First name / Friend, it is Poetry Day again! Here at Arwani Law Firm we enjoy conversations about new and exciting topics that are flowing in our lives and that would benefit you, the reader. As stated before, The Victorian poet Matthew Arnold once claimed that “The crown of literature is poetry”. Lately, we at the firm discussed the fact that poetry has slowly declined in impact as time has gone by. But to us, it still feels like poetry and the boundaries of creativity and expression that it shatters, are just as important today as they were throughout human history. Here are 3 of the most famous poems of all time:
- Casey at the Bat: This poem was written in 1888 by Ernest Lawrence Thayer. It focuses on baseball and was first published anonymously under the pseudonym “Phin” in The Daily Examiner in the same year. Since its publication, it has become one of the most famous and best-loved poems in American literature. It was popularized by DeWolf Hopper in numerous vaudeville performances.
Because I could not stop for Death: This poem was written by one of America's most famous poets, Emily Dickinson. The poem is a depiction of one speaker’s journey into the afterlife with personified “Death” leading the way. Emily Dickinson describes a close encounter with “Death” and “Immortality”. She uses
personification to portray “Death” and “Immortality” as characters. Her familiarity with them at the beginning of the poem causes the reader to feel at ease with the idea of death. However, as the poem progresses, a sudden shift in tone causes readers to see it for what it really is, cruel and evil.
- The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock: ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ is today considered one of T.S. Eliot’s most important contributions to modernism. Although initially hated, as can be evidenced by the above comment, it has since gone one to be considered by scholars as to the onset of Modernist poetry, replacing the Romantic and the Georgian rhymes that had dominated Europe, and perhaps one of the most exclusive American methods of writing.
We hope you get the chance to read this poems and spark that love for poetry that our society so desperately needs. As always, stay safe.
