Friday, February 29, 2008

Standing Alone by Chase

Standing Alone by Chase
I can see the flower upon which my life grows, blooming into a rose.

See the hope and courage in the strength of the petals.
As long as I am, I will be.
The flower will never wilt or die.
As my life grows back, I shall become strong.
I shall become only dependent on one.
That one will be me.
I will rise with my petals high.
My life as a flower will bloom and prosper as I grow.
I may not be the pick of the patch, but I am just as beautiful as the rest.

I will stand as one, but not a lonely soul.
The tears will be far from my smile.




Analysis:
Sense – I thought the poem would be about loneliness since the ‘alone’ is used in the title, but the poem ‘Standing Alone’ by Chase is rather about the poet’s decision. However, this is the minor theme of the poem. The poet wanted to convey that everyone is special as he describes himself one of roses in the patch.

Intention – The poem is intended to convey the major theme of each one has their own of us is special and unique. Most of the lines describe the poet himself, but the tenth line mentions about groups of people and reveals the major theme.

Feeling
– When I first read the poem, I envied the poet a little. The most important theme of the poem is that everyone is unique, but it also describes the poet’s decision of becoming stronger and independent. I believe the poet is very sturdy, so I was a little shameful of myself who is timid.

Tone – The overall tone can be changed upon how the last line is interpreted. If we interpret it positively, this line would mean that he will not give up, but on the other hand, this can be interpreted as the poet pretend to be strong under pressure. However, the lines come before the last are filled with courageous tone, so the tone of the poem would be courageous and fearless.

Style/Symbol - The poet used ‘a blooming rose’ as symbol, and it symbolizes the poet, and the patch of a rose symbolize groups of people. The poet uses some facts about a rose to convey both major and minor themes of the poem.
First, the poem mentions the petals of the hope and courage petals and this resembles the poet’s inner change. He means the he has become hopeful and courageous (since he describes himself as a ‘blooming’ rose). Furthermore, a thin stem and thorn are used to describe his decision though they are never mentioned in the poem. The stem would represent the emotional weakness the poet had and the thorn would represent the decision of being stronger and independent, and this is revealed in the line five and six.
The line 10 says, ‘I may not be the pick of the patch, but I am just as beautiful as the rest.’ It use the fact of that a rose loses its beauty when there are bunch of roses but it is still considered to be beautiful. At this point, the poet conveys the major theme of everybody is special. He describes a group of people as a group of roses.
The poet uses metaphor in the first line (describing himself as a rose) and personification in the second line (a rose has courage and hope), but he uses it to clarify what a rose symbolizes so the major theme would be conveyed more easily.

Emotion – This poem evokes courage and hope (though they may no be considered as emotion). The poet uses phrases such as ‘I will rise’ and ‘will never die.’ This gives strong tone and evokes courage and hope.

Imagery –The poem gives us the image of a rose garden if we understand what a rose symbolizes in this poem, but it has not described thoroughly. If we do not understand the symbol, the poem does not convey well, so I believe the poem does not use imagery. have not described it thoroughly, so I believe the poem has not used imageries.

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