Mark+Strand

Mark Strand was born on Prince Edward Island, Canada. He grew up in a multiple cities across the United States, Columbia, Mexico, and Peru. He attended Antioch College in 1957 and then Yale University in 1959 where he wanted to be a painter. He became interested in poetry and went to Italy on a scholarship. Strand's poems include Reasons for Moving and Darker. His poems were described as being dark and brooding

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 = Lines For Winter - Poem by Mark Strand =

Tell yourself

as it gets cold and gray falls from the air

that you will go on

walking, hearing

the same tune no matter where

you find yourself—

inside the dome of dark

or under the cracking white

of the moon's gaze in a valley of snow.

Tonight as it gets cold

tell yourself

what you know which is nothing

but the tune your bones play

as you keep going. And you will be able

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">for once to lie down under the small fire

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">of winter stars.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">And if it happens that you cannot

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">go on or turn back

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">and you find yourself

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">where you will be at the end,

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">tell yourself

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">in that final flowing of cold through your limbs

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">that you love what you are.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;"> Lines for Winter by Strand was written in 1979 and it was a part of his later collections. It shows the development of Strand as a poet. This poems resembles Strand's early works with an overall theme of darkness and involves speakers who are characterized by an intense concern with self identity. The voice maintains a calm and steady tone that assumes an authoritative. It gives a reassuring feel to the reader. Te speaker provides a evocative images that suggests a certain level of emotional involvement. The poem itself is free verse and does not rely on the effect of rhythm. Strand does use repetition to emphasize to the reader the importance of key phases in the poem. The repetition invites varying interpretation. The simple diction and syntax contrasts with the complex content. The opening lines are repeated most often and each time they are used the context seems altered. The speaker is expressed as trying to go on even when things get hard and dark. It really expresses Strand's dark and brooding tone. Throughout the poem the speaker is addressing someone. It could be to another person or of self reflexive contemplation. Strand does this in other poems with the purpose of the speaker reflecting on his difficult state of mind. It can be questioned whether the individual will take the advice of the speaker and be consoled

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<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">= Keeping Things Whole - Poem by Mark Strand =

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">In a field

I am the absence

of field.

This is

always the case.

Wherever I am

I am what is missing.

When I walk

I part the air

and always

the air moves in

to fill the spaces

where my body's been.

We all have reasons

for moving.

I move

to keep things whole.

Keeping Things Whole by Strand was written in 1980 and was a part of a collection of poems. The 1st stanza of Keeping Things Whole sets the tone and presents the themes that continue to be throughout his later works. Strand told press that he wrote this poem in 20 seconds during a card game. This demonstrates the nonchalant approach he took to writing his collections. The poem illustrates that parts are essential to make the unifying nature of whole. He parts the air forward and then it becomes whole behind him. The speaker is angry at himself since he is an intruder in the environment. The speaker becomes careful to not damage the environment. He expresses that if people encourage the existence of the nature that it will give reaction. When people cut down trees, land and floods occur. The last stanza suggests that we all move to make a whole. The tone is different than some of Strand's other poems since it is not as dark. It discusses a theme that is important and is relevant. The environment is an issue that many people disagree on. Global warming and pollution have harmed the environment and the animals there. The poems demonstrates that there needs to be unity and that the natural elements are more than just parts in the universe. The speaker wants to keeps things whole and that is his reasons for moving. The air fills the space where he has been as if he is not a part of the unity

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">  #219 on [|top 500 poets]
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<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> = The Coming Of Light - Poem by Mark Strand =

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">Even this late it happens:

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">the coming of love, the coming of light.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">You wake and the candles are lit as if by themselves,

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">stars gather, dreams pour into your pillows,

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">sending up warm bouquets of air.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">Even this late the bones of the body shine

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">and tomorrow's dust flares into breath.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;"> The Coming of Light by Strand is written in free verse. This allows him to express his theme without any restrictions on meter and rhyme. The poem has a similar structure to other poems that Strand has written and is very short. The poem is made up of only 3 sentences and 1 stanza. The 1st and 3rd sentence both start with the same phrase. This repetition puts an emphasize on it. The poet describes the values of light and love. This theme is expressed through descriptive imagery when the poet describes the candles and dust. The poem describes a love that gives the speaker hope. Unlike the light of a candle that will soon fade, love grows stronger with time and does not fade. This gives the reader hope. This hopeful tone is different then other Strand poems since most of his other poems are darker. Strand describes the light with the environment to give more descriptive imagery. The candles could be connected with the love theme of the poem. The coming of light describes the love people have and being hopeful for what is to come to them. The poem is mostly written in an iambic Tetrameter

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<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">= Eating Poetry - Poem by Mark Stran = <span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">Ink runs from the corners of my mouth.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">There is no happiness like mine.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">I have been eating poetry.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">The librarian does not believe what she sees.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">Her eyes are sad

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">and she walks with her hands in her dress.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">The poems are gone.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">The light is dim.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">The dogs are on the basement stairs and coming up.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">Their eyeballs roll,

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">their blond legs burn like brush.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">The poor librarian begins to stamp her feet and weep.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">She does not understand.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">When I get on my knees and lick her hand,

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">she screams.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">I am a new man,

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">I snarl at her and bark,

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;">I romp with joy in the bookish dark.

<span style="font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; font-size: 17px;"> Eating Poetry by Strand is a short poem that is written in free verse. It is much longer than most of his other poems. It has 6 stanzas. The speaker is in a library where he is eating poetry and not reading the poetry. Eating the poetry seemed to change the speaker when he begins to behave like a dog. Ink is normally not liquid when it has been used in books and it goes done the speaker. The use of imagery in the poem is very evident and it gives the reader a better understanding of the unusual event happening. The speaker has been joyful since he has eaten the poetry. The tone of the poem is not serious since what the poem is about is so unusual. The last stanza repeats the same start for each line. This is the same for some of the other stanza. It is written mostly in iambic trimeter. Each of the stanzas in the poem have 3 lines and are made up of very short lines. The theme of the poem is that someone should do what gives them joy since many other people might not understand what you do