The First Snowfall
The poem is a meditative one written in a fixed form through which the narrator analyzes the way in which snow can change the surrounding environment. The first stanza describes the snow as falling uninterrupted, the phenomena being personified here to make it seem as if a person was attacking the world.
The heavy snow brings silence and a thick layer of snow is described in the second stanza as covering every tree. The action moves inside the narrator’s room in the third stanza who describes himself as watching the snow from the comfort of his home. The image of the snow makes the narrator think about his daughter who died in the previous autumn. The narrator imagines himself explaining to his daughter where snow comes from and explaining her the power of God.
The last part of the poem is used by the narrator to compare the snow with his own sorrow and by describing the ever growing piles of snow as being representative for his own pain and sorrow which only grew as time passed on.
Auspex
The name of the poem makes reference to the ancient practice of predicting the future by interpreting signs. The first stanza is used by the narrator to describe his soul, a happy place filled with song and joy. Still, from the first stanza, the narrator knows this situation cannot last forever and he waits for the day when those songs will disappear.
The second stanza and the last stanza discuss the disappearance of happiness even further and in this context is compared with the beginning of winter and with the disappearance of every living things in sight.
Are Ye Truly Free?
The meditative poem has 4 stanzas and it is composed only by questions. In the first stanza the narrator addresses the men who like to think they are free men. The narrator quickly tells them they are wrong and how they are just slaves, even if they do not realize it.
The men in the first stanza are called men who are not worthy to be feed and the narrator criticizes harshly these men because they chose to stand idly and see other people suffer. The second stanza presents women as being slaves and they are also accused of standing by other women while they are suffering.
The third stanza claims true freedom can be achieved only whenever man and woman shares the same chain and thus takes part in the same form of suffering. Unless these events take place, the narrator claims mankind can never be truly free.
A Revolutionary Hero
The poem is shorter when compared to the other poems analyzed, having only 15 lines in total. The poem can be seen as a narrative one since it tells the story of Joe and Percy. The two are described in the first line as being good friends but unfortunately, Percy died when he was still a young man, killed in an unnamed war.
Joe returned home and he continued to tell the tales of what happened when he was in the middle of war. Those stories grew in intensity as time passed by as they became more and more unbelievable, a sign Joe was making them appear more heroic than they really were.
When Joe reached the end of his life, death is compared with an enemy army approaching the old man. At that point, Joe can do little more than wait for death to reach him and claim him just like it did his old friend.
The poem is a meditative poem through which the narrator praises the former president. Among the qualities mentioned in the poem are Washington’s humility, his desire to help others, his military capabilities as well as his political ones. The poem presents the former president in such a light it almost paints the perfect picture of a saint. The description culminates in the last line of the poem in which the narrator claims modern day America would have never came to be were it not for George Washington.
