“Ode to a Grecian Urn”, by John Keats 2/7/12

THOU still unravish'd bride of quietness,

Thou foster-child of Silence and slow Time,

Sylvan historian, who canst thus express

A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:

What leaf-fringed legend haunts about thy shape

Of deities or mortals, or of both,

In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?

What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?

What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?

What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard

Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;

Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd,

Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:

Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave

Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;

Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,

Though winning near the goal—yet, do not grieve;

She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,

For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed

Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu;

And, happy melodist, unwearièd,

For ever piping songs for ever new;

More happy love! more happy, happy love!

For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd,

For ever panting, and for ever young;

All breathing human passion far above,

That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd,

A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.

Who are these coming to the sacrifice?

To what green altar, O mysterious priest,

Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,

And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?

What little town by river or sea-shore,

Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,

 Is emptied of its folk, this pious morn?

And, little town, thy streets for evermore

Will silent be; and not a soul, to tell

Why thou art desolate, can e'er return.

O Attic shape! fair attitude! with brede

Of marble men and maidens overwrought,

With forest branches and the trodden weed;

Thou, silent form! dost tease us out of thought

As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!

When old age shall this generation waste,

Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe

Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,

'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'

REACTION

This poem is about a Grecian urn, apparent by the title. The title also gives away that this is an ode, a long poem devoted the description of an object in a way not normally thought about. The type of language conceals the actually meaning when first reading, but it is apparent that the author is admiring the scene on the side of the urn. He describes the scene as immortal and perfect.

PARAPHRASE

Beautiful urn that is frozen in time, how can you express a story so sweet? Who is it that lays upon your surface? The songs we can hear are beautiful, but we still long to hear songs unheard. I wish to hear the song the young girl sings. She will be there forever, yet I can never hear the song. You are forever frozen in summer, never to know another season. Who is walking to sacrifice the cow? And why is this little town deserted, never to be filled again? Urn, you will be here forever. When I am gone, you will still remain to show your beauty.

SWIFTT

-SW: This poetic device of using elisions is very common within this poem. The use of the ‘  is meant to add to the style, voice, and rhythm within lines of the poem. Many of the words chosen here are meant to portray the idea that the urn and the pictures printed on it are immortal. “Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,” the repetition of never is meant to show that the pictures are frozen in time, the lover can never reach his love. “For ever panting, and for ever young” is another example of this idea, where the lover is forever chasing and out of breath, and the girl will never age.

-I: The rhetorical questions at the end of the first stanza are meant to lead the reader to a description of what is painted upon the Grecian urn. The painting on this urn is of a struggle and chase of lovers. Throughout the rest of the poem, the speaker describes the scenes on the urn. A chase scene and a sacrifice are mentioned. Past the mention of the actual scenes, the details are not explicitly described.

-F: Apostrophe is a major part of the poem. The speaker addresses the urn, an inanimate object. “Thou still unravish’d bride,” “thou foster-child,” and “Sylvan historian” are all calls to the urn within the first stanza. This type of metaphor for description of the urn is repeated throughout the poem.

-T: This poem has a serene, longing tone given by ideas throughout the poem. The old nature of the and the description of a static event leads to the tone because of the separation of the object and the narrator. He is describing a sight he sees, a sight of which he cannot be a part.

-T: The theme of this poem has a theme of knowledge, culture, and beauty. The poet wrote this poem to showcase the beauty of the urn. He tells of the immortal images that will be present forever. This description gives an insight in the culture that created the urn, denoted in the title as the Greeks. They showcase their surrounding through the images of nature and culture through the images of sacrifice.  The knowledge theme is integrated into the poem with the last stanza. This urn will be forever present to teach the future generations, not only of the past, but of the beauty that can be seen.

CONCLUSION

The urn here is used to showcase the beauty and history that can be seen in an everyday item. The language may be confusing at first, but once it is understood, it adds more meaning into the poem. The poet wanted to portray through this poem that relics of history must be looked at not only for past knowledge and understanding of history but also a concept of beauty.

“The Solitary Reaper,” by William Wordsworth 2/13/12

BEHOLD her, single in the field,

Yon solitary Highland Lass!

Reaping and singing by herself;

Stop here, or gently pass!

Alone she cuts and binds the grain,

And sings a melancholy strain;

O listen! for the Vale profound

Is overflowing with the sound.

No Nightingale did ever chaunt

More welcome notes to weary bands

Of travellers in some shady haunt,

Among Arabian sands:

A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard

In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird,

Breaking the silence of the seas

Among the farthest Hebrides.

Will no one tell me what she sings?--

Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow

For old, unhappy, far-off things,

And battles long ago:

Or is it some more humble lay,

Familiar matter of to-day?

Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,

That has been, and may be again?

Whate'er the theme, the Maiden sang

As if her song could have no ending;

I saw her singing at her work,

And o'er the sickle bending;--

I listened, motionless and still;

And, as I mounted up the hill

The music in my heart I bore,

Long after it was heard no more.

REACTION: When first reading the poem, the reader assumes that the poet is writing about a young girl which he crosses paths with for a short time. She is singing the field, and this singing sparks his imagination. The most prominent part of this poem is the structure.

PARAPHRASE: Alone in a field, a young girl sings. When you happen upon her, you either stop or slow to listen. Her singing is sad and soft as she works in the field. She sings with more sadness than a nightingale. No one knows what she sings, but many people guess. Whatever she sings, it has no end. I listened to the singing until I could hear it no more.

SWIFTT:

                -SW: The word choice and grammatical structure help with the rhyme scheme ABABCCDD, and the iambic pentameter. The word choices that portray the sadness of the song evoke more emotion, like melancholy and the imagery of a nightingale.

                -I: Imagery of the girl sowing the field she is working in is present throughout the poem through numerous references. The poet also uses different items in order to provoke images that can relate to the song the young girl is singing. The poet references “Arabian sands” and a “spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird” to invoke the feelings and images he sees from the song.

                -F: There are no similes present in this poem. The author does reference the  song the maiden sings through metaphors mentioned in the imagery.                                                                                                         

                -T: The tone of this poem is very melancholy, mirroring the tone of the song that the maiden sings. The longing of the narrator hear the poem is present and communicated through the tone. He wishes to still hear the song even though it makes him melancholy himself.

                -T: The theme of this poem is that people are a part of nature. In the purest state of mind while this maiden is creating a literary work (the song/poem no one has heard), she is completely serene and connected to nature. The narrator mentions that one must slow around her or completely stop in oder to hear her song and not disturb her. The later reference that she is like a nightingale or cuckoo bird shows the direct connection the narrator sees between her and nature.  

CONCLUSION:  My original reaction was very correct. The narrator is listening to the song of a young girl working in a field. The song that she is singing connects her to nature and allows the narrator to experience nature as he hears the song.

“To an Athlete Dying Young,” A.E. Housman 2/14/12

The time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.
To-day, the road all runners come,
Shoulder-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.
Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields were glory does not stay
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose.
Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears:
Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man.
So set, before its echoes fade,
The fleet foot on the sill of shade,
And hold to the low lintel up
The still-defended challenge-cup.
And round that early-laurelled head
Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,
And find unwithered on its curls
The garland briefer than a girl's.

REACTION: The first thing I notice about this poem is the meter and simple rhyme that is carried through the poem. The subject matter is the next most noticeable. Through the choice of name and the apparent events happening, the reader can deduce that the athlete has died the day before his big race. The whole poem seems to just outline the reaction to the death of the athlete and what has come of his death.

PARAPHRASE: When you won your big race, the whole town celebrated you. Today, however, the racers return, and we are laying you to rest. The glory of athletes does not last forever. Most of the time it fades faster than it came. Now that you are dead, you cannot see or hear the accomplishments of the people after you. Now you are dead, and your name has died as well. A lesson to all: before your name dies because you do, step out of the fame and defend your title. Live your life apart from just the races.

SWIFTT:

                -SW: When looking at the syntax and word spelling, the authors is almost instantly recognizable as English by the spelling of “honours.” When looking at the syntax alone, it is apparent that the author uses a strict structure, meter, and rhyme. The lines are all iambic tetrameter. Much of the structure of the sentence is based upon the meter and the rhyme scheme of aabb. The word choice in general seems to be very defined and proper when referring to these events.

                -IF: The imagery used in this poem is very limited to the actual events, but used widely in metaphors. Because the author wants to portray more of an idea rather than an actual event, not many details are given for the reader to visualize. At the very beginning of the poem, the narrator tells the reader that the athlete is brought home shoulder-high. This sparks an imagery of the town welcoming back the athlete as a hero in a celebration. When conveying the length of glory, the author ties this to the withering of a rose in metaphor. This connects the fleeting flame to the fast death of a rose once it’s cut from the stem. In another metaphor, he connects the fleeting flame to an echo dying slowly.

                -T: The tone of the poem is retrained and frank. The author refrains from mentioning who the athlete was or how they died. He only instructs the future to pay more attention to their lives. He states his subject in a clear, almost harsh way by comparing the death of the athlete who was forgotten even though he was celebrated during his life.

                -T: The theme of this message is made very clear through the figurative language and tone of the poem. Fame is completely fleeting. The public will move on from a person as quickly as a flower or echo can die. Even though a person may be celebrated at one point, they are not permanently noticed. A person cannot just live for popularity. They must also live for themselves.

CONCLUSION: My first reaction was correct, but upon rereading the poem, the theme was clear. The author wrote this poem to instruct future people. The world of fame is not the only life that one should have. Even though this athlete was celebrated by the whole town, he was not remembered or mentioned after his death.  

“The Wild Swans at Coole” by W.B. Yeats 2/2/12

THE trees are in their autumn beauty,
The woodland paths are dry,
Under the October twilight the water
Mirrors a still sky;
Upon the brimming water among the stones
Are nine-and-fifty Swans.

The nineteenth autumn has come upon me
Since I first made my count;
I saw, before I had well finished,
All suddenly mount
And scatter wheeling in great broken rings
Upon their clamorous wings.

I have looked upon those brilliant creatures,
And now my heart is sore.
All's changed since I, hearing at twilight,
The first time on this shore,
The bell-beat of their wings above my head,
Trod with a lighter tread.

Unwearied still, lover by lover,
They paddle in the cold
Companionable streams or climb the air;
Their hearts have not grown old;
Passion or conquest, wander where they will,
Attend upon them still.

But now they drift on the still water,
Mysterious, beautiful;
Among what rushes will they build,
By what lake's edge or pool
Delight men's eyes when I awake some day
To find they have flown away?

REACTION

When first reading the poem, the subject matter seems very confusing. The author mentions 59 swans he is observing in autumn. Some references suggest that this is not the first time he has witness a large flock of swans in flight. Throughout the poem, it seems like the author is describing the different aspects of beauty he sees in this large flock of swans. AA

PARAPHRASE

            The woods are dry and the trees are turning beautiful colors. The water is the shade of the sky, and on the water are 59 swans.

            It is my 19^th time observing these swans. Before I could even count them all, all the swans suddenly took flight. They scattered in flocks, flapping their noisy wings.

            As I watch the swans, I grow sad. Everything has changed in 19 years, since I first saw the swans.

            Serenely, they paddle in the comfortable water or fly about the sky. They have not changed. Passion and conflict still affect them as if they have not aged a day.

            They now float upon the still water, mysterious and beautiful. Where will they be the day I wake and they are gone? Who else will see the beauty?

SWIFTT

-SW: The author uses no apparent meter, but there is a clear rhyme scheme of abcbdd. The author also uses conversational sentences within this poem. The word choice, however, is not as natural.  The author uses unusual words like clamorous and companionable that add to the meaning and elegancy of the poem.

-I: The poem uses imagery to describe the swans in the poem.  The water first mirrors the sky around trees that are in autumn beauty. This gives a clear image of the setting. Then, the swans scatter wheeling in great broken wings upon their clamorous wings. This allows a person to relate the swans’ flight to that of flocks of birds in semicircles. The clamorous wings also give a vision of disturbed water because of the noisy, violent upheaval. The beat of the flapping wings is then described as bell-beat, which gives a clear, known beat for the reader to relate.

-F: There are no similes within this poem and I do not see any apparent metaphors.

-T: The tone of the poem contributes to a serene tone. The subject matter of animals in undisturbed nature and the elegant word choice fuse together to create a peaceful, serene tone in the poem.

-T: This poem focuses on the beauty of nature. The author is describing a beautiful part of nature that he is able to observe year after year in autumn. He tries to portray the beauty of undisturbed swans in nature.

CONCLUSION

I was not wrong in my initial reaction to this poem. The author is relating the beauty that he is able to see year after year in autumn. Not every person is able to see this beauty, so the author tries his best to relay it to the general population through poetry.

"The Oven Bird," by Robert Frost 1/26/12

There is a singer everyone has heard,
Loud, a mid-summer and a mid-wood bird,
Who makes the solid tree trunks sound again.
He says that leaves are old and that for flowers
Mid-summer is to spring as one to ten.
He says the early petal-fall is past
When pear and cherry bloom went down in showers
On sunny days a moment overcast;
And comes that other fall we name the fall.
He says the highway dust is over all.
The bird would cease and be as other birds
But that he knows in singing not to sing.
The question that he frames in all but words
Is what to make of a diminished thing.

REACTION: As a first reaction to this text, I assume that Frost is describing a type of bird in the forest. By previous knowledge about Frost, I know that he has a fascination for nature. Past the description of the bird and nature, however, I do not see much else important in this poem.

PARAPHRASE: There is a loud singer that everyone has heard. A bird that appears mid-summer and you can find in the middle of the woods. A bird that brings sound to solid trees and casts off the leaves while flowers are sparse. He comes when leaves and flowers have fallen. He will arrive any time fall weather is present. He shows the true end to summer. He not like the others, who stop when summer is done. He carries on his unmusical song. He knows to come when summer is done, but fall is just beginning.

SWIFTT:

-S/W: Frost generally uses very specific meter and rhyme within his poems, but there appears to be none in this particular poem. The sentence structure in this poem is very similar to regular speech, yet the word choice is not. Frost actually uses kennings, which are not as common in current literature. Two of the most obvious are “petal-fall” and “mid-wood”.

-I: Frost uses imagery in his style more than other literary device. He can create images by using different wordings like “petal-fall” instead of fall which creates an image of actual leaves and petals falling of the trees. He also uses the sense of sound when describing the song that this bird would make against the solid tree trunks.

-F: The only simile present in this poem is when Frost compares fall to spring as the number of flowers. This compares the life present in both of the seasons and creates one of the main points that not much chooses to live and thrive during fall, but this bird chooses any fall like weather.

-T: The tone of this poem is very peaceful. The subject matter is nature which on its own gives a calming effect in this context. Different key words, and even the kennings, add to the peaceful tone of this poem. The most contribution to this tone, however, is the absence of strong tone words. This mostly keeps the calm peaceful tone.

-T: The theme of this poem is the Carpe Diem. The oven bird lives in the moment and makes the best of the fall weather. Fall may be the beginning of death for most animals, but the oven bird doesn’t care. He lives for the moment and will make the best of every moment.

CONCLUSION

When analyzing this poem, I was not wrong in making the assumption that this poem was simply about a bird. There does not seem to be any deeper meaning past Carpe Diem. I can draw a conclusion that the Oven Bird is a type of woodpecker due to clues within the poem

"Telephone Poles," by John Updike 1/25/12

They have been with us a long time.
They will outlast the elms.
Our eyes, like the eyes of a savage sieving the trees
In his search for game,
Run through them. They blend along small-town streets
Like a race of giants that have faded into mere mythology.
Our eyes, washed clean of belief,
Lift incredulous to their fearsome crowns of bolts, trusses,

struts, nuts, insulators, and such
Barnacles as compose
These weathered encrustations of electrical debris¬
Each a Gorgon’s head, which, seized right,
Could stun us to stone.

Yet they are ours. We made them.
See here, where the cleats of linemen
Have roughened a second bark
Onto the bald trunk. And these spikes
Have been driven sideways at intervals handy for human legs.
The Nature of our construction is in every way
A better fit than the Nature it displaces
What other tree can you climb where the birds’ twitter,
Unscrambled, is English? True, their thin shade is negligible,
But then again there is not that tragic autumnal
Casting-off of leaves to outface annually.
These giants are more constant than evergreens
By being never green

REACTION: By the name of this poem, I can easily deduce the main subject matter of telephone poles. Upon reading this poem for the first time, I feel like the author is describing a human made object that is commonly ignored. It is apparent that the author does use a large amount of euphony throughout the lines and stanzas. I do not, however, see much past a description of a simple, ignored, man-made item.

PARAPHRASE:

Around for a very long time, they will outlive the tree with one of the longest lifespans. We see them all the time. They are on every street, but they have faded to the background. We do not see all that is behind them. If we could, maybe we would be impressed with them.

We made them, though. We can see that in the details like the roughened bark, the cleats, and the spikes. We made them to accommodate ourselves. Our creation is better than nature’s. It is not possible to climb a trees as easily. They not provide as much shade, but they do not shed their leaves. They change less than the evergreen trees, yet they are never green.  

SWIFTT:

-S/W:  The author uses a variety of complex sentences within this poem. He does not keep a constant rhyme or meter, but he does use a variety of rhyme methods like assonance and alliteration within the lines. When considering word choice, the author uses interesting words throughout the poem. For instance, he describes the trees as “savage sieving” and uses phrases like “incredulous to their fearsome crowns of bolts.” The usage of larger words contribute to a more definite description and help with the tone.

-I: The most imagery is used to actually describe the telephone poles. At the beginning of the second stanza, the author describes important aspect like the roughened second bark and the spikes on the sides at even intervals. Even a person who has not seen this common object has a clear mental picture. The author also draws the reader to picture other trees to compare to the poles, like elms and evergreens and trees that lose their leaves and turn to the autumnal colors.

-F: The author has a use of similes within the poem to heighten and branch the meaning. The first simile is “like the eyes of a savage sieving the trees”  when the savage is searching for food. This comparison shows that the busy human lives do not leave us with enough time to notice the little details. The second simile is “like a race of giants that have faded into mere mythology” which is compared to the poles themselves. They way in which mythology became a support system for the lives of ancient people, the telephone poles are a support system for the electronic lives people live today.

-T: The tone of this poem can be described as prideful, but detached. The author describes society as a whole detached from the details that make up our culture. The way in which he describes the poles show a pride he has in human made objects. The author describes every minute detail of the poles, from the spikes in the sides to insulators and struts. The disjoint forms when he explains the public reaction to this object. The complex vocabulary used in portraying the people disconnects the author from the public. He compared the people to creatures searching for food.

-T: The theme of this poem is the way in which society regards human made objects that support our lives. While telephone poles may not be the most ornate object, they are necessary for today’s life. The tone and figurative language help to develop this theme, because a pride is taken in the poles, but appreciation and acknowledgement is not shown.

CONCLUSION: This poem does more than describe the simple object of a telephone pole. This poem shows societies reaction to an important, but plain part of technology. The thought and rationing behind the poles are completely unappreciated and the poles are ignored altogether by people who have better things to do. The truth behind this integral part of society is just a small, unimportant part of busy lives of humans.

“On Reading Poems to a Senior Class at South High,” by D.C. Berry 1/24/12

Before
I opened my mouth
I noticed them sitting there
as orderly as frozen fish
in a package. Slowly water began to fill the room
though I did not notice it
till it reached
my ears
and then I heard the sounds
of fish in a aquarium
and I knew that though I had
tried to drown them
with my words
that they had only opened up
like gills for them
and let me in.
Together we swam around the room
like thirty tails whacking words
till the bell rang
puncturing
a hole in the door
where we all leaked out
They went to another class
I suppose and I home
where Queen Elizabeth
my cat met me
and licked my fins
till they were hands again.

REACTION: Based on the title and the apparent metaphor, I can conclude that the narrator is describing an encounter between a poem and his class. While it is not apparent what poem he may be talking about, it is a guess that he is talking about a poem which contains fish or aquariums.

PARAPHRASE: Before we began, they sat there in orderly rows unmoving. Slowly, they became more intrigued as I began to read, though I did not notice for a while. Even though I had tried to bombard the class with poems, they began to open up to them and absorb and understand what was being said. Then, we could analysis the poem as a class, opening up a discussion for everyone to join. The bell came as a disturbance when it suddenly burst the conversation. They students moved onto their next class, and I went home to my cat where I where I thought about the poem until I could no more.

SWIFTT:

-SW: For word choice, the author uses a few words that show that the poem is aimed to an audience of teenage students. For example, he repeats “till” which is a common teenage slang term to mean until. Also, the author uses grammar that mirrors teenage style of informal writing. He uses no commas and run-on sentences with minimal periods in his poem. Also, when looking at the syntax, the author does not use any particular rhyme scheme or meter.

-I/F: This poem uses visual imagery mainly through its major metaphor. Throughout the whole poem, the understanding of the poem read in class is compared to fish either frozen and rigid or in an aquarium. At first, the author describes the kids as ‘frozen fish in a package’ which gives a visual to the rigid, uncomfortable order. Next, the author describes the sound of fish in an aquarium for the whispers of the students once they start to absorb the poem. The author next references the gills that open up. The imagery from this parallels the action of the students’ minds opening to the poem suddenly and sharply, like a fishes gills will do once the fish hits the water. After the students’ minds open, the ‘fishes begin to swim around the room with thirty tails whacking words.’ This imagery helps the reader visualize the conversation about the poem. The movement of the conversation is explained in the swimming around the room to different points like a school of fish will do when food hits the water. The conversation points are then taken on by the ‘thirty tails whacking words’ because each person would be discussing and interjecting points. The bell puncturing the door is great imagery for the shrill, sudden sound of a bell. The last imagery used in the poem closes the metaphor that runs through the poem. The narrator of the poem goes home where his cat, which is a common enemy to fish, ‘licks his fins until they turn back into hands.’ This creates an image of an actual cat licking a fish and closing the metaphor by distracting the narrators mind off of the poem.

-T: This poem has a very playful tone reinforced by the playful metaphor and syntax of the poem. The author is writing this poem to what seems to be an audience of teenage students. In order to meet the audience, the writer uses slang terms in diction and easy to follow syntax.

-T: The theme of this poem is definitely education and journey. The setting of a school opens up the theme for education. The students are in class when the narrator begins to read a poem. The way the students open up to the poem and begin to analysis as shown through the fish metaphor shows that they are being exposed to and learning about poetry. Then, there is a theme of a journey in union with the theme of education. The description of the students at the beginning of the poem leads the reader to believe that they were not enthusiastic about the poetry. However, this began to change once the students started to actually hear and understand the poem. By the end of the poem, the whole class is joining in on a discussion of the poem that was read, showing a significant journey from the uninterested, unenthusiastic attitude to the openly participating, seemingly excited students.

CONCLUSION: I think that my first reaction was very close, but upon analyzing the poem, a few points of the poem became clearer. At first, I assumed the narrator to be the teacher, but a few phrases show that the narrator was a visitor. The main one showing this was “They went to another class/ I suppose and I home.” I also see now that the poem may not necessarily been about fishes, seas, or aquariums. The poem does not give any clear clues to the actual poem being read at all, in fact, nor does it state if one poem or multiple were read and discussed. My first instinct about the metaphors can also be elaborated. In the reaction, I stated that the metaphor was simple, but that was not the case. While the metaphor carried throughout the whole poem was easily seen at first, the little details were not, like the bubbles of the fishes for the whispers or the school like aspect of swimming from topic to topic. Overall, I really enjoyed this poem and found it easily relatable, most likely due the audience to which it was aimed.