Childhood Winter Memories - Sam Lu

As winter came and snowflakes, soft as down
So gently graced our mitts, we laughed in joy.
We ran through powder blankets in our boots,
And left those boot prints back there in those woods.

At home so warm, through frosted windowpanes,
I watched the cloudy sky turn white to night,
And all the while the snow in silence fell,
It snowed and snowed our boot prints all away.

The morning came and with it snowball games.
Though cold outside we felt so nice and warm,
All wrapped up in our parents love and care.
Who knew this scene would melt away like snow?


This is a blank verse I wrote, about the first memories of the Vancouver snow during my childhood. It is written in iambic pentameter. It fits with my theme because it is set in the winter. In this poem, I compared the moments of these memories to the fleeting Vancouver snow, and to the boot prints left overnight in the snow, which disappears so quickly. The snow also represents childhood innocence, which melts away so quickly in these modern times. There is some internal rhyme like "cloudy sky turn white to night," and "The morning came and with it snowball games.".

Cherry Blossoms - Sam Lu

Cold clouds, cracked concrete.
Spring showers saturate seas.
Blossoms bloom, blushing.


This is a haiku I wrote, about springtime cherry blossoms. It fits with my theme because it is set in spring. There is consonance in each line, first line with the hard C sounds to describe the frigidity, while the S sounds in the second line tries to mimic the sound of rain, and the last line with the Bl sounds to represent opening up and blooming. The point of this topic is to describe the cold rainy Vancouver springs, which show its vitality through the many flowers that burst into life during this season. More precisely, it is describing a scene on my street, which experiences a huge bloom of cherry blooms, as all the trees on my block are cherry trees.

We Count Those Years - Sam Lu

We count those years to weeks to days.
Anticipation in our gaze,
That final day is drawing near.
This vessel presses to our pier,
A flag of change, she boldly sways.

And some of us, we feel malaise.
And some, we wish of better stays.
And all we, with rearviews to peer,
We count those years.

In sunshine, faces all ablaze,
The summertime will bloom bouquets.
A backdrop for our last days here,
As we go to a new frontier.
And when we look back on our ways,
We count those years.


This is a rondeau I wrote. It talks about the feelings and thoughts that go through my mind as I think of graduation from high school. It is written in iambic tetrameter, painstakingly counted and kept. It fits my theme because it is set in the summer. The rhyme scheme of this poem is that of a typical rondeau, A A B B A A A B with refrain C A A B B A with concluding refrain C. Literary devices used in this poem include: metaphor of approaching graduation as a ship nearing to dock, waving a flag of change; symbols, as the bouquets mentioned are a symbol for Prom, as corsages, a bouquet of flowers, are a Prom tradition; and repetition, as seen in all of the second stanza.

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening - Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.


This literary ballad is written by Robert Frost, employing a iambic tetrameter. It tells of a man who stops by a forest on his way to an unknown destination, and just watches and appreciates the beautiful scenery around him and the softly falling snow. It fits with my theme because it is set in the middle of winter ("The darkest evening of the year"). It is a dark and deep poem. It was written after his son had died from illness not long ago. It is speculated that this poem is a metaphor for his suicidal thoughts, where the woods (dark and tempting) are a symbol for suicide. However, he decides against doing so, as he has "And miles to go" before he can "sleep". The rhyme scheme here is a chain rhyme, AABA-BBCB-CCDC-DDDD.

Exposed - Sam Lu (original)

Spring rain melts and thaws,
Exposes the true colours underneath the innocent snow white snow.
Flowers bloom in virility, promiscuous creatures they,
Expose themselves by exploding in extravagance for all to experience,
Sensuous smell, touch, and oh what a sight.
Is such an act a sin?
Nay, it is but the beauty of nature.
Naked expression,
No holding back,
No mask to hide behind,
But true and virtuous.


This is a free verse poem I wrote about exposing truth and being who you are without hiding behind a fake facade, through metaphor of spring thaw and bloom of flowers. There is no rhyme scheme nor meter. It fits with my theme because it is set in the spring. There is a repetition of the "uous" sound throughout the poem to express the grace and dignity of flowers. The repetition of the "ex" shows the boldness of the flowers.

The Blanket - Sam Lu (original)

Summer time weather
Drive 'round together
With the top down
In a shop town

Humid blanket
Let us thank it
For trapping heat
A strapping treat
With this pollution
Green revolution?

Preposterous


This is a poem I wrote about global warming and pollution. It uses feminine rhyme, or otherwise known as multisyllabic rhyme in rapping. I wrote this poem without a clear style in mind, and went with the flow. Therefore, this style has no name, however, its multisyllabic feel can be found in can be found in some rap songs. In addition, each two lines share the same number of syllables, with the last line being the odd one out, being something of a punchline. It fits with my theme because of the summer setting. The blanket is a symbol for the cover up of global warming by many oil companies, and also, something to hold onto for people who refuse to change their ways. There is a strong sense of irony in this poem as well, another literary device.

To Autumn - John Keats

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness!
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'erbrimmed their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reaped furrow sound asleep,
Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers;
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too, -
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing, and now with treble soft
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.


This is an odal hymn by John Keats written to autumn. The rhyme scheme is ABABCDEDCCE for each verse, and contains iambic pentameter. It fits my theme for obvious reasons, as it is an ode to a season, autumn. It was composed after a walk during autumn. Keats describes the tastes, sights, and sounds. The first stanza of the poem describes natural processes, unlike the following which deal more with sensual observations, as it presents a harvest in its final stages. It provides a union of maturation and growth, two oppositional forces within the work, and this union instills an idea within nature that the season will not end. The second stanza reverses the images of the first stanza and describes the process of harvesting. Autumn, a harvester, is not actually harvesting but exists in a stasis. Only near the end of the stanza is there movement. The final stanza of the poem, there is an introduction of the harvest and Autumn is manifested as a harvester. The end approaches within the final moments of the song and death is slowly approaching alongside of the end of the year. However, Autumn is replaced by an image of life in general, and the songs of autumn becomes a song about life in general. Thematically, this poem deals with the acceptance of the cycle and process of life. Poetic devices such as personification are present ("Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless"). It presents the sun as a farmer like character.

That Was Our Last Day of Freedom on the Plains - Sam Lu (original)

That was our last day of freedom on the plains
These lonely autumn trees are shedding their leaves
Our freedom drifted away like the dead leaves when Fall reigns

Oh, how they creak and groan in pain
Those lonely crooked trees that no longer rustle in the breeze
That was our last day of freedom on the plains

Before the day we were caught and cuffed in chains
And sent adrift, caged in those cramped ships of disease
Before our freedom drifted away like dead leaves when Fall reigns

We used to hunt and run in the warm loving autumn rains
But autumn rains here only freeze
That was our last day of freedom the plains

If only that day would come again
I would have said goodbye and showed the children the seas
But our freedom drifted away like dead leaves when Fall reigns

And it was sold off in the Land of the Free for their capital gain
Back home those twisted lonely autumn trees grieve
That was our last day of freedom on the plains
Our freedom drifted away like the dead leaves when Fall reigns


This is a villanelle I wrote. It fits with my theme because of the autumn imagery. It follows the rhyme scheme of a standard villanelle, aba aba aba aba aba abaa, though a few rhymes are imperfect rhymes. It follows no meter, but at times I attempted iambic pentameter. Thematically, it deals with the loss of freedom for slaves coming in from Africa to America. The leaveless autumn trees stand as a symbol of the empty family trees caused by the slave trade. There was a repetition of a hard c sound throughout the second and third verses to create a feeling of abruptness and unease.

Echoing Green - William Blake

The sun does arise,
And make happy the skies;
The merry bells ring
To welcome the spring;
The skylark and thrush,
The birds of the bush,
Sing louder around
To the bell's cheerful sound,
While our sports shall be seen
On the Echoing Green.

Old John with white hair,
Does laugh away care,
Sitting under the oak,
Among the old folk.
They laugh at our play,
And soon they all say:
"Such, such were the joys
When we all, girls and boys,
In our youth time were seen
On the Echoing Green."

Till the little ones, weary,
No more can be merry;
The sun does descend,
And our sports have an end.
Round the laps of their mothers
Many sisters and brother,
Like birds in their nest,
Are ready for rest,
And sport no more seen
On the darkening Green.


This literary poem by Romantic poet William Blake is set in the spring, therefore meeting the criteria of my theme. It has a rhyme scheme of AABBCCDDEE in all three verses, with an iambic pentameter. It sports much repetitions: "On the echoing Green... On the echoing green... On the darkening green." It contains much contrast, from first verse to third. In the first verse, it is morning and everyone is rising, birds are flying and singing, and children are playing. In the last verse, everyone is going home and birds returning to their nests. The theme is the stages of life, and details, birth (first verse), living life (second verse), and death (last verse), reflected by the stages of the day on any given spring day. The old people reminiscing of their childhood while watching children hints at the theme of the cycle of life. After these old people are gone, the children whom they watch will take the place of the old people. Pastoral themes also are quite apparent in this poem, shown by the abundant portrayal of animals, trees, and plants.

Autumn - Christopher Brennan

Autumn: the year breathes dully towards its death,
beside its dying sacrificial fire;
the dim world's middle-age of vain desire
is strangely troubled, waiting for the breath
that speaks the winter's welcome malison
to fix it in the unremembering sleep:
the silent woods brood o'er an anxious deep,
and in the faded sorrow of the sun,
I see my dreams' dead colours, one by one,
forth-conjur'd from their smouldering palaces,
fade slowly with the sigh of the passing year.
They wander not nor wring their hands nor weep,
discrown'd belated dreams! but in the drear
and lingering world we sit among the trees
and bow our heads as they, with frozen mouth,
looking, in ashen reverie, towards the clear
sad splendour of the winter of the far south.

This seemingly Petrarchan sonnet was written by Australian poet Christopher Brennan. It fits my theme because it is about autumn. It follows an unusual rhyme scheme of ABBA CDDC EFGH GIJG J. This poem laments of the coming of autumn, marking the passing of a year, and passing of missed opportunities and unrealized dreams. Autumn is described as a season of death. The significant repetition of a d sound in the first three lines adds to the effect. The imagery is dull, sad, and depressing, reminiscent of death, “the year breathes dully towards it death”, “dying sacrificial fire”, “dim world’s middle-age of vain desire”, “unremembering sleep”, “silent woods”, and so forth. There is personification as well, “They wander not nor wring their hands nor weep” (of his dreams), “faded sorrow of the sun”. This poem beautifully captures the sad, lonely autumn feeling.

Sonnet 18 (Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day) - William Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed.
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

This Shakespearean sonnet written by William Shakespeare meets the criteria of my theme due to the title. The rhyme scheme is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. This poem describes a woman whom Shakespeare was in love with. It describes her through comparison of her with summer, and argues that she is better. Shakespeare also believes she will live eternally through this poem. This poem is written in iambic pentameter and contains many poetic devices: Personification (of the sun), “And often his gold complexion is dimmed” (of death), “Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade”; repetition “Nor lose…, Nor shall death…”, “So long as…, So long lives…”; and metaphor, as the whole poem is describing this woman as summer.

Those Winter Sundays - Robert Hayden

Sundays too my father got up early
And put his clothes on in the blueback cold,
then with cracked hands that ached
from labor in the weekday weather made
banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.

I'd wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
When the rooms were warm, he'd call,
and slowly I would rise and dress,
fearing the chronic angers of that house,

Speaking indifferently to him,
who had driven out the cold
and polished my good shoes as well.
What did I know, what did I know
of love's austere and lonely offices?

This sonnet written by Robert Hayden is a tribute to his foster father. This poem fits my theme mainly because of the title. The main theme of the poem however is a sad reflection of his childhood and lack of appreciation for the love his foster father showed him as a child. However, he writes, “What did I know, what did I know” to console himself, that it was not his fault, he was too young to understand. The imagery and metaphors are beautiful and well thought out (“of love’s austere and lonely offices”, “blueback cold”.). The whole poem, save the last two lines, is a synecdoche representing his foster father’s love.

Theme

Seasons