Stranger in a strange land of poetry

Mark Strand feels very strongly about both poems "To His Coy Mistress" and "You, Andrew Marvell" as conveyed in his essay "On Becoming A Poet." In his first paragraphs, he discussed how although he enjoyed the poem "You, Andrew Marvell" and connected to it greatly, he didn't get a full understanding of it until he took a greater look at it, which I can relate to. "You, Andrew Marvell" at first seems as if it is just talking about the come of night time, but it actually has a much deeper, almost darker (literally and figuratively) meaning. In the last line of "You, Andrew Marvell" it says "

The shadow of the night comes on ..." which, at first, gave me the idea that this poem is simply about night time. But, after reading Strands analysis of the poem in his essay, I read deeper into the poem. In his essay, he says "   It is both linear and circular, and what it suggests is not just the simple diurnal round of night and day, but the more tragic rise and fall of civilizations." Showing that the poet has a dark view on the experience of life. The poem "To His Coy Mistress," like "You, Andrew Marvell," has a lot to do with time. But in "To His Coy Mistress," time is wanted to pass, unlike in "You, Andrew Marvell," where it is dreaded. This poem shows a more excited, more beautiful take on life. Strand says of the poem "but the lovers cannot stop the sun, all they can do is make it run; that is, make time pass more quickly, join their heat to the sun's heat." showing the excitement of life.

 

While I wish I could just read a poem and get the true meaning and relate it back to my own life with  one read, I cant. No matter how hard I try, poetry will never come easy to me. After reading Strands essay, I understand the poems much more than I did when I read them before the essay, and I guess I kind of can relate to both of them. But, I do find myself to be a stranger in a strange land when it comes to poetry. I hope this unit helps me to better understand poems and teaches me to analyze them so I no longer feel like a stranger in a strange land.