"The Blue Bowl" by Jane Kenyon

In “The Blue Bowl,” Jane Kenyon creates a tone of sorrow and longing, using imagery and sharp detail to show that dealing with the death of a pet is no easier than experiencing the passing of a family member. Her description of her own state while burying her cat brings her to level ground with the animal, showing that humans can also be “like primitives” and “bare-handed” during low points in their lives. She is saying that although we are beautiful and complex creatures, we are not always high and mighty and better than animals, contrary to what we sometimes think. She paints a beautiful picture of her cat as he goes to the grave by utilizing vivid imagery and sharp details, like his snow white feathers. She uses the weather to reflect the sorrow mood, and even when the air clears, she uses figurative language to show that the lost are not forgotten. Throughout this poem, Kenyon expertly maneuvers her words to show that our dear pets can even bring us to extreme sadness.

"The Summer I Was Sixteen"

In “The Summer I Was Sixteen,” Geraldine Connolly displays a tone of nostalgia and playfulness as she uses diction to look back at the time of her life. At this time in her life, everything was clean and uncomplicated, with the biggest worry being how to best have a good time. She swims in a “turquoise” pool, connoting immaculate and fresh water indicative of how she lived the rest of her life. Looking back, she laughs at how her younger self “did not exist beyond the gaze of a boy,” and could not look past the shallow things in life. It is no coincidence that this poem take place in the summertime, because it is all about the material possessions in life and how they take over. At this point in her life, all Geraldine cared about was whether or not she was tan and oiled on the beach. Her mentioning of “Dreamsicles” and “cherry cola” really shows how much she was absorbed in this materialistic, summer lifestyle. Throughout the poem, Connolly uses these specific words to drive home her main ideas.