"Advent 1955" by John Betjaman

This poem was very suiting to the time of year we're currently in. But, the poem also speaks truths in how commercialized the Christmas/Holiday season has become.

Betjaman speaks about people missing the point in Christmas. While we are supposed to be celebrating the symbol of Jesus' birth, we instead get stressed out with shopping for our friends and family.He also mentions the idea of Christmas Cards, and how if you get one, you feel obligated to send one back just because they sent you one... even though you don't even speak to that person all that much.

Christmas has turned into such a commercialized holiday now. It ends up bringing more stress than it's supposed to, and ends up giving you a sour feeling in your stomach sometimes. It reminds me of something oiut of an AA meeting. I'm pretty sure one of the steps is to ask for forgiveness for all those who you hurt. It's almost like the idea of Christmas cards giving a message of "Hey, we don't talk anymore, we should really start that, Merry Christmas!" and you know the person doesn't mean to actually keep in touch, it's just something that is said. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure a lot of people have intentions of actually keeping in touch, but some just say it in a card once a year and never make the effort, it's very fake.

Compound Sentence: He recieved a card in the mail, and he felt obligated to send one back.
Verb Agreement: Running around shopping for gifts has become a stressful activity.
Who/Which/That Clause: The meaning of Christmas, which is symbolic of the birth of Christ, has been forgotten.
Gerund Phrase: Looking back at Christmases past, he realized how much the season has changed,

"Bypass" by Susan Kelly-Dewitt

This poem is written in the point of view of a recently married woman who seems to have lost her husband during surgery. While she is waiting to hear any news about her husband, all these thoughts travel through her head. Most of the thoughts are about how they have only been married five weeks and how she hasn't even been able to have any special memories with him. "we'd been married only five weeks. I had not yet kissed into memory those places they raided to save your life." Waiting for him to wake up, she thinks of all the things that are trying to keep him alive.

I could not imagine how bad it feels losing someone that you love so quickly. Especially when you're watching them die. She is told that her husband is not dying, although he looks like it- "till unconscious, you did the death rattle on the gurney."His body is trying to warm itself up," they explained, to comfort me." It's almost like she knows he's dying no matter what anyone else says.

"After A Great Pain, A Formal Feeling Comes" by Emily Dickinson

Even though this poem was really somber, I liked it. I think Emily Dickinson is an amazing poet and definitally wrote some of the best works in American poetry. I really like the way she uses metaphors in her imagery. This poem was an ideal example of the way she uses imagery as a metaphor.

This poem was about the death and funeral of a person who died. In the title itself she starts the metaphors; the great pain resembles the death and the formal feeling is the funeral. This all makes sense because funerals are always very formal and proper.

She also goes on to describe the family as nerves, and how they are sitting "ceremonious like tombs," and also she uses the symbol of lead to describe how heavy the mutual feeling that everyone has. To end the poem she writes:
"As freezing persons recollect the snow--First chill, then stupor, then the letting go."
She related the feeling of losing someone to the feeling of clenching snow with your bare hands. First you're affected by the person loss, then you become numb to the feeling and eventually come to terms and let go of the person.