Friendship IXX

Friendship IXX

By Khalil Gibran

And a youth said, "Speak to us of Friendship." 
Your friend is your needs answered. 
He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving. 
And he is your board and your fireside. 
For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace. 
When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay." 
And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart; 
For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed. 
When you part from your friend, you grieve not; 
For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain. 
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit. 
For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught. 
And let your best be for your friend. 
If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also. 
For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill? 
Seek him always with hours to live. 
For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness. 
And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. 
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed. 

In the first line, the persona is asked what friendship means to him. He starts off by saying that a friend is someone who will be there for you when you may need them. In the next line, he compares a friend to that of a field in which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving. This means that you treat them with love and care and in return, you will gain something such as a favour as an expression of thanks. As inferred from the saying 'You reap what you sow', your friend would also treat you the same way you did to them- with love and care.

In the fourth line, the persona says that a friend is someone who acts as your 'fireside'. The word 'fireside' means 'home'. Home is where you should feel the safest and the most comfortable. By using this word, the persona is trying to say that a friend is someone whom you should feel comfortable around and safe with, or at home with. In the next line, he says that you go to your friend with hunger. This can mean that you either go to your friend with hunger for knowledge or hunger for food. This can also mean that you go to your friend when you have a need to fulfill. The persona then proceeds to say that you find your friend for peace. This means that when you are ill at ease or when you are feeling conflicted, you can always seek your friend for help, advice or comfort.

The persona also says that when your friend speaks his or her mind, you do not mind whether or not they disagree with you. This goes to show that as a friend, you should respect their opinion, even if they do not agree with you. He says that when your friend is silent, you can still sense that there is something wrong or there is something on his mind. You will be able to tell even if he does not say it out loud. This shows how close friends should be as they need not speak in order to convey their message. Everything is shared among friends and any kind of joy brought by one another or the objective to accomplish is welcomed in friendship.

The persona talks about how when his friend leaves him either because of death or moving away to someplace else, even though you may be sad, you will not grieve over the loss. The attributes you appreciated the most in that friend will be very clear to you when they are no longer around. And the persona compares it to that of how a 'mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain'. This shows how your love for that one trait in that friend will be much clearer to you and you will be able to see it better when your friend is gone as you will not experience it for yourself, or caught in the process of experiencing it- the joy of having that friend with that trait around you.

Other than bonding two people together, there should not be any superficial reasons or purpose in a friendship. You should not give too much thought about the benefits you might gain from being that person's friend. This also means that you should only be friends with a person for who they are, not what they are. You should do the very best you can for your friends. You must let your friends know the way you do certain things. This will help to bring you and your friend closer to one another because there is a better understanding between the two.  This can be inferred from the line 'If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also'. 

When you and your friend have gotten closer, you will 'seek him for hours to live' instead of 'hours to kill'. This shows that you will enjoy your time with your friends because you will 'live' with them. When finding something to kill time, it means that you are bored and there will be a feeling of emptiness that needs to be filled. You will only be with your friends for the sake of killing time. When you 'live' with your friends, you will find time to spend with them, not only when you are bored or have nothing better to do, but because you want to be with your friends and enjoy time together.

At the last part, the persona then concludes that friendship should be filled with happiness and pleasure. Friendship is a sweet thing that can be shared among friends. These little joys in life will help to make life much more interesting and fruitful.

This poem tells me how important friends are and how they can play a huge part in our lives. Friendship is about the things friends have gone through together. The persona understands the true meaning of friendship when he describes how he went through troubles with his friend by his side, to stand by him, and vice versa. This shows that we all need a friend. It also tells me how important friendship is to someone. The persona might have been talking about friendship in this way because he had just lost a friend. He has just lost someone to share time with and is reflecting upon how sweet their friendship was.

A portrait of Khalil Gibran

Credits: http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/khalil-gibran-4.php

A Dog Has Died by Pablo Neruda

A Dog Has Died
BY PABLO NERUDA
TRANSLATED BY ALFRED YANKAUER
My dog has died.
I buried him in the garden
next to a rusted old machine.

Some day I'll join him right there,
but now he's gone with his shaggy coat,
his bad manners and his cold nose,
and I, the materialist, who never believed
in any promised heaven in the sky
for any human being,
I believe in a heaven I'll never enter.
Yes, I believe in a heaven for all dogdom
where my dog waits for my arrival
waving his fan-like tail in friendship.

Ai, I'll not speak of sadness here on earth,
of having lost a companion
who was never servile.
His friendship for me, like that of a porcupine
withholding its authority,
was the friendship of a star, aloof,
with no more intimacy than was called for,
with no exaggerations:
he never climbed all over my clothes
filling me full of his hair or his mange,
he never rubbed up against my knee
like other dogs obsessed with sex.

No, my dog used to gaze at me,
paying me the attention I need,
the attention required
to make a vain person like me understand
that, being a dog, he was wasting time,
but, with those eyes so much purer than mine,
he'd keep on gazing at me
with a look that reserved for me alone
all his sweet and shaggy life,
always near me, never troubling me,
and asking nothing.

Ai, how many times have I envied his tail
as we walked together on the shores of the sea
in the lonely winter of Isla Negra
where the wintering birds filled the sky
and my hairy dog was jumping about
full of the voltage of the sea's movement:
my wandering dog, sniffing away
with his golden tail held high,
face to face with the ocean's spray.

Joyful, joyful, joyful,
as only dogs know how to be happy
with only the autonomy
of their shameless spirit.

There are no good-byes for my dog who has died,
and we don't now and never did lie to each other.

So now he's gone and I buried him,
and that's all there is to it.

In the first stanza, it seems as though the persona is mourning the loss of his dog, however, at the same time, he is also behaving as if it is something of not much importance. It is evident from the lines,”My dog has died, I buried him in the garden, Next to a rusted old machine”. The dog was buried in the garden and this suggests an idea of keeping the dog close to the persona in a familiar place. However, the fact that the dog is buried next to a rusted old machine suggests that there was not much importance placed upon the dog’s death. There is no mention of a particular act of kindness, such as the dog being wrapped in a blanket so it appears as though not too much love and care took place in the burial, and therefore the dog’s death was of no real significance to the persona, yet he mourns the loss of the dog.

In the second stanza, it can be said that the persona placed the nature of his dog’s above his own. From the lines, “And I the materialist, who never believed, In any promised heaven in the sky, For any human being”, suggests that the persona did not believe that there was a Heaven for human begins. However, evident from the lines, “I believe in a heaven I’ll never enter, Waving his fan-like tail in friendship”, it suggests that the persona believed in a Heaven for his dog. This further implies that he considers the nature of his dog’s to be more superior to his own.

In the third stanza, it explains how the persona seems to favor the dog’s particular type of friendship, a relationship similar to mutualism. He also suggests that he was pleased to be the master of this individual dog and explains how he considers his own dog to be better than others. This is evident from the lines, “ He never climbed all over my clothes, Filling me full of his hair or his mange, He never rubbed up against my knee, Like other dogs obsessed with sex”
While, it may seem that the persona did not take good care of the dog, due to the reference of “mange”, it is also noted that this was written at a time an affliction like mange, was common due to the era where dogs did not visit groomers, and they rarely received veterinary care.

In the fourth stanza, the persona described him to be a vain person in need of attention and that the dog helps him to understand it is a common human characteristic. From the lines, “But with those eyes so much purer than mine, He’d keep on gazing at me ,With a look that reserved for me alone, All his sweet and shaggy life, Always near me, never troubling me, And asking nothing”, it suggests that he realizes that dogs live in the present moment and therefore are incapable of vanity. The dog also gives unconditional love towards the persona which was something that does not pertain to him as a human being. 

From the fifth stanza, it can be inferred that the dog is joyful when taking walks on the beach. It is evident from the lines, “Ai, how many times I have envied his tail, As we walked together on the shores of the sea” The tail is an indication of the dog’s mood and emotion ; when the tail wags, it meant that the dog was happy. The persona then implies that the same feeling does not apply to him; hence he envies the dog for feeling contented. This is suggested in the line “In the lonely winter of Isla Negra.” The words ‘lonely winter’ summarizes the persona’s feelings about the nature of the place and that the dog is unaware to such matters.

In the sixth stanza, the words “My wandering dog, sniffing away, With his golden tail held high, Face to face with the ocean’s spray” explains that the dog loves the ocean with all of its unique sounds and smells. The sixth stanza also mentions how dogs currently live, evident from the lines, “Joyful joyful joyful, As only dogs know how to be”.  

To put the poem in a nutshell, what the poet is trying to say is that he knows that his dog was considered to be more superior to him. He has already described himself as materialistic and vain and therefore, he is not going to pretend to be a worthy person by saying farewell to his dog, in the form of a proper burial. However, it is clear that he loved and respected his dog, and that was why he is buried in the garden, even if it is next to a rusted old machine.
                                                     
                                                      Portrait of Pablo Neruda

Credits: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKnY1iQY2Lq5TOCuUlmmQjk05FRPbsmdkeqa2_VWtCSlvfZBm-fyY3r4usT4P1_nLRA0bSDVR0cIokoA2EXzcu7b3ByHiq10j9iSaKYZm6sGLaNwnUzyFdHh66mwzLJbcwe_7XRyD6HqhP/s1600/neruda.jpg

                                                      How a dead dog looks like

Credits: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Recently_shot_Greenland_dog_upernavik_2007-07-02_edited.jpg

Friendship's Golden Wings By Ruth Warrens

 FRIENDSHIP’S GOLDEN WINGS by Ruth Warren

Angels without wings,
I've heard friends sometimes called.
They walk the earth among us,
to catch us when we fall.

They simply seem most unaware
the importance of their presence,
or how the kindness that they share
gives them special luminescence.

The friends that come in and out of your life
are your own angels in times of defeat.
So when certain ones stand out from the rest,
be sure to treat them specially sweet.

When your weeks are long and troublesome,
and burdens seem more than you can handle,
angel friends help you see through a different light,
and your life can become more tranquil.

These wondrous friends carry a special light,
and though they won't always agree,
you know they're really angels in disguise;
you know because it's what you see.

 Within the arms of true friendship;
the warmth of it feels so pure.
The loving span of its golden wings
Gently wraps to reassure

This poem depicts how despite their under rated importance, friends are an essential part of life who helps us in times of need. When in need of help to lift the huge burden of work, school or great emotional trauma, friends will never fail to be there and comfort the victim. Similarly, we also have to be grateful for the help that they have selflessly offered to us.

The purpose of the of this poem is to allow its audience to understand the importance of friendship. For example, the title "Friendship's golden wings" tells me how crucial or essential friendship is like water in life. From the title, "golden" possibly meaning that friendship is very valuable just as gold is, and "wings" perhaps referring to something high and mighty like a dragon, as winged objects or creature tend to soar to great heights and achieve the impossible.

The main emotion that this poem attempts to convey is gratitude, teaching us to be grateful and thankful for the help that friends have given and still continue to do so. For instance "when your weeks are long and troublesome, and burdens seem more than you can handle" refers to being unable to cope with stress of work, school or emotions, while "angel friends help you see through a different light, and your life can become more tranquil" can mean that the friends can help victims lift their burden off their shoulders, comfort them, cheer them up and help them to forget about their stress allowing them to live a better and calmer life.
The poem is structured in a way such that the third and last lines of each stanza rhyme. This creates a rhythm that sounds calming to the ears, which seeks out the attention of listeners and readers and also to build a cozy and tranquil atmosphere that creates a protective feeling within the audience as well as to provide a comfortable atmosphere to captivate the audience with.

The author uses many words that are of a positive connotation suck as "wondrous", probably to not destroy the comforting and gratifying mood already mood already put in place.
The poem not only compares friends to angels ,but also friendship itself to the value of gold. Figuratively, it shows that friends are almost like "guardian angels", protecting and helping one another on times of need, and that friendship is so priceless because it brings friends together and allows them to help each other through times of hardship and difficulty.

The poem has a slow rhythm with a few rhymes. This gives the poem momentum regularity, again emphasizing  on the cozy and serene atmosphere of the poem.

Finally, the poem makes use of soft sounds, words with letter "o" and elongated vowels such as "seem" and "come". This gives the poem regularity boosting the soothing atmosphere put in place by the other factors. This allows the poem to gain the attention of the audience and captivate them so as to convey the message more effectively.

 Golden Wings:

http://i00.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v0/669193220/Free-Shipping-Bigger-Angel-font-b-Wings-b-font-Car-Stickers-3D-Sticker-on-Car-Logo.jpg
Guardian Angel:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGjYg6Pu95SAuugH52ycpVXgRHAxVhR6sLYo2MCKXlqsOUPdNdeFy8cDaN5znZ1KfXzcO0acwMvaZURhAU6R8_eftgqsi_1BDSjXkPxYD2UjIKuvmQt9CYClroyFxx8V6rdtlxX9J3elU/s320/guardian-angel-painting-large.jpg


I am unable to find a picture of Ruth Warren

To My Brother Miguel in Memoriam" by César Vallejo

To My Brother Miguel in memoriam

by César Vallejo
translated by Robert Bly

Brother, today I sit on the brick bench outside the house, 
where you make a bottomless emptiness.
I remember we used to play at this hour of the day, and mama 
would calm us: "There now, boys..."
Now I go hide
as before, from all these evening 
prayers, and I hope that you will not find me. 
In the parlor, the entrance hall, the corridors. 
Later, you hide, and I do not find you. 
I remember we made each other cry, 
brother, in that game.

Miguel, you hid yourself
one night in August, nearly at daybreak,
but instead of laughing when you hid, you were sad. 
And your other heart of those dead afternoons
is tired of looking and not finding you.  And now
shadows fall on the soul.

Listen, brother, don't be too late
coming out. All right? Mama might worry.

This poem is written by César Vallejo was a major poet, known for the authenticity and originality of his work. His poems usually expressed universal themes related to the human condition, and when we look into this poem, ‘To my Brother Miguel in Memoriam’, we found out that it is about friendship. The title of the poem suggests death of the brother, Miguel, due to the word “Memoriam” which meant in memory of. This brought about the assumption that the brother was dead and the persona was writing the poem like a letter to his late brother.

The persona seems to be living on the memory of his brother. The poem has a nostalgic and reminiscent tone, although we think that the speaker is upset at his brother due to the line "you make a bottomless emptiness".  Judging from the speaker's perspective take, it seemed as though the persona is faulting his brother as the "you make" sounded as though the brother created and is the main cause of the void. 

The persona also refused to accept the fact that his brother, Miguel was no longer alive. It is evident from the line, "don't be too late coming out" suggests that persona is struggling to accept the fact that his brother is dead. Also, the line "tired of looking and not finding you" also tells us that the persona is definitely in-denial of death, although he is frustrated that his brother is no longer alive and there to be found. In addition, "Now I go hide from all these evening prayers" suggests that perhaps after Miguel's death, his family used to pray for his welfare in the after life, however, the speaker still refuses to accept Miguel’s death, and hides from all these prayers. 

After all these analysis, we find that the persona had a deep and close relationship with his brother and could not come to terms with the loss of Miguel. This can be applied to the friendships formed by people. The deeper the bond of friendship, the closer one is to the friend and thus, creating a space in the persona’s heart for that particular friend. However, when that friend has passed on, they perish along with that space in the persona’s heart, leaving an empty hole there which is usually filled with sadness and grief, and occasionally the inability to accept that the friend is no longer around nor alive. To put in a nutshell, we conclude that the poet was trying to tell us that friendship is a fragile thing that can be damaged easily and hence, it must be treasured preciously. 

In Stanza 1, it tells us that the brothers were very close to each other. This is evident from "we made each other cry" which could be childish crying because they couldn't find each other momentarily or giddy cries of excitement. It could also be because of the loss of the brother. They would always play together. This is also evident from "Now I go hide from all these evening prayers" which suggests that the family would always pray for him ever since his death, the poet then hides from these again not accepting his death. Hence, this shows that their relationship must have been very close such that the poet was not able to get over it.
In Stanza 2, I can infer that the poet really misses his brother. This is evident from "tired of looking and not finding you" which is definitely in-denial of death, and he is frustrated that his brother is no longer alive and there to be found. It tells us that he really wants to see his brother again. Therefore, I can tell that the brother must have meant a lot to the poet. In Stanza 3, I can infer that he is not able to accept his brother’s death. This is evident from "don't be too late coming out" which suggests that Vallejo is struggling to accept that Miguel is dead. He seemed  to be living on the memory of his brother. Hence, this shows that the poet still believes that his brother is still alive.

  My Group feels that this is a very sad poem as it is about the poet missing his brother, we felt a little sad after reading this poem and we feel that we should treasure our siblings even more now as we never know how our relationship would become next time.

A picture of César Vallejo

Credits: http://www.quieroperu.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/c%C3%A9sar-vallejo.jpg

                                                       An Artist’s impression of the poem

Credits: http://poemimage.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/poemimage-larry-crop.jpg

Daffodils by William Wordsworth

Daffodils by William Wordsworth

Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils. 

The poem is written by the poet William Wordsworth, who was a poet who loves to write romantic poems. However, this poem "Daffodils" is more applicable to friendship as compared to romance. After further analysis, we realized that this poem, “Daffodils” is more about the Daffodils are a form of representation of simple yet people in our lives where we interact with everyday, who will be our friends. People, who can take pleasures from everyday life, do not really have to worry about some great world problems because they can be optimistic about it. Whenever you are feeling down just think of happy moments so that you can feel better rather than just looking at things at a pessimistic perspective. The poem also seems cheerful and sounded like a merry dancing rhythm. This poem also made use of the nature scene which gave us a deeper understanding of the poem as we can visualize the scene of the poem with the imagery used, which allow us to imagine the scene with the context of the poem. 

From stanza one, we can see that the poet is walking around aimlessly without a purpose, as gathered from the word, “wondered”, which proves that he walks around without a specific destination and aim. This can further being inferred that in life we are actually similar to this poet as we always do things aimlessly without thinking about the purpose of doing things. It is also evident that the poet had projected his loneliness through a cloud which is by its own. Also, the gentle movement of the Daffodils, from the line of the poem, "fluttering and dancing in the breeze" allow us to visualize the beautiful scene of golden daffodils swaying gracefully to the rhythm and tempo of the wind. This imagery allow us to have an idea of how the daffodils will look like when they are swaying, where the gentle movement of the daffodils enhanced their attractions and gracefulness. After finding out more about the meaning of daffodils online, we found out that daffodils are actually flowers that are quite resilient that will normally bloom in large numbers after winter. This is more significant to showcase their tenacity because the hardest stage for most plants is to bloom and grow after winter. So from the daffodils, we can also learn that tenacity is important too. 

From stanza two, it began with a simile, “continuous as the stars that shine”, which further reinforced the connection of stars to the daffodils. Therefore, the poet described the daffodils as similar to “milky wave”, which further suggest that the daffodils are densely packed together, and also seem to be never ending, where the poet made use of the literary device of hyperbole. This shows that the author is astounded by the beauty of daffodils and also enchanted by the wonder of daffodils swaying in alternating swaying motions. This further suggest that the poet is trying to allow us to visualize the beauty of daffodils fluttering in the wind, which further allow the readers to appreciate and also to pay close attention to the little details of natures so that we can realize the importance of the ways in which natures play an important part to our lives. By using nature, in this case using daffodils to depict the scene and the settings of the poem, we can actually learn to visualize better, especially with the use of skillful method of styling the poem in a way that it allows the reader to have a better view of the poem settings.  

From stanza three it is evident that the poet personified the breeze and the daffodils as human-like that have a joyful presence with the use of imageries, from the line in the poem, "The waves beside them danced", where waves and daffodils are personified as cheerful beings that bring liveliness to the scene. However, we can see that from the line "Out-did the sparkling waves in glee", that the golden daffodils actually outran the beauty of the waves and the breeze and the scene is very fascinating to see because it is considered rather pleasant to the eyes of the poet which the scene will be in part of his memory that will remind him of the scene, therefore, further conveying the idea of the scene of the golden daffodils swaying beside the gentle breeze acts as a memorable scene for the poet that makes it difficult for him to forget because of it's beautiful and memorable nature that will make one hard to forget.  He remained enthralled by their beauty and also starting to wonder what a great bounty of nature he had stumbled upon.To us, the sea waves and breeze are actually our competitors in the various aspects in life such as CCA, in terms of academic strength, etc. When many of us from the same group work together we can also match up to them or even be better than them, just like the group of daffodils, and they are different from the breeze in terms of vibrancy of colours, which will be similar to the skills and effort that we put in daily in the attempt to be better each day.

From stanza four, it is evident that the poet will remember this joyful scene whenever he was feeling down and will often be contented after recalling this cheerful scene. It is evident from the point from the poem that "In vacant or in pensive mood , they flash upon an inward eye", which further suggest that the poet will remember the scene of the daffodils swaying gracefully in alternation beside the waves and the breeze from the sea, which makes it so unique as the daffodils outdid the beauty of the graceful sea waves and the sea breeze with its astounding beauty. In the event that the poet is feeling down due to certain reasons, he will use the scene of the daffodils that he had commented as wonderful scene. Hopefully, he will use that as a form of motivation to be amazed and feel enlightened when he is feeling down and with such a picturesque scene in mind, he will be able to feel positive like the daffodils, which have positive impacts to him because the daffodils can actually act as a main source of aspiration to be more perseverance to overcome the hardship in life and also to stand tall in times of adversity and not giving up easily.

After all these analysis, we can come to a conclusion that the daffodils could be the people that we see in our life and those who supported us with moral support everyday, which are our friends and classmates. And these acts that they do that supported us emotionally and mentally, actually play an important role in our life, which will be like the scene of joyfulness of the daffodils and the sea, that will be special and will stay as memory within us and will be refreshed in our memories and it will help us to be more optimistic and will also encourage us to go through the saddening times with more courage as sad times will pass by quickly if we want to be optimistic and get over it by being persevering and as well as to have challenges pave in front of us to be more competitive to strive for excellence and to be better together. 

An artist's impression of William Wordsworth:

Credits: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2013/8/16/1376662087937/Painting-of-William-Words-008.jpg 

The scenery of the daffodils in the poem "milky wave"  

Credits: http://smilingldsgirl.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/6a00e54fe4158b883301156fc0cfd5970b-800wi.jpg

This is how daffodils looked like: 

Credits: http://atmywindow.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Classic-Yellow-Daffodil1.png