Thursday, April 14, 2011
Hay for the Horses
The poem, Hay for the Horses written by Gary Snyder is about the farm life and how life does not turn out how we wish it would. I usually hear my pops(father) complain about his job. He is a construction worker that has been hit hard by bad luck in his field. He explains about his time going to college and how he could've been a lawyer. Never did he think he'd be a construction worker, rigging, cutting, or pointing on buildings so high up that you become skeptical of how much safety a harness can provide. Getting back to Hay for the Horses, there is a sense of hard work and vigor. In the end of the poem, the main character states he is 68 years old and he never thought he'd remain doing the work he has been doing for 51 years. I read to see if I could find how the main character felt about doing the work for so long. I don't think their is a specific way that is made clear in the poem. Neither good or bad. The main character neither hates it or loves it. The work just is.
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I agree and disagree with come things you've said in your blog. For one, I feel like in reading this poem, the author gives us a sense of time through out the entire poem and how important a role it plays in this poem. I think he does this to show how much time and hard work was put into being a farmer and when the farmer realizes it himself, he himself states that at seventeen he thought how he'd hate to do this for the rest of his life and then goes on to say Dammit that's just what i've gone and done," I feel like he clearly states there he's hated doing this his whole life but he just embraces it and doesn't dwell on it. I don;t think he;s indifferent about it, I just think he knows he's old and can't really get into anything else at this point.
ReplyDeleteThis is getting at the literal level of the poem, but will need to push beyond--look for clues in the imagery. Make sure to read my comments on this poem on Chante Barne's blog on blogs from previous classes.
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