Friendship’s Mystery by Katherine Philips

 Friendship’s Mystery
Come, my Lucasia, since we see
That Miracles Mens faith do move,
By wonder and by prodigy
To the dull angry world let’s prove
There’s a Religion in our Love.
For though we were design’d t’ agree,
That Fate no liberty destroyes,                                    
But our Election is as free.                                          
As Angels, who with greedy choice
Are yet determin’d to their joyes.
Our hearts are doubled by the loss,
Here Mixture is Addition grown ;
We both diffuse, and both ingross :
And we whose minds are so much one,
Never, yet ever are alone.
We court our own Captivity
Than Thrones more great and innocent :
‘Twere banishment to be set free,
Since we wear fetters whose intent
Not Bondage is, but Ornament.
Divided joyes are tedious found,                      
And griefs united easier grow :                        
We are our selves but by rebound,
And all our Titles shuffled so,
Both Princes, and both Subjects too.
Our Hearts are mutual Victims laid,
While they (such power in Friendship lies)
Are Altars, Priests, and Off’rings made :
And each which thus kindly dies,
Grows deathless by the Sacrifice.

 Katherine Philips


Commentary:
As I read the title of the poem, "friendship's mystery" sounded like an analysis of what friendship is really about. Some people do not take friendships seriously because they feel they do not need any friends. On the other hand, some people take friendships seriously and view their friends as part of their family.
In analyzing Friendship's Mystery, Katherine Philips used a variety of figurative language to transmit her main point or idea, which was to express her friendship towards Lucasia.
First of all, Katherine Philips used a simile in her poem. Katherine says, " But our election is as free as angels. By this phrase, Katherine expresses that they have the option or the say-so to choose their friendship. Elections in this country are democratic, which means everyone can vote who they want without any pressure. Angels are also free. They have wings and go where ever they want. Here, Katherine says that angels and elections are alike in that they are both free.
Next, Katherine uses imagery in her poem to further give details to her main idea. In one example, Kahtherine says, " To the dull, angry world let's prove..." Here, in this phrase, Katherine is giving further details to the word world. She is expressing that the world is full of bad sentiments by saying the world is angry. She says it is dull, which means that the world is boring. This two words give the reader the ability to create a picture in their mind of what the author is talking about.
Also, she says, " And each heart which thus kindly dies." In this phrase she adds detail to the way that the heart dies. In summary, she says that the heart is ready to die and does not view dying as a bad thing. Some people, when they reach a certain age, they know they are going to die soon and they are ready for the time to come.

Still I Rise by Maya Angelou

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt                        But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,                          
But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

Maya Angelou

Commentary:

Before I even read the poem, I took a look at the poem title. I thought it was going to be about a person that faces a lot of challenges, but still gets through all the issues with their head up high.
After reading the poem, I realized that I was right with my hypothesis. The speaker writes this poem to the person that wants to see her suffer. She says phrases like," Did you want to see me broken?" She constantly asks that person questions similar to the one said above.
The author, Maya Angelou, uses figurative language to come across to her audience.
First of all, Maya Angelou uses an abundance of similies. All throughout the poem, you can find similes of all sorts. In the third stanza, Maya Angelou compares how she rises to many objects. She compares this to moons, suns, tides, and hopes. She uses this simile to describe the distance to which she rises. From the comparisons, she rises very high. Next, Maya Angelou uses hyperbole. She uses this type of figurative language in stanza six. She says, " You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness." Here I believe that she used personification because you can not really shoot anyone with words. The only thing that may happen is that you can just hurt their feelings or sentiments. She exaggerated because that is just impossible. Maya Angelou finally uses a series of rhetorical questions. She asks questions like, Does my sexiness upset you, do you want to see me broken, and a couple others. Maya uses these questions to provoke the one that the poem is written to. These questions have an automatic yes or no reply.





 Dr. Maya Angelou Recites "Still I Rise" YouTube

A Married State by Katherine Philips

A Married State
 
A married state affords but little ease
The best of husbands are so hard to please.
This in wives’ careful faces you may spell
Though they dissemble their misfortunes well.          
A virgin state is crowned with much content; It’s always happy as it’s innocent.
No blustering husbands to create your fears;
No pangs of childbirth to extort your tears;
Few worldly crosses to distract your prayers:
Thus are you freed from all the cares that do
Attend on matrimony and a husband too.
Therefore Madam, be advised by me
Turn, turn apostate to love’s levity,
Suppress wild nature if she dare rebel,
There’s no such things as leading apes in hell.    

Katherine Philips



Commentary:
Before I read the poem, I took a look at the title to get a little hint of what the poem might be about. I instantly thought that it was about everyone being married in a particular state. But, then I said to myself, Maya Angelou would not write about something like that. So, then I thought that by state, she meant like the state of mind. And I was on track to better understanding the poem. 
After I finished reading the poem, I realized that Katherine Philips used figurative language to come across her audience and transmit her point, which is to advice women to think twice before getting married or even thinking about getting married. 
First of all, she used was personification. She says," A virgin state is crowned with much content; It's always happy as it's innocent. In the poem, a virgin state is only an idea. Katherine gives this idea the human quality to be crowned and to be content. One's feelings are not content; It is we that have the ability to be content. 
Next, Katherine uses parallelism. She says," No blustering husbands to create your fears; No pangs of childbirth to extort your tears." In these phrases, there is a similarity in their sentence structure. It is this similarity that makes these phrases an example of parallelism. Parallelism adds organization and makes an easy transition from one idea to the next. 
To conclude, Katherine Philips wrote this poem to advice women of the dangers that may await them if they marry. She tells these women that even the most kindest of men are hard to please. She also says that single women are the happiest and that they do not have any worries about someone frightening them or the pains of giving birth. 
I believe that what Katherine Philips says is true to some extent. Yes, most men are hard to please. But, I believe that there are men that are good and treat their women with love and respect. Marriage is not as bad  as Katherine paints it, but it all depends on the couple and how they get along.

The Lesson by Maya Angelou

The Lesson

I keep on dying again.
Veins collapse, opening like the
Small fists of sleeping
Children.
Memory of old tombs,
Rotting flesh and worms do
Not convince me against
The challenge. The years
And cold defeat live deep in
Lines along my face.
They dull my eyes, yet
I keep on dying,
Because I love to live. 

Maya Angelou



Commentary:

From the moment I read the title, I knew this poem was going to have some kind of moral or advice to it.
After I read the poem, I began to reflect about my life. I do not have any big struggles to face. I just go to school and go home. My life is not complicated. And even though it is not complicated, I struggle with the things I must do everyday. As I grow, I will began to see that the struggles today are nothing compared to the struggles awaiting for me.
After I read the poem, I noticed an abundance of figurative language. First of all, she uses a simile. In, "Veins collapse, opening like the small fists of sleeping children," Maya Angelou compares the veins to the small fists. Here she expresses the consequence of enduring so many struggles in her life. Next, the author uses personification. She gives years and cold defeat the human quality to live. As one ages, one can start to see the wrinkles all along the face. She uses personification to be more descriptive with her audience. After reading this, the reader can visualize the lines on the face that start to appear with age. At last, she uses a paradox. She completely contradicts herself offering a reason to why she endures so many challenges in her life. She loves to live. To live is to struggle. This paradox brings a new idea to the poem that she loves to live and will be willing to face any new struggles along the way just to keep living.

Ode Against Pleasure by Katherine Philips

ODE AGAINST PLEASURE
There's no such thing as pleasure here,
    'Tis all a perfect cheat,
Which does but shine and disappear,
    Whose charm is but deceit:
The empty bribe of yielding souls,
Which first betrays, and then controls.

'Tis true, it looks at distance fair,
    But if we do approach,
The fruit of Sodom will impair,
    And perish at a touch;
It being than in fancy less,
And we expect more than possess.

For by our pleasures we are cloy'd
    And so desire is done;
Or else, like rivers, they make wide
    The channels where they run;
And either way true bliss destroys,
Making us narrow, or our joys.

We covet pleasure easily,
    But ne'er true bliss possess;
For many things must make it be,
    But one may make it less.
Nay, were our state as we would choose it,
'Twould be consumed by fear to lose it.

What art thou, then, thou wingëd air,
    More weak and swift than fame?
Whose next successor is despair,
    And its attendant shame.
Th' experienced prince then reason had
Who said of Pleasure,—"It is mad." 

Katherine Philips

Commentary:
Looking at the title, I could not predict what the main idea of the poem was going to be. The only words that I could figure out were pleasure. From there I thought I might deal with that. I also thought that the speaker of the poem might be a woman wanting pleasure or not wanting any pleasure.
During my reading, the tone of the poem was upset as if something had gone wrong in the speaker's life. This may have to do with a man.
From my understanding, after reading the first stanza, the speaker does not believe in pleasure. She says that pleasure is only false. It may appear one day, but it goes away quickly. The man's charm is just false. He betrays his wife and then controls her. This stanza made me remember numerous soap operas in which the man marries a bribe in love and with so many dreams. The man quickly forgets to keep the love going and the relationship turns chaotic. He then finds love in another woman and that the end of the marriage. And the woman is left by herself with all her hopes and dreams destroyed.
The second stanza, Angelou alludes to the biblical story Sodom. Next she goes on and talks about the difference between pleasure and "bliss."

The author, Katherine Philips uses figurative language to come across her audience.
First of all she uses an allusion. She alludes to Sodom. In the bible, Sodom is one of the cities that was destroyed for all the sins the their population had. The only good man in that city was warned to take his family to another city because that city would destroyed for all their sines. The angels told him and his family to never look back at the city while leaving. The wife of the good man turned around to see her relatives and close person being punished by God. This allusion is used to convey total destruction and/or punishment of sinners. In the poem, Angelou says,"But if we do approach, the fruit of Sodom will impair." Here I think she is referring to the wife turning around. The author used this allusion to convey that the sinners would be punished. In other words, The man would be punished for deceiving his wife or partner. 

Woman Work by Maya Angelou

Woman Work

I've got the children to tend
The clothes to mend
The floor to mop
The food to shop
Then the chicken to fry
The baby to dry
I got company to feed
The garden to weed
I've got shirts to press
The tots to dress
The can to be cut
I gotta clean up this hut
Then see about the sick
And the cotton to pick.

Shine on me, sunshine
Rain on me, rain
Fall softly, dewdrops
And cool my brow again.

Storm, blow me from here
With your fiercest wind
Let me float across the sky
'Til I can rest again.

Fall gently, snowflakes
Cover me with white
Cold icy kisses and
Let me rest tonight.

Sun, rain, curving sky
Mountain, oceans, leaf and stone
Star shine, moon glow
You're all that I can call my own. 

Maya Angelou

Before reading, I examined the title that Maya Angelou put to this poem. When I think of " Woman work," I think of household chores, children, and being 1 million things at the same time. Just by looking at the title, I thought of one of my teachers, Mrs. A. Moore. In one class discussion, she told us that women have multi-consciences. In that, she has to endure being a woman, an African american, teacher, mother, student, and wife. Those are a lot of things to hold on your back.
The poem was like an awakening to me. It reminded me of all the things women must do for their families. And, even though it is hard work, they finish all their obligations. It reminded me of my mother, and every other woman present in my life. From now on, I will do my best to help my mother in everything I can.
In the poem, she mentions that the woman must all pick cotton. This reminded me of slavery. The women during this time period endured a lot of struggles. They had to be in the sun all day picking cotton and then get home to only do more work.
At the end of the poem, she says that she can only call her own the sun, mountains, oceans. She does not have the power to go out of her everyday living and take a break. So, she enjoys the little things that life has to offer.
The author, Maya Angelou used a variety of figuarative language to effectively come across her audience. First of all, she uses parallelism in lines 2-5.The use of parallelism effectively organizes her ideas to better connect with the audience. She uses it to list chores that women must do. " The clothes to mend. The floor to mop. Then the chicken to fry. The baby to dry."
Next, she uses end rhythm. By using this, Maya Angelou's poem flows cohesively and smoothly. This facilitates the reader's engagement because it is easy to follow. The end rhythm connects all the chores women must do. 
Next, she uses personification. She gives the sun the ability to shine. She gives the storm the ability to blow her away. She communicates with all the elements of weather. This tell the reader under what circumstances women must work. It does not matter if it is raining out. You must not let it get in your way. 

Against Love by Katherine Philips

Against Love

Hence Cupid! with your cheating toys,
Your real griefs, and painted joys,
Your pleasure which itself destroys.
Lovers like men in fevers burn and rave,
And only what will injure them do crave.
Men's weakness makes love so severe,
They give him power by their fear,
And make the shackles which they wear.
Who to another does his heart submit,
Makes his own idol, and then worships it.
Him whose heart is all his own,
Peace and liberty does crown,
He apprehends no killing frown.
He feels no raptures which are joys diseased,
And is not much transported, but still pleased.


*

Katherine Philips

Commentary:

Before  reading the poem, I looked at the title of the poem. I figured that the poem would be about someone that does not want to fall in love or is disappointed by someone. I estimated that the tone would be melancholy. 

While reading the poem, I noticed that the poem was directed to Cupid because it said "Hence Cupid!" A line that really interested me was when she said," And only what will injure them do crave." This means that people "crave" or desire love, which is the thing that destroys them or tears them apart. Some people want somebody to love, even though they know that in the past love was not by their side. So, they crave love, even though it hurts them. Some people give their life that other special person, which is expressed in lines 8-10. Lines 11-15, express that people that are single are in peace and happy with themselves. And that they are not sad. At last, she says that even that single person may be lonely, he/she is still feeling good because he/she does not have to deal with that other person.

After reading the poem, I felt that everything she expressed was true. Love can be a pain sometimes. Love may come to some people, and others may never find love. This poem expresses the negative aspects of love and Katherine Philips expresses this effectively with the use of figurative language.

Katherine Philips: Against Love - YouTube Video.





Some figurative language used were simile. Katherine says, " Lovers like men in fevers burn and rave," Here, she is simply saying that lovers are like sick people. When one is sick, you are not in your 5 senses and tend to not be yourself. And that is exactly what love does to you. For love, you do some crazy things that you normally would not do. Also, Katherine uses personification. She personifies love and gives it human qualities. She gives love the ability to be severe ( line 6 ).