E learning lesson 2

A Blessing
by James Wright

Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,
Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.
And the eyes of those two Indian ponies
Darken with kindness.
They have come gladly out of the willows
To welcome my friend and me.
We step over the barbed wire into the pasture
Where they have been grazing all day, alone.
They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness
That we have come.
They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.
There is no loneliness like theirs.
At home once more,
They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness.
I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,
For she has walked over to me
And nuzzled my left hand.
She is black and white,
Her mane falls wild on her forehead,
And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear
That is delicate as the skin over a girl's wrist.
Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom.
Have you ever read 'tuesdays with morrie"? I came across a very interesting and wonderful quote."Have love or perish."And in this poem,it is perfectly displayed.It's about him and his friend on a trip ,when they were warmly welcomed by two indian ponies.James was very touched for their tremendous love for each other.After doing research on james wright, i found out that he witnessed poverty and human suffering.That's why he used his poetry as a mode to discuss the social and political issues of his concerns.He modeled his work after Thomas Hardy and Robert Frost whose engagement with human issues and emotions that he admired.I think that james wrote this poem to show that he wanted society to be as loving as those two ponies, like what we should really do.It's because love is extremely important,loved ones care for you,sacrifice for you, without love,'you'll perish.'To make the society a better place, it isn't really essential for money,medical advances, it all starts with love.When you have love, then you'll be happy.I chose this poet because it reveals the emotion of the author perfectly,which is loving and touched by the love and loneliness of the ponies.I also chosed this poem because it summarises my lesson. The author uses personification,like"And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear" Also there is  presence of symbolism in this poem."That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom."This symbolises that he was so moved by the atmosphere of peace and love,he would have 'broken in to blossom'.I have also read another poem by James Wright, called"Northern Pike".This poem was to establish his guilt about killing a fish in order to survive.He feels that he did a bad thing which is killing a living thing for him to survive.Now how many of us actually feels guilty when eating a sashimi?Three other poems by James wright are:Autumn Begins in Martins Ferry,Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy's Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota and On the Skeleton of a Hound