnet format helped bring to light the true messages that the write wanted convey to the readers.

by: Brittany Kappauf

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 23:51:41 +0000

I loved the way that the sonnet tattoo tears was written and the ways in which even the form of the poem screamed for independence and freedom from oppression. By going against the fourteen line rule and was rather written in fourteen sections.
I especially love the line “for many Americans the fourth of July means the birth of a nation but for some it means the death of a nation”. This poem reflects the importance of perspective especially the importance of understanding another’s. While the majority may see an event in one way, by ignoring others, you may cause the death of a nation.
I think this poem allows individuals an incredible insight that should be taken seriously. It focuses on the forgotten, the lost, the broken, who are holding onto the “imagination” that is the only way they are able to survive, especially when forced into bondage, forced into isolation, forced onto the reserve.

by: Maggie Lake

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 23:26:45 +0000

If I were to decide to design or select a tattoo for myself I suppose I would have to be careful about what I decide to get drawn on my body because it will probably be there forever unless I can afford to get it reversed some day down the road. A tattoo gun basically pierces the skin with a needle and then fills in the small wound with ink. New skin grows over the would and the ink is held underneath it’s translucency.

What would I get stained on my skin…forever? I would probably think of something that means a lot to me, something that I am familiar with and think of everyday. Maybe it would be something that has always been part of my life, like the name of a family member. Or maybe it would be a picture of something that suddenly became a part of my life, all at once, like a car accident or the anniversary of a loved one’s death.

by: Mellissa Woltemate

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 20:33:47 +0000

The poem tattoo tears I found to be really easy to relate to. I took a history course last semester that dealt a lot with Native Americans and reservations. I just kept imagining the people I had already read about. I went to visit the Carlisle muesum too. The Europeans failed at all attempts to make the Native Americans like them. Tattoo tears really helps to describe the emotion these people felt and the way they saw everything. Everything around them was becoming so strange and unfamiliar. The tone of the poem is sad, and when I read it out loud it’s slow and sad, and I use a much more quiet voice. There is a strong feeling of lement, as we had previously learned about. In the muesum I went and visited it showed the children’s drawings, and they drew was of how they used to live. With cheifs, and horses, and white men chasing them with spears. Which obviously showed how they felt about the Europeans. When I read tattoo tears I can’t help but think of more than the other’s voice, and descriptions.

by: Caitlin McMahon

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:04:33 +0000

Tattoo Tears was a very interesting read and brought many things to mind. It seems to have been included as a sonnet because of its fourteen stanzas which correspond to the regular fourteen lines. Also, the form follows the English version of the Stanza somewhat, in the way that its first twelve stanzas talk about something and all lead to the last two that seem to summarize all of the different things that were talked about and give a conclusion to the argument happening throughout the rest of the poem. I think that this sonnet had to be in its own form because of the content of the poem. The author is trying to talk about the bad conditions on the reservations, the loss of their traditional culture, the melding with the European American culture (as illustrated in stanza 7-9 which talks about the dancing to the sound of the beer truck rather than the drums). His sadness is evident throughout the poem, the dissatisfaction with the way things are. This sonnet is very powerful and is a very interesting application of a very old and traditional form.

by: Tim Leidy

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:54:12 +0000

I’m very glad that I got to present one of the sonnets in class. I loved just how much John Milton said in his short, fourteen-line poem, not to mention how he looked to the original form of the sonnet for structure. Milton began by reflecting on losing his sight, which normally would detract from the active spiritual life of most Christians. Many would become discouraged, possibly even idle. But what really is something fascinating is what can be learned from his reflections. Milton realizes and says that God doesn’t need man’s work or gifts. The only thing God wants is for us to follow him and “bear his mild yoke” (which I believe refers to Jesus’ words in Matthew 11). Such people serve him best. God does not call us to do massive works for Him. All He wants is for us to listen to what He wishes for us to do. Some may disagree with me, but I believe that God does call us to certain things. He actively speaks to us through the Bible and in prayer, though perhaps not always a physical voice saying, “Hey, do this or do that!” As stated by Milton, God gives us talent to use that is lodged within us and can, if we let it, bend us towards serving better our Maker.

by: David Kent

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 01:35:52 +0000

Sorry about my late post. I left early on Wednesday!

I love sonnets. There amazing potential to evoke a question from the reader and then propose twists or answers to problems in the final verses are so very controlling. I enjoy being caught up in a sonnet and wondering its meaning only to be greeted by the final lines and have a much clearer understanding of what I have just traversed.

One of my most favorite poets that has a fantastic talent in the use of imagery paired with a pantheon of poetic forms is Robert Frost. I memorized the sonnet “Mowing” for class last week and it realy grabbed me. I especially enjoyed the combination of personification with simple pondering of the simplistic realities of life.

Something that I drew from this piece was that many people think about complexitied of life, but perhaps they are thinking too hard. Perhaps they should just take things at their face value sometimes. Why shouldn’t the grass just be cut and turned to hay? The simplicities of life sometimes fall under heavy, and often unnecessary, scrutiny.

The last two lines of the sonnet are my favorite. It is such an embarrasing thing to read if you have been trying to figure out the symbolism and metaphor throughout the piece–”The fact is the sweetest thing that labor knows. My long scythe whispered and left the hay to make.” It’s that simple. THere was no conversation and there is no deeper meaning. The only thing happening is the grass is getting cut and we should get all the pleasure we can out of its face value.