Proem to Brooklyn Bridge -- Hart Crane

This poem is chocked full of Christian words and images. There are also a lot of references to advances in technology and gives off a feel of the cold steel of the bridge. I don't really get many of the metaphors he uses (again, what a surprise) and I felt that the rest of the poem kind of flew over my head. =\

Voyages -- Hart Crane

Of course, this poem is too obscure for me to fully comprehend. There is a lot of reference to the sea, since Crane loves the sea, just as his role model, Melville did. He speaks of the sea and the tides in terms of love, as if it were a woman (or man, in Crane's case).

Paraphrase -- Hart Crane

There is a lot of imagery in this poem to do with a bed and a bedroom. This might hint at his sexuality again, but when I read it first I thought it had to do with death. It just gave me the impression that the speakers life is coming to an end. "The light that shll not rouse," makes me think of the sun shining on a dead man in his bed. Even thought the sunlight hits his face, he will not wake.

Posessions -- Hart Crane

This poem contains a lot of objectionable language, considering Crane's sexual identity. He puts masculine verbs and words next to feminine ones. "As quiet as you can make a man..." hints that the poet is seeking a mate, referncing the old saying "on the make."

At Melville's Tomb -- Hart Crane

I did my presentation on this poem and have published it via Google Docs. Click here to view it: http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dddm3cfb_0fhx8c8fj .

Black Tambourine -- Hart Crane

I'm not quite sure what Crane is meaning in this poem (surprise, surprise!). I know that Crane wrote this poem when he was in the cellar with his fathers black workers in the candy mill. Crane would sneak down there to be with them rather than working. I suppose Crane means to speak against the treatment of black men compared to white workers. The mention to Aesop threw me a little. It could mean that even black men (because Aesop was black) can be great writers and find solace in the same thing he does. Talent does not discriminate, even if people do.

Legend -- Hart Crane

The first two lines in this poem seem to me to be talking about memories. "As silent as a mirror is believed / Realities plunge in silence by..." A mirror reflects images, so the image is real, but is not really there, since it is a reflection. In the same way, memories are real but are really just reflections of times past. Crane spends a lot of time talking about the past, reflecting on previous events and memories, much like Eliot. Although Crane does not rely on other people's literature to get him noticed, as Eliot does. He makes his own "legend" if you will.

Kimiko Hahn

We didn't spend much time talking about Hahn, but I do know that she was greatly influenced by William Carlos Williams. She takes his imagist influence and mixes it with her Japanese heritage (in the form of haiku and tanka) and gets her own style. Kimiko Hahn's style consists of a collage/fragmented form and contains many ironies that only Hahn herself can explain. She creates another life for herself in her poetry, so it can be read as fictional instead of personal.

As a woman, Hahn points out many sexist themes in society. There are many references to how women are treated, etc.