Going off to college is one of the most exciting times but also scary. I would be going to a place very far from my home, where in a sense, it is a new start to a new life. My older siblings had already gone their separate ways from our home in Georgia, but they stayed in state. So it was a big deal for me to be leaving hundreds and hundreds of miles away from everything I loved most. However, in the moment of leaving, the only thing I could think of was how its about time. I was excited to be living with people other than my parents and siblings that I have spent the past 18 years with in the same house. I was excited to meet new people and begin my career in the business world. So my parents dropped my off and that was goodbye for a few months.
After years and years of longing to be on my own it was finally here, but I soon realized it is a lot more difficult when it is actually being done than just said. I can relate this feeling to the poem Mending Wall, by Robert Frost. In his poem he talks about two neighbors who try to build a wall to separate each others boundaries. Every spring they would go out to their yards and grab stones and stack them to make the fence between their lands. The only problem was that the fence would never stay. They had to rebuild their fence time after time. Frost says "We wear our fingers rough with handling them" (20). The reason why this poem and that line spoke to me the most is because in a way that is how I feel about being so far from my home with my parents and siblings. After years of wanting to be at college and out of the house, the only thing I miss most is my home. As these neighbor's are constantly trying to be separate, the only thing bringing them together is the fence they are building. I can relate that to myself because I thought that I would want to be distanced from my home yet it is ironic because this distance has brought me closest to my home. The longing for getting out of the house was just "wearing my fingers" because at the end of the day there is no point. No matter how big the wall is, they are still neighbors. Likewise to myself, no matter how far I wanted to be away from the house, my family will always be my "neighbor". The two neighbors in the poem realize the fence does no good because they are still neighbors, they know what land is theres, they have no problem with one another and it is just causing themselves problems when they worry about it. I had no problems at home and I miss my family but I do enjoy being away from home sometimes because it makes the time at home much sweeter. Lastly, Frost emphasis his line by ending the poem repeating "Good fences make good neighbors" (45). I believe the meaning of this line and the moral of what I was trying to relate the poem to is that the best fence may be no fence at all.
The second poem I found very interesting. John Donne wrote the poem "The Flea". When I first saw this title I thought of what many people probably did too, an annoying, tiny insect that is practically impossible to kill. However, Donne uses the flea for a complete opposite meaning. Donne uses the flea as a sexual relationship between man and woman. He says "It sucked me first and now sucks thee, And in this flea our two bloods mingled to be" (3-4). In saying that he is stating how the flea has sucked each one of the persons blood uniting them as one just as marriage does. It is very interesting how Donne used an insect that majority of the world would rather not talk about or even touch, and metaphorically connected the bug to a feeling majority of the world is longing for in their life. It was extremely clever and smart of him.
The third poem I read was "Accident Mass. Ave." by Jill McDonough. In this poem two people get into a crash and get out of their cars screaming and fighting. To emphasis the anger of the argument, the F word was said multiple times! The two woman continue fighting and screaming to only realize they are fighting for no reason. Once the fighting stops they look at their cars and find no scratches or dents and neither of them are hurt. So one lady finally gives in and hugs the other very apologetically. This type of situation can be related to not just myself but everyone. We all experience a time where we maybe on edge or are not having the best days and the smallest things knock us off but we realize it was not a big deal at all. Other vis-versa we thought something was a big deal but at the end of the day it was nothing and we stressed about it for no reason. The moral of this story relates to life so much more than it seems. I took away that although accidents happen, everything will be okay. There is a time to fight for what you believe but an accident is an accident and we all experience them. There is no reason to beat ourselves or someone else, mentally or physically, because an accident. That is not helping anyone. The other thing I took away from this was forgiveness. Each lady forgave the other and that is why everything worked out fine. In order to deal with accidents in this world, a person must have forgiveness they're willing to give.
I enjoyed relating and analyzing the poems I picked and can't wait to do more.
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