I really enjoyed the poem "The Giraffe" by Nikolai Gumilev. I also thought you did a wonderful job at describing the tone changes in the poem and how that affects poem as a whole. I followed the poem very well because of the tone changes. I enjoyed how at the end, after comparing this person who is imprisoned and withering away to a beautiful giraffe, the speaker takes on a more caring tone and tries to now comfort the other person with the story. I also thought that it was interesting how one story can have multiple ways to be used. For example, in the beginning when it is comparing the other person to a, "harmonious" (7) and long-legged giraffe to a comforting story that begins with a soothing, "Listen . . ." (29).
I personally greatly enjoyed the poem "The Giraffe" by Nikolai Gumilev. I also thought you did a wonderful job at describing the tone changes in the poem and how that affects poem as a whole. Tone was a major factor in how the novel I read was perceived as well. I followed the poem very well because of the tone changes. I enjoyed how at the end, after comparing this person who is imprisoned and withering away to a beautiful giraffe, the speaker takes on a more caring tone and tries to now comfort the other person with the story. The comparison between the person and the giraffe is also a wonderful way to engage the reader and really depict what the emotions are in the scene. I also thought that it was interesting how one story can have multiple ways to be used. For example, in the beginning when it is comparing the other person to a, "harmonious" (7) and long-legged giraffe to a comforting story that begins with a soothing, "Listen . . ." (29). The use of the same story twice, gives the poem depth and makes the reader consider all options that Gumilev was taking into consideration.
After reading the poem “The Giraffe”, my own conceptual analysis was that the narrator was speaking to a loved one who was “forlorn” and depressed. One who had seen much sorrow, whose life had been filled with rain—and all the archetypal sadness that corresponds. The narrator’s purpose is originally to bring hope to their loved one by describing the goodness in life—primarily the majestic nature of a giraffe—but is ultimately unsuccessful because the person’s sadness runs too deep. In your analysis, it states that the author’s goal was to “present how visualization can improve one’s mentality” (Shea), however, it appears in this poem that the opposite is the case. Perhaps there are some circumstances where depression and struggle cannot be overcome. In this poem, not even a beautiful giraffe, whose “proportions are harmonious” and with which “nothing dares compare” is able to suspend this loved one’s forlorn feelings or prevent the rain. Near the end of the poem, the narrator reiterates that their loved one “will believe in nothing”—in spite of the narrator’s grand efforts to reverse that attitude. The statement, therefore, that the author shows that “visualization can improve one’s mentality” (Shea) cannot be true. This solemn poem instead expresses the emptiness and hopelessness that sometimes accompanies the refined beauty in life.
I really enjoyed the poem "The Giraffe" by Nikolai Gumilev. I also thought you did a wonderful job at describing the tone changes in the poem and how that affects poem as a whole. I followed the poem very well because of the tone changes. I enjoyed how at the end, after comparing this person who is imprisoned and withering away to a beautiful giraffe, the speaker takes on a more caring tone and tries to now comfort the other person with the story. I also thought that it was interesting how one story can have multiple ways to be used. For example, in the beginning when it is comparing the other person to a, "harmonious" (7) and long-legged giraffe to a comforting story that begins with a soothing, "Listen . . ." (29).
ReplyDeleteI personally greatly enjoyed the poem "The Giraffe" by Nikolai Gumilev. I also thought you did a wonderful job at describing the tone changes in the poem and how that affects poem as a whole. Tone was a major factor in how the novel I read was perceived as well. I followed the poem very well because of the tone changes. I enjoyed how at the end, after comparing this person who is imprisoned and withering away to a beautiful giraffe, the speaker takes on a more caring tone and tries to now comfort the other person with the story. The comparison between the person and the giraffe is also a wonderful way to engage the reader and really depict what the emotions are in the scene. I also thought that it was interesting how one story can have multiple ways to be used. For example, in the beginning when it is comparing the other person to a, "harmonious" (7) and long-legged giraffe to a comforting story that begins with a soothing, "Listen . . ." (29). The use of the same story twice, gives the poem depth and makes the reader consider all options that Gumilev was taking into consideration.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the poem “The Giraffe”, my own conceptual analysis was that the narrator was speaking to a loved one who was “forlorn” and depressed. One who had seen much sorrow, whose life had been filled with rain—and all the archetypal sadness that corresponds. The narrator’s purpose is originally to bring hope to their loved one by describing the goodness in life—primarily the majestic nature of a giraffe—but is ultimately unsuccessful because the person’s sadness runs too deep. In your analysis, it states that the author’s goal was to “present how visualization can improve one’s mentality” (Shea), however, it appears in this poem that the opposite is the case. Perhaps there are some circumstances where depression and struggle cannot be overcome.
ReplyDeleteIn this poem, not even a beautiful giraffe, whose “proportions are harmonious” and with which “nothing dares compare” is able to suspend this loved one’s forlorn feelings or prevent the rain. Near the end of the poem, the narrator reiterates that their loved one “will believe in nothing”—in spite of the narrator’s grand efforts to reverse that attitude. The statement, therefore, that the author shows that “visualization can improve one’s mentality” (Shea) cannot be true. This solemn poem instead expresses the emptiness and hopelessness that sometimes accompanies the refined beauty in life.