Hi Mrs.Emery! IT's grace. I'm the first one to leave comment! yappy! hahaha.
This poem's tone is very strict, dark and some what depressing. It seems that there is some kind of a slavery going on and has been going on for a very long time (judging from line 3-4: "and generations have answered the call to sow, to tend, to reap"). Dust clouds may represent the smoke and dusts that rises when you work or clean. In line two : "Men and machines join in this timeless rite" the persona seems to be telling the readers that it is endless labor they are placed in. There is a repetition line, "As the dust clouds rise and fall," which emphisizes how the laboring is not only killing what used to be a bright sky, but also the smoke blinding the eyes of the people. In the last line, "the sons of sons labor on their common ground" suggests that the workers have been en slavery from generations to generations-father to son-and although it is a common ground that everyone steps on, walks on, the laborers are the only people who has to work for everyone's sake.
It can be judged that the poem is talking about slavery. However if you look at it from another point of view, the poem may be talking about how the persona and the people talked about in the poem are working hard to keep their land going. IT may be saying "look at the efforts and time that these people have put in. Do not forget." I suppose it can be looked at in various different ways.
I think the poem might have deeper meaning to it. I'll remeber to ask you about it in class MRs.Emery! Have a great day. :) Love you.
When I first read this poem, one vision appeared in my mind which was about men working hard on the field. I think this is about slavery which grace said on her comment. If I analyze this poem by thinking about the slavery, this poem must include depressed or dark tone. The first line of this poem said "As the dust clouds rise and fall". In my opinion, the dust clouds symbolize the pains of the slaves. The author said that dust clouds rise and fall, which gives me a vision of rising and ebbing tides. Tide always repeats the rising and ebbing, and if dust clouds rise and fall (the author repeated two times), it means slave's pain or melancholy mind seems to get better (rise), but actually it gets worse (fall), and this is repeated all the times. On the second line, the poet said "timeless rite" which means the slaves do not have much time to live their lives. It made me think that the slaves just work and work, and when the certain time comes, they just die. Finally, the very last line of this poem tells me that slaves die on the ground which means the only thing they do for their lives is 'working'. I think the author is trying to criticize the meaningless slave's life. Also the poet is trying to show the cruelness of abusing human's right. This poem has a deep meaning. I like this poem :).
This poem reveals a sad and depressing situation. The author made it seem like the only thing that goes on the workers' lives is labor. The "dust clouds rise and fall" is I think a representation of time. Time is passing--going by-- but all they do or can do is work. They might be either forced and left with no choice, such as slavery, or it might just be a period of depression when the whole town is lack of money and such. The second line about how the men join with the machines makes it sound as if the only friends that the men have are the machines. When I read that part, I felt that the workers are caged in with only the machines accompanying them. This line "the Generations have answered the call. . . " reveals that for the people for a long time (Generations, which is even capitalized--probably an important word in the poem) has been working and will continue to "sow, tend, and reap". The thing that's even more sad is that in the next stanza, it says "sons of sons" meaning even the sons of the people will work, and then their sons will work and on and on. However, as a parent, you would definitely want something more for your kids--not to just follow after you and go through hard labor. Unfortunately, in this poem, the sons can not move away from this labor and has to go through it with their fathers on "common ground". And again time is mentioned by the dust clouds rising and falling which i think emphasizes even more the lllooonggg period of time the people have been working.
At first when i read this poem, i was actually disappointed. But as i started to write about it and think about it more and more, I found that it has more meaning than what i thought. i really like this poem!
Poem is about farmer's life, which those generations have to be farmer forever. I believe poet is trying to criticize on lives that those are living same way and don't try anything new. I also believe that Poet may want to say that there shoudln't be repeated life. This poem may criticize on old time that there were bad repeated lives, for slaves, or worker that they can't get out of those life.
When I read this poem, I thought of war. I think it was because of “Men and machines join….” Dust clouds rising and falling could be symbolic for time passing, but I think that it could also be literal. War scenes are usually not moist and green and happy, but they are dusty, dark and gloomy. So maybe the dust clouds rising and falling could just be a description of the war scene. “And Generations have answered the call” reminds me of a sermon I heard from my church. It was about how this generation is “Joshua’s Generation” and we should be always ready for the Last Battle. “And Generations have answered the call” reminds me of that. “…to sow, to tend, to reap” also reminds me of the Bible. Jesus talks about agriculture a lot. In the Book of Matthew, Chapter 9 verse 37, it talks about a how the Harvest is plentiful but laborers are few. And it means that there are a lot of non-Christians in the world and too few Christians actually out there to fight the Spiritual War. “…the sons of sons labor on their common ground” I guess this is saying that from generation to generation people are working (fighting) for the Lord. I am not sure…
I like this poem because, maybe I’m just weird, but this reminds me a lot of the Bible and reminds me how I am supposed to be working for the Lord and not myself.
This poem is obviously talking about an ordinary farmer's life. The mood of this poem is very dry, sad, and boring. It seems like the farmer’s life is made up with labor and there is no end to his life. There is no climax in its life. I think “As the dust clouds rise and fall” is representing the time that is passing, which is describing the rise and fall of the sun. However, when the sun gives little more of bright tone in the poem but the dust clouds give more of depressing mood. “Men and machines join in this timeless rite” is telling that his life is endless and is nothing. All he does is repetition of farming and laboring. I think “And Generations have answered the call” is talking about how not only his life but even other generations of him did farming.
Overall, I think this poem is descrbing the sadness and depression of our everyday boring routine by giving example of the farmer. I think it is also suggesting that our life should not be like the one of boring farmer's but our life should have more excitement.
Mrs.Emery..I'm Ray:) Just as people who already made comments, I also think that the mood of this poem is very depressing and sad. When I only read the first line, I could feel the overall mood of the poem because of the word 'dust' cloud. Some clouds can be pretty and represent positive things such as 'dream' or 'hope', but because of the word 'dust', I received an image of depression. Similar to the poem 'The tide rises the tide falls', which we discussed in class, I think the cloud rising and falling represents the repetition of daily life, which is quite boring. Although I am not hundred percent sure about this poem, I think poem is talking about the poor people who spends most of their lifetime working in countryside farms to earn money, but leaves only the small land they have been worked for lifetime and poverty for next generation when they die. I think this way because of the last line-'the sons of sons labor on their common ground'.
When I read this poem, I felt that the mood of this poem was sad and depressing. When I first read the first line of the poem, I thought there was a war going on between something. I also thought about it again and the first thing that got in to my head about this poem is war, and it might be war because it may show how people in the past had a tough life because of war. For example the civel war in the states was a big thing to the Americans at that time because both the North and the South were both in a war, and it showd how the people especially slaves had a hard time in their lives because of the war. So i think the author of this poem is trying to explain all the hardships the people in the past experienced because of wars.
From the moment a reader reads the title and reads the first few lines, they can see the contrasting ideas just like a paradox. Tributes are usually ceremonial and compliments while the "timeless rite" and the "dust clouds rise[ing] and fall[ing]" just brings so much to the depressing and non-enthusiastic tone of the persona. As the persona describes that this same boring situation happenes after "sons of sons" the reader gets how monotonous and repetitive one's life is. Usually, robots are "call[ed]" to do this and that as a way of showing that some power or someone is in power over them. Therefore, by the persona saing "the call to sow, to tend, to reap" I believe that there is something that is putting the people into use just as robots and it's been going on for "generations." Finally, i believe that this poem is screaming and telling the readers to grab our life together so that it is not "common ground."
Hello, Mrs. Emery. This is Minji Kang from G block. I just read the poem "Farm Tribute", and what a short poem, just like you said! However, even though it has a very short length, each noun and adjectives, in other words, each words and phrases have deep meaning and imagery. There are no specific sad or dark words used in the poem however just by the lines that describe how farmers, their sons, and their sons' sons work, work, and work in the farm, it somehow creates the dark and gloomy tone and feeling. It reminded me of old Korean people in the countryside working in their farms all day, everday. They do not earn much money these days since we usually import many products from U.S., or other countries. Also, science and technology had developed so much that their jobs became worthless and meaningless. I feel really bad for them, and that's what made me think of while I was reading this poem. I wonder if the writer really thought of Korean farmers. But I'm sure there would be lots of farmers all around the world just like the poor Korean farmers, so maybe it's just my prejudice about this kind of farmers. I really like the repetition used in this poem, "as the dust clouds rise and fall". It always gives two very different meanings and feelings when exactly same phrase is repeated in a poem. This poem definitely let me think of my parents and grand parents who always work really hard, not for themselves, but for their families when the writer used words like "Generation", and "sons of sons". It seemed like from generation to generation, this one specific family had to just work and work so hard at the farm to continue their living. Even though my parents and grand parents do not actually work at farms, I still could relate this poem to my family, and I thanked them very much. If parents would not sacrifice themselves for their kids just like this poem, none of us would never survive. Overall, what I'm trying to say here as my analysis for poem is that from beginning till the end, parents' love for their kids and their families will never stop and change. In Korean, there is a specific word for this. It's called "Nerisarang" which means love coming down. Parents always give their whole heart and sacrifice for their children, and the same thing happens for the children after and the children after, after. I think it is just beautiful to see this kind of unconditional love, and it is unique that this kind of beauty is shown through the gloomy, dark tone in the poem.
Didn't mrs Emery say that we may just leave a ONE SENTENCE COMMENT? darn it, you people! why are you guys doing such a good job and giving me a burden of pressure? ;((((((((((
oh, whatever.
um.....
as I schemed through the comments, I found out that most of them, (in fact, all of them)said that the poem seemed so gloomy and boooooring. So I, the weirdo, tried to interpret the poem in a happy way. Believe it or not, now the poem seems so "blessing" to me.
The dust clouds rise and fall. There are always rise and falls in our lives. No matter where you live, how you live, what occupation you have, what values you hold, every single human beings have ups and downs in their lives. I know most of other friends concluded their idea that, "Oh, this poem is sad" at the "timeless rite", but when I related that phrase to the "sons of sons labor on their common ground" (which was the other phrase that made friends to feel bad for the labourors (btw, how do you spell labor.ors? labourer? laborer?)) it came to me as a blessing. Even if it might be boring and hard for the people who are working on the field, yet it is a great blessing that sons of sons were able to sow, tend and reap on the common land. Since to peom does not mention about any droughts, floods or any other natural disasters have happened, we may assume that it was perfectly fine for generations to generations. Being able to harvest abundant crops--okay. you may say chacha is enjoying her imaginations now--in one same piece of land is such a great blessing to poor farmers. Oh yeah, I think we may put little spices of hardships since the poem is telling that "the dust of clouds rise and fall".
Dust, that is a great symbolism too. Since farmers born from land, live with land and dies to the land, it is his nature to be one with the nature (haha. repetition? rhyme?). Which, dust, is one of the .... ground thing. You know. (Please don't be disappointed with my language uses, Mrs Emery. I just wrote this poetry commentary paper. I'm worn out.:( ) And as long as I know it right, farmers take their jobs as great a privilege. Really, as "the call". Without farmers labors and efforts, what would we be eating right now? :)
I like the poem, Mrs. Emery. because of the fact that it's short. XP hahaha.
Thank you always, Love, CHACHA.
ps: I just recognized the time of posting. Wow. An early bird! :D
Through reading this poem, I thought it has a mood very peaceful and contented. The mood created in this poem seems to be slow, even boring. Generations~ they seed, take care of it, and harvest~ and their sons and sons through generations take those jobs and "keep" doing the same thing. What author trying to say seemed very vague and ambiguous to me, because this poem had very obvious and general line of story. But suddenly the line of dust rising and falling made me think deeply about this poem. Why did author mention this?this poem, I thought it has very peaceful and contented, but responsible. The mood created in this poem seems to be slow, even boring. Generations~ they seed, take care of it, and harvest~ and their sons and sons through generations take those jobs and "keep" doing the same thing. What author trying to say seemed very vague and ambiguous to me, because this poem had very obvious and general line of story. But suddenly the line of dust rising and falling made me think deeply about this poem. Why did author mention this? Dust rising and falling, like farming which is like growin the crops and taking them away, father's, the ancestor's lives had been rising and falling too. Because this line had been mentioned every stanza, it certainly emphasizes something stronlgy through repetition. I think this dust rising and falling is trying to say that men were born in the farm, live as farmers, and die as farmers. From generations, "men and machines join in this timless rite." Timeless, endless, neverending, farmers were working and are working. This indicates farmers' work as "never-ending" because although the men die, their sons will do the same thing; therefore, the work of men and machines do not end. Besides, I was wondering why author used "dust." First,I think it's because it gives us certain atmosphere kind of gloomy, boring, and menlancholy. Second, I think author used this because dust can mean "death." Like a dust sweeps over in a cloud, one generation is beeing sweeped away; as a result, there is dust clouds rising and falling repeated with a new stanza with new generations, the sons. Okay..so I think I kind of found out the meaning of circulation, the labor passed through generation, never ending farmers' work... but I did not find why author wrote this. I think author was trying to talk about their lives at the time (I don't know the history backgroud of this poem) when they only had to work. With a very few rich people in the city, rest of them are all farmers. It says generation, but I think it can comprehensively talking about the whole Americans (maybe it's when there was a big gap between urban and rural standards of living)
Hi Mrs. Emery! This is Jihyun. First of all, great poem! I actually enjoyed the dry, sage-like-pessimistic tone of this poem. Secondly, I've read this poem three times now, and I'm afraid I might overanalyze this one... Anyways, here's what I think. I don't think this poem is actually talking about a farm at all... that is, unless you are thinking of a farm in a metaphorical way and comparing it to Life. In the first line, as the poem talks of dust clouds moving about, I felt that this represented not only time but the tides of change that comes with it. For example, in an actual farm, the soil may erode, grow different crops each year etc. However, the farm is still a farm. I believe that this is the point: although things change with time, the call to reap what you sow is the same (it's the farm). The poet, also mentioned machines along with men in order to state that everyone and everything will work by this principle despite change and time. Also, the poet clearly stated that "generations have answered this call" suggesting that this poem is directed not only for a specific audience, but for everyone. This point is summarized in the last two lines: despite changes that come about with time, man's purpose and habits to sow, tend, and reap will always be the same.
When I first saw the title of this poem, I wasn’t really sure what “tribute” really meant, so I searched in the dictionary. It actually said that tribute meant homage and honor. Then I started reading this poem. Unlike what I have been expecting, even the first line of the poem portrayed that the poem’s tone is going to be melancholy and depressing. It seems to be talking about workers (maybe slaves) who have to work days and nights, until they die. “As dust clouds rise and fall” reveals that the environment of men is not that good; it is dusty without any cleanness. Clouds rising and falling also tells us that the men are to work days and nights (during their working hour, clouds rise in the morning, and fall at night). When the poem says “Men and machines join in this timeless rite,” men and machines are considered the same level, meaning that these working men were not treated as humans, but machines. Moreover, what does the poet mean by timeless rite? Eternal ceremony?? How can “working” be a ceremony? I think it is very contradictory how the author had said it. “Generations have answered the call to sow, to tend, to reap” means, I think, that it is a family-thing that they have to work their entire lives, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. Sowing, tending, and reaping take the entire year, and once the cycle is done, it has to be repeated eternally. If the person dies, his son would take over the work and continue it, forever. It is a really sad reality for these men. The last two lines are really touching (in a depressing way).
Overall, I liked this poem, and was stunned how such a short poem could mean so much!
Hello Mrs. Emery:)(: I was very curious about what kind of poem you were talking about in class today
hmm There is a lot going on in this short and simple poem. I think it is a poem talking about labor or even more specifically slavery. The repetition of "As the dust clouds rise and fall" reminds me of a poem we went over in class "Tide rises, tide falls" maybe the repetition used in this poem is also represents the passing of time. I picture bored and tired men in rusty clothes working endlessly on farms all day sweating. The poet didn't use any words that showed darkness and coldness but somehow the poem sounds depressing and sad to me. I feel like the farmers/laborers are crying out to me for help. I like how such a short poem has such a strong feeling.
Since this poem was short, I will talk about the poem short and simple. Even though the author started this poem with "As the dust clouds rise and fall" which has the depressing or boring tone, but I don't think the theme of this poem is talking about dullness and depressing. As matter of fact, even though my father is a teacher, but the blood of farmer flows inside of me. As the experienced hand, the farming is very dullness and boring; however, in this poem, the author wrote this poem with the NEGATIVE attitude. I can assume what kind of the author is by looking at his attitude toward FARMING, and I think he or she was the son of FARMER and their entire family lines devoted to farming industry, which the author does not like about it. From the second line "Men and machines join in this timeless rite.”, the author tend to give an idea that farming is very strict, following orders and every things are done by step-by-step. The author made this poem sound a boring repetition by generation because “As the dust clouds rise and fall” and “And Generations have answered the call to sow, to tend, to reap.” like the annual Civil Defense training day. Even though it sounds like the author intentionally made this poem depressing and dull, but I think the main theme of this poem is “Every generations, every years, every day, and every times when the dust clouds rise and fall; farmers still sow, tend and reap the agriculture productions. No matter what, they still do their duties and jobs like an obedient son and time keep run like a stream during a winter; however, it is people who change not Time and they substitute the prior ones.
Hello. Mrs.Emery! This is Robin Cha. Aren't we suppose to leave one sentence comment? Whatever...
when I first read this poem I just thought of a farmer working by generation to generation. But after reading it over 3times I realized that it can symbolize slaves. “Men and machines join….” Dust clouds rising and falling is somewhat depressing to me. In my opinion, this stanza represents slaves working day to night. Also i think the last sentence emphasizes that slaves will continue on on and forever. After reading this poem I automatically thought about Africa, how they have hard work there. I think there can be various interpretations but my thinking was that it represents slaves.
The poem has a very sad and gloomy tone. The repeated stanza “as the dust clouds rise and fall, emphasizes time passing by pointlessly. The author is telling us that the men don’t really have a life other than with their machines. All they ever do is sow, tend, and reap their land to produce what ever they are producing. I’m guessing that these men are slaves because the last stanza gives us a hint that their sons labor on the common ground. If these men were living in freedom, then their sons would have the option of following after their father or going onto a different path. The same goes to the son’s son.
Instead of giving a depressing feeling for me when I read this poem it made me feel something sort of like awe or something like farming is like a passage, I don't really know how to explain. But the wording "timeless rite" makes the idea of farming like good, er ya i can't really explain right. Anyways I think this poem is really great with imagery even though the poet uses few words. From the opening line, right away you can just imagine everything and ya it's great!
Hi Mrs. Emery! This is Jennifer Kim from G block. A short, but very meanigful poem. The tone of poem is very dark and gloomy, describing the routine of farmer's life. Although the tone is very bleak, I think the poet was trying to demonstrate the importance of farmers' work. This poem reminded me of a story that my grandfather told me. He said that when he was young, all people had to work at farm, from generation to generation. The reason that our generation could have such a prosperous and comfortable lives, are all due to our ancestors' hard farm works. Throught this poem, I could once again thanked them. Very great poem. I like it:)
Hello Mrs. Emery~! This is Richard Sung~ I am in your English 10 (D Block)!
When I read this poem, I felt happy because it’s talking about the continuous great success of early ancestors who led generations to live in developed world. I somehow agree with people’s idea about the slavery, because author talks about labor and the title is Farm Tribute. BUT I don’t really agree to the people who see this poem with negative thought like war and bloody stuff. Because Tribute means showing your admiration and respect for someone, so this is completely unrelated with slavery which is very diabolical and dark. Maybe, tribute has connotation meaning of forcing admiration and respect. However, the author is showing his admiration and respect to his early ancestry and generations who will keep contributing their whole life to develop the world. Every generation is tasked to “sow, tend, and reap” to develop the world. And I think the meaning of “dust rise and fall” is passing of time because when one generation contributes their whole life and die, their descendant will rise and follow their ancestor’s road of developing the world. Maybe I was being too denoted (Denotation) compared to the people who thought this poem was about repeated life of slavery. However, the author showed me the lucid and bright future.
Hi Mrs. Emery!^^ This is Rachel from your (E) Block! I just read your poem and was amazed by how "Farm Tribute" contained such strong and thoughtful meanings inside with only few lines. The writer had chosen adequate terms to express her thoughts and harmonized them to create each line. By reading them I was able to guess about the theme of this poem and the content. The writer had used words such as sow, tend, reap, machines, men, and labor which all relates to one concept or theme called “slavery.” In this poem it seems like there is no hope at all. The word “rise” may seem like it has positive connotation or pleasant meanings but the author put two terms “dust clouds” and “fall” in the same line with “rise” which seizes the bright meanings of it. (Reference to: “As the dust clouds rise and fall”). The poem also gives a strong and vivid image by saying "Men and machines join in this timeless rite.” This phrase brings up an image of strenuous life of slaves. The writer used word “join” to associate man and machine. It naturally reveals a dark and gloomy image and the reader becomes conscious of sorrow. The line, “And Generations have answered the call to sow, to tend, to reap" which informs the audience that slave won’t end in one generation but will be continued. Also the sentence, “the sons of sons labor on their common ground” also contains the same meaning of repeated life of slavery and them having no rights becoming a slave or not. The line "As the dust clouds rise and fall" is repeated again which emphasizes the dark and negative image plus brings a dark tone. I loved reading and analyzing your poem and would like to know the writer’s name of this poem.
The poem has a very sad tone. The repeated stanza “as the dust clouds rise and fall, emphasizes time passing by pointlessly. Why did poet repeat the stanza, "as the dust clouds rise and fall, emphasizes time passing by pointlessly." Because Poet wanted to emphasis this part. Then,, what does this stanze mean? I guess this stanze means sorrow of slaves, because in other stanzas, they mentioned that he didn't have a freedom. because all the man's work was to sow, tend, and reap his land to produce crops, and also the men worked like machine. The last stanza, "the sons of sons labor on their common ground. " It also give a hint that the man is slave, because if he is not a slave, then his son has a chance to choose his job alone. This is the reason why I think the man is slave.
Wow, it is amazing how a short poem can contain such a deep meaning inside it. The author uses vivid imagery in this short poem to express clear ideas and intentions. Basically, the poem is about farmers who are working timelessly in their lives as time passes. The hard work is passed on from generation to generation. Actually, it is just a normal life for the farmers. However, the thing that had put value on this poem was the author’s writing styles especially the excellent word choices in this short poem, “Farm Tribute.” The part where it explains their work, “to sow, to tend, to reap” is full of imagery. I personally think that the author used repetition stating, “as the dust clouds rise and fall” to strongly symbolize time during that period. Rising and falling usually makes me think about how the sun rises and falls every day and it lead me to predict that it may be a symbol of time. Also the ‘dust clouds’ reveals the difficult situation at that time because the word ‘dust’ itself contains dark and depressing emotions. The repetition also accentuates the importance of difficult time passing in farmers’ lives. The last phrase, “the sons of sons labor on their common ground” shows that working keeps passing on from generation to generation. I think this part is where the author creates somber tone throughout the poem. When I first read this poem, I thought this poem was sad and gloomy because poor farmers have to work all day long even their generations. However when I read this poem for the second time, I was curious how would the farmers feel like when think of their fate of working since they enter this world until they end their lifetime. This poem left me with a question, why are the farmers had to be only sad and depressing when working is a part of their lives? Anyways, I actually like this poem! It astonishes me how this short poem brought out so many various opinions from different point of views. :)
In the poem, I liked the part where the author (Mrs. Emery) expressed the farmers’ routine daily life. It made me to think about depressing life of the men and their generations; I think there is somewhat behind meaning of it. In my opinion, in the second line of the poem, it says “Men and machines join in this timeless rite,” this tells that the men get to work on their common ground timelessly as the dust clouds rise and fall. Moreover, the next sentence says “And Generations have answered the call to sow, to tend, to reap.” I think this sentence makes the poem’s tone even sadder. Since the author mentioned that the farm work is timeless rite, I guess Generations keeping working on the farmland seems to be unhappy thing. As other people said, the content of the poem can be interpreted as slavery; however it can be interpreted in another point of view. I think the farm land people work for their farm timelessly even though they are tired and exhausted, because they want their farmland to be developed. Also, if I see with the bigger view, I can think about farmers working for the nation.
Apparently I missed the part where you told us we had to analyze this poem. I was under the pretense that we only had to "comment" on it. Either I wasn't paying attention in class, or the rest of the sophomore class' and my interpretations of the word "comment" are different. :-)
My brain is practically mush right now, so hopefully you'll understand my very brief analysis (and if my sarcasm comes off as a bit strong, I apologize in advance):
The Literal Meaning: Obviously the poem is talking about farmwork. The title itself is blatantly self-explanatory. No other title could possibly be more obvious as to what the poem is going to talk about.
The "Hidden" Meaning: With a mere six lines, it seems as if the poet is trying to convey the idea that, although technology may advance every generation, each generation is bound to work at a task that will never be finished, which the poet refers to as a "...timeless rite." The phrase "As the dust clouds rise and fall,..." are repeated. This is probably to emphasize another point the poet is trying to get across to the reader: although time goes by, the goal of each passing generation will stay the same.
Hopefully my analysis isn't too whacked out. :)
Good night! Or good morning, or good afternoon, depending on what time of day, or night, you read this. :)
Hello Mrs. Emery ^^ I really like your review on the previous poem.
I think this poem is very short and concise. I really like how the author used the shortness for his/or advantage. I think this poem gives a strong message with its shortness. The author didn’t use any fancy decorating words. Instead, he used words that are very strong and easy to understand. I could easily view things that are related to the author’s theme. Personally I think this poem is about slavery. The machine and men working together and laboring, it sounded like slavery going on. It made me imagine the scene of working with the cotton machine and picking up the cottons. It is quite depressing but I really like the mood of this poem. The author did a great job of including everything about slavery in such a short poem. Strong and conciseness are the facts that make this poem so amazing.
First all, I really liked the poem not only because it was short and simple but also it seemed like there is something more than meets the eye. Well, all the poems you pick have at least one great thing about it. I think this poem is arguing that Industrial Revolution was a necessary movement in developing the industry, yet it caused a lot of problems. Also, the harsh nature of working with the machinery is inherited to sons of the workers since they have to work as well. In addition, the tone also sets the mood of depression. It repeated the phrase 'as the dust clouds rise and fall' to illustrate the repeated everyday life of the workers. Despite its length, the poem effectively showed how working with machinery can be ridiculously boring and hard. Overall, I really liked the poem. Thanks for sharing a good poem with us, Mrs. Emery. :)
Hi Mrs. Emery:) This is Grace Lee in your E block. This is a wonderful poem depicting the issue of slavery and the background of farm. By the title, I guessed that it would at least contain what the farm has meant for the people there, and how it affected his/her life. However, it describes the agony of working and living in rural areas. It can somehow relate to the issue of slavery by the words such as "to sow, to tend, to reap" and some powerful words as "dust clouds rise and fall". I think it shows the painful sorrows, and how their lives were always so dark and full of labors. What caught my attention was the word "Generation." I started thinking why you would capitalize the word "generation", and found out that it kind of relates to what I learned in American History class. Once a slave is born, their generation will never stop being slaves. I'm very touched by how you put deep meanings into this poem, and how you described the painful agony of their lives. "the sons of sons labor on their common ground" reminds me again that Africans are still neglected in some places and are dying of numorous diseases everyday. Those are our "missions" as we live our daily lives, and to pray for who they are. To speak of the truth, I couldn't really understand what this poem meant at first; and so I read it hundred times to extract something out of it. If I didn't get what you really intended to write about, sorry!:( Have a nice weekend~♥
At first, I thought of monotony of the life too, but when I reread the poem, found words ‘call,’ and find the definition of the poem, I found the poem rather religious. Farm requires a lot of labors; in other word, it is painstaking. I believe this resembles glorify God. Glorifying God is a task that needs an effort .
It says ‘As the dust clouds rise and fall.’ Dust clouds always rise and fall especially when we do labor. Therefore, rise would mean that situation when people put their effort to understand God’s word and carry them on, and fall would mean when the guy stops these. Furthermore, dust clouds would resemble the temptation too.
The second line and the third line would meant how long people have strived. The word ‘timeless’ means continuity and rites mean religious ceremony. In this poem, ‘timeless rite’ mean continuity of glorifying God. Furthermore, the third lien says ‘And Generations have answered the call.’ As I said a moment before, Generations would continuity and it says ‘have answered the call.’ The call can be used between friends, but it is usually used as the call from the upper class and the call the Lord, and people, generations, have answered it. The second and third line would mean that people have strived to glorify God from the first generation; we have done continuously.
The forth line shows farmers do: sow, tend, and reap. Sow and tend would mean people in the past have glorified God, and reap would mean that they have gone to heaven as tribute to painstaking work. In addition, the last talks about the future: it means that people in the future would glorify God as the ancestors have done.
However, I still do not understand why the poet used ‘machine.’ Machine may be interpreted as help (for example, bible), but the word ‘machine’ is often interpreted as cold and emotionless. I have thought the poem religious, but I am not convinced yet because of ‘machine’
This poem first reminded me of a hot summer day's farm work in a deserted place where the sun is covered by dust clouds. Men and machines work in a timeless zone as a unity to get their work done. It then led me to think about slavery mostly because time did not matter to them; they just kept working and working. I really like the mood this poem sets for the reader especially the line "as dust clouds rise and fall". It's a perfect representation of a slave because they all felt enclosed to a certain extent and they were blinded by the Truth the way dust clouds blinds one's eyes.
Hello Mrs.Emery~~ This is Christy Yu from D block! "yup yup~ your lovely~~ student!^^" (darn it ppl! Mrs.Emery said leave a one-sentence comment -_-;; why is everyone doing it so well? anyways, cant lose! :P i will express ~_~ my wonderful thoughts of this poem^^)
In the first line, the poem uses imagery and clearly shows the overall mood of the poem - very dark and serious, "As the dust clouds rise and fall." Then as the poem continues, it seems like the poet is comparing the physical and emotional traits of the people who are passing through a dark period of time, when it says "Men and machines join in this timeless rite" i directly felt that it is not only the thoughts of the people that join this...chaotic(?) or dark moment. As it says "Generations have answered the call," I can see that this darkness has lasted for a long period of time for people "to sow, to tend, to reap."
And at last, the second stanza, "As the dust clouds rise and fall," is repeated to put emphasis on the dark mood, and says "the sons of sons labor on their common ground," to show something that seems endless.
Therefore overall, the poem seems to describe the people who labour endlessly, such as during the war, but also, as it has said "Generations," I just can't stop thinking of the fact that there was a period of time where slavery was passed on for generations. And with this kind of event going on, nothing seems to have an end.
Hello, Mrs. Emery~ This is Jessica Chao* from D Block!
I loved the poem because it was short, but it was hard to analyze..haha anyway.. this is my comment.
Although this poem is very short, it contains deep meanings. When I read the poem for the first time, I could imagine a farmer’s life, which is simple and reapeated. However, in its deeper meaning, I could think that the author is not talking about only a farmer’s life. The author is telling us the hardship of people who are struggling in a war or maybe slavery, by stating “Men and machines….timeless rite” and “sons of labor..”. The words that the author stated were quite depressing, “dust clouds”, “rise and fall”, and “timeless rite”, which made the tone very gloomy overall.
Okay, this was my comment.. it is kinda short compare to other people..haha.. I am so curious about the author. Would you tell us the poet, please? Maybe on Thursday during the class period!
Hello(this is Ji Young Lee D BLOCK)...why are there so many LENGTHY comments?! Are we supposed to write that much? Anyway, I think this poem is very strong as it really impacts each individual reader in different ways. Even though this poem is actually quite short, there is enough meaning to give thought to the reader. My initial 'analytical' thoughts about this poem was that it was about a war. Phrases like 'Men and machines join in this timeless rite' seemed to indicate the image of men in a war. But as I read it again, I can see how other situations can apply to this poem. As many people have already said, this poem may as well be about farming or slavery. The line 'to sow, to tend, to reap' is the one line that makes the reader consider the theme of farming. I am also reminded of something historical, related to the industrial revolution which also involves labor. The tone used throughout this poem had a quite reflective feel to it, as if the narrator is actually a spectator observing events that have surrounded him. There's also repetition 'As the dust clouds rise and fall', which I think emphasizes the turbulent times of manual labor.I find the concise nature of this poem appealing even though I am not really interested in it personally. I sense a lot of messages buried in the poem, making the reader dig deeper to find possible meanings to the poem.
I hope this comment will suffice...See you on thursday Ms.Emery!:)
I think this poem is depicting about the daily life of farmers during the Industrial Revolution Era. The line "Men and machine join in this timeless rite" gave me an idea of Industrial Revolution. This poem is showing the pride of farmers. They are proud of their land and they feel happy about their work. The mood of this poem is not dark. It is happy and prideful. Thankk you.
Was this graded? Oh well..I guess I was not listening careful enough.
Anyways, I think the poem is not only talking about the works that the next generation has to clean. It says that "As the dust clouds rise and fall" in the first line which could mean there some that the people left for the next generation are bad but some are good. So, in my opinion of what the author is trying to say is that the next generation changes those things to improve. The poem reads as “to sow, to tend, to reap” which I think it means to repair, to take care of, and to gather it. It sounds more like a improving process to me, more than just simply cleaning up the mess. And I am pretty sure the author does not really have a negative feeling toward this process but more like a boring feeling. But then again, could boring be bad? I guess I will shut up and move on. (Just because it is a philosophy problem rather than for an analysis problem) Anyways, the last sentence says “the sons of sons labor on their common ground.” I interpreted this part more like a boring cycle working in the same place over and over again.
When I read the poem for the first time, I thought it was some kind of laborous people joining together to raise up a riot(preferrably slaves), but then I read it again and again and again, and I realized that these people are farmers celebrating their harvest. They are reaping what they sowed, which is farming. dust clouds rising and falling can be a metaphor for farmers working because dust rises and falls when you work on the field. I was not quite sure of the meaning of the word rite, so I looked it up on the www.dictionary.com. It says it's a religious ceremony, so the poem cannot be something violent as I thought it was at first. Then when I read the poem again for the last time, I came to realize that the poem is talking about human history. Very long ago, our ancesters did what they did and we, who are living present, had to either suffer the consequence of their mistakes or be proud of their accomplishments. Notice in the stanza three it says, "And Generations have answered the call to sow, to tend, to reap". We are constantly reaping what our ancesters sowed. Then again at the last stanza, "the sons of sons labor on their common ground", common ground symbolizes for our society, and now we, who are living present, are writing history.
Hello Mrs. Emery! First of all, I was really surprised how long short the poem is and it is really meaningful. First of all, When I saw the first stanze, “as the dust clouds rise and fall, emphasizes time passing by pointlessly. Why did poet repeat the stanza, "as the dust clouds rise and fall, emphasizes time passing by pointlessly." I think the author wanted us to know that this part is emphasing for us. I guessed this stanza means of sorrow of slaves. The author mentioned that he didn't have a freedom after he had finished his work also the men worked every day without resting. The last stanza, "the sons of sons labor on their common ground. " I think this last stanza gave us a good information that the man would keep working on something that they don't want to do forever. I really enjoyed the poem Mrs.Emery, I will see you on next class.
Hm... I guess I just completely missed the part about commenting on your blog at all! I hope it isn't TOO late. :)
hehe
The basic meaning of the poem I first grasped after reading it through once, was the literal meaning of it. "Farm Tribute" simply talks about what farmers go through, and what they do every year, generation after generation. I noticed the repetition: "As the dust clouds rise and fall," came out twice in the poem. That usually means there is some significant meaning to it, or the poet just wants to accentuate that point. Hm... I'm trying to think about each word both individually and together by asking myself if there is anything symbolic about words like 'dust,' and 'men and machines,' and 'to sow, to tend, to reap.'
"Me and machines join in this timeless rite."
Paraphrasing 'timeless rite,' I get 'eternal ceremony,' but I wonder why the poet refers to farming as a ceremony. I understand that without really looking into the poem for a deep analysis, men and machines joining in a timeless rite, with generations answering the call to sow, tend, and reap, means that farmers will always be farmers. Their sons after them will also be farmers and take on to work the "common ground" that their fathers before them had worked. This is why it's a "timeless" rite. Dust clouds rising and falling could possibly be in relation to life, when we have our ups and downs. OR! Maybeee..... "As the dust clouds rise and fall, Men and machines join in this timeless rite." Maybe these two lines are referring to the machine as a tractor that moves across the field, leaving dust to rise and fall over and over, kind of like leaving your mark as you live life. "Plowing through life..." I noticed that the G in Generations was capitalized, though I don't exactly know why. I think the poet wanted to emphasize that farming is never-ending. The poem gives me a tired and restless feeling. I feel empathy toward the farmers because this poem makes their lives seem so repetitive and "routine." They all live their lives, doing the same things everyday, generation after generation, father to son, to sow, to tend, to reap. It all seems 'sad,' yet not exactly hopeless. There is some hint of hope; the farmers never stopped, but they kept going always working for the same purpose. It's almost like they're sacrificing their lives for the good of others, so that's why I don't think it's completely depressing. (I'm not reading too much into it, am I?)
48 comments:
Hi Mrs.Emery!
IT's grace. I'm the first one to leave comment! yappy! hahaha.
This poem's tone is very strict, dark and some what depressing. It seems that there is some kind of a slavery going on and has been going on for a very long time (judging from line 3-4: "and generations have answered the call to sow, to tend, to reap"). Dust clouds may represent the smoke and dusts that rises when you work or clean. In line two : "Men and machines join in this timeless rite" the persona seems to be telling the readers that it is endless labor they are placed in. There is a repetition line, "As the dust clouds rise and fall," which emphisizes how the laboring is not only killing what used to be a bright sky, but also the smoke blinding the eyes of the people. In the last line, "the sons of sons labor on their common ground" suggests that the workers have been en slavery from generations to generations-father to son-and although it is a common ground that everyone steps on, walks on, the laborers are the only people who has to work for everyone's sake.
It can be judged that the poem is talking about slavery. However if you look at it from another point of view, the poem may be talking about how the persona and the people talked about in the poem are working hard to keep their land going. IT may be saying "look at the efforts and time that these people have put in. Do not forget." I suppose it can be looked at in various different ways.
I think the poem might have deeper meaning to it. I'll remeber to ask you about it in class MRs.Emery!
Have a great day. :) Love you.
When I first read this poem, one vision appeared in my mind which was about men working hard on the field. I think this is about slavery which grace said on her comment. If I analyze this poem by thinking about the slavery, this poem must include depressed or dark tone. The first line of this poem said "As the dust clouds rise and fall". In my opinion, the dust clouds symbolize the pains of the slaves. The author said that dust clouds rise and fall, which gives me a vision of rising and ebbing tides. Tide always repeats the rising and ebbing, and if dust clouds rise and fall (the author repeated two times), it means slave's pain or melancholy mind seems to get better (rise), but actually it gets worse (fall), and this is repeated all the times. On the second line, the poet said "timeless rite" which means the slaves do not have much time to live their lives. It made me think that the slaves just work and work, and when the certain time comes, they just die. Finally, the very last line of this poem tells me that slaves die on the ground which means the only thing they do for their lives is 'working'. I think the author is trying to criticize the meaningless slave's life. Also the poet is trying to show the cruelness of abusing human's right. This poem has a deep meaning. I like this poem :).
This poem reveals a sad and depressing situation. The author made it seem like the only thing that goes on the workers' lives is labor. The "dust clouds rise and fall" is I think a representation of time. Time is passing--going by-- but all they do or can do is work. They might be either forced and left with no choice, such as slavery, or it might just be a period of depression when the whole town is lack of money and such. The second line about how the men join with the machines makes it sound as if the only friends that the men have are the machines. When I read that part, I felt that the workers are caged in with only the machines accompanying them. This line "the Generations have answered the call. . . " reveals that for the people for a long time (Generations, which is even capitalized--probably an important word in the poem) has been working and will continue to "sow, tend, and reap". The thing that's even more sad is that in the next stanza, it says "sons of sons" meaning even the sons of the people will work, and then their sons will work and on and on. However, as a parent, you would definitely want something more for your kids--not to just follow after you and go through hard labor. Unfortunately, in this poem, the sons can not move away from this labor and has to go through it with their fathers on "common ground". And again time is mentioned by the dust clouds rising and falling which i think emphasizes even more the lllooonggg period of time the people have been working.
At first when i read this poem, i was actually disappointed. But as i started to write about it and think about it more and more, I found that it has more meaning than what i thought. i really like this poem!
JK in E block
Poem is about farmer's life, which those generations have to be farmer forever. I believe poet is trying to criticize on lives that those are living same way and don't try anything new. I also believe that Poet may want to say that there shoudln't be repeated life. This poem may criticize on old time that there were bad repeated lives, for slaves, or worker that they can't get out of those life.
When I read this poem, I thought of war. I think it was because of “Men and machines join….” Dust clouds rising and falling could be symbolic for time passing, but I think that it could also be literal. War scenes are usually not moist and green and happy, but they are dusty, dark and gloomy. So maybe the dust clouds rising and falling could just be a description of the war scene. “And Generations have answered the call” reminds me of a sermon I heard from my church. It was about how this generation is “Joshua’s Generation” and we should be always ready for the Last Battle. “And Generations have answered the call” reminds me of that. “…to sow, to tend, to reap” also reminds me of the Bible. Jesus talks about agriculture a lot. In the Book of Matthew, Chapter 9 verse 37, it talks about a how the Harvest is plentiful but laborers are few. And it means that there are a lot of non-Christians in the world and too few Christians actually out there to fight the Spiritual War. “…the sons of sons labor on their common ground” I guess this is saying that from generation to generation people are working (fighting) for the Lord. I am not sure…
I like this poem because, maybe I’m just weird, but this reminds me a lot of the Bible and reminds me how I am supposed to be working for the Lord and not myself.
This poem is obviously talking about an ordinary farmer's life. The mood of this poem is very dry, sad, and boring. It seems like the farmer’s life is made up with labor and there is no end to his life. There is no climax in its life. I think “As the dust clouds rise and fall” is representing the time that is passing, which is describing the rise and fall of the sun. However, when the sun gives little more of bright tone in the poem but the dust clouds give more of depressing mood. “Men and machines join in this timeless rite” is telling that his life is endless and is nothing. All he does is repetition of farming and laboring. I think “And Generations have answered the call” is talking about how not only his life but even other generations of him did farming.
Overall, I think this poem is descrbing the sadness and depression of our everyday boring routine by giving example of the farmer. I think it is also suggesting that our life should not be like the one of boring farmer's but our life should have more excitement.
Mrs.Emery..I'm Ray:) Just as people who already made comments, I also think that the mood of this poem is very depressing and sad. When I only read the first line, I could feel the overall mood of the poem because of the word 'dust' cloud. Some clouds can be pretty and represent positive things such as 'dream' or 'hope', but because of the word 'dust', I received an image of depression. Similar to the poem 'The tide rises the tide falls', which we discussed in class, I think the cloud rising and falling represents the repetition of daily life, which is quite boring. Although I am not hundred percent sure about this poem, I think poem is talking about the poor people who spends most of their lifetime working in countryside farms to earn money, but leaves only the small land they have been worked for lifetime and poverty for next generation when they die. I think this way because of the last line-'the sons of sons labor on their common ground'.
When I read this poem, I felt that the mood of this poem was sad and depressing. When I first read the first line of the poem, I thought there was a war going on between something. I also thought about it again and the first thing that got in to my head about this poem is war, and it might be war because it may show how people in the past had a tough life because of war. For example the civel war in the states was a big thing to the Americans at that time because both the North and the South were both in a war, and it showd how the people especially slaves had a hard time in their lives because of the war. So i think the author of this poem is trying to explain all the hardships the people in the past experienced because of wars.
From the moment a reader reads the title and reads the first few lines, they can see the contrasting ideas just like a paradox. Tributes are usually ceremonial and compliments while the "timeless rite" and the "dust clouds rise[ing] and fall[ing]" just brings so much to the depressing and non-enthusiastic tone of the persona. As the persona describes that this same boring situation happenes after "sons of sons" the reader gets how monotonous and repetitive one's life is. Usually, robots are "call[ed]" to do this and that as a way of showing that some power or someone is in power over them. Therefore, by the persona saing "the call to sow, to tend, to reap" I believe that there is something that is putting the people into use just as robots and it's been going on for "generations." Finally, i believe that this poem is screaming and telling the readers to grab our life together so that it is not "common ground."
haichan park
Hello, Mrs. Emery. This is Minji Kang from G block. I just read the poem "Farm Tribute", and what a short poem, just like you said! However, even though it has a very short length, each noun and adjectives, in other words, each words and phrases have deep meaning and imagery. There are no specific sad or dark words used in the poem however just by the lines that describe how farmers, their sons, and their sons' sons work, work, and work in the farm, it somehow creates the dark and gloomy tone and feeling. It reminded me of old Korean people in the countryside working in their farms all day, everday. They do not earn much money these days since we usually import many products from U.S., or other countries. Also, science and technology had developed so much that their jobs became worthless and meaningless. I feel really bad for them, and that's what made me think of while I was reading this poem. I wonder if the writer really thought of Korean farmers. But I'm sure there would be lots of farmers all around the world just like the poor Korean farmers, so maybe it's just my prejudice about this kind of farmers. I really like the repetition used in this poem, "as the dust clouds rise and fall". It always gives two very different meanings and feelings when exactly same phrase is repeated in a poem. This poem definitely let me think of my parents and grand parents who always work really hard, not for themselves, but for their families when the writer used words like "Generation", and "sons of sons". It seemed like from generation to generation, this one specific family had to just work and work so hard at the farm to continue their living. Even though my parents and grand parents do not actually work at farms, I still could relate this poem to my family, and I thanked them very much. If parents would not sacrifice themselves for their kids just like this poem, none of us would never survive. Overall, what I'm trying to say here as my analysis for poem is that from beginning till the end, parents' love for their kids and their families will never stop and change. In Korean, there is a specific word for this. It's called "Nerisarang" which means love coming down. Parents always give their whole heart and sacrifice for their children, and the same thing happens for the children after and the children after, after. I think it is just beautiful to see this kind of unconditional love, and it is unique that this kind of beauty is shown through the gloomy, dark tone in the poem.
Didn't mrs Emery say that we may just leave a ONE SENTENCE COMMENT?
darn it, you people!
why are you guys doing such a good job and giving me a burden of pressure? ;((((((((((
oh, whatever.
um.....
as I schemed through the comments, I found out that most of them, (in fact, all of them)said that the poem seemed so gloomy and boooooring. So I, the weirdo, tried to interpret the poem in a happy way. Believe it or not, now the poem seems so "blessing" to me.
The dust clouds rise and fall. There are always rise and falls in our lives. No matter where you live, how you live, what occupation you have, what values you hold, every single human beings have ups and downs in their lives. I know most of other friends concluded their idea that, "Oh, this poem is sad" at the "timeless rite", but when I related that phrase to the "sons of sons labor on their common ground" (which was the other phrase that made friends to feel bad for the labourors (btw, how do you spell labor.ors? labourer? laborer?)) it came to me as a blessing. Even if it might be boring and hard for the people who are working on the field, yet it is a great blessing that sons of sons were able to sow, tend and reap on the common land. Since to peom does not mention about any droughts, floods or any other natural disasters have happened, we may assume that it was perfectly fine for generations to generations. Being able to harvest abundant crops--okay. you may say chacha is enjoying her imaginations now--in one same piece of land is such a great blessing to poor farmers. Oh yeah, I think we may put little spices of hardships since the poem is telling that "the dust of clouds rise and fall".
Dust, that is a great symbolism too. Since farmers born from land, live with land and dies to the land, it is his nature to be one with the nature (haha. repetition? rhyme?). Which, dust, is one of the .... ground thing. You know. (Please don't be disappointed with my language uses, Mrs Emery. I just wrote this poetry commentary paper. I'm worn out.:( )
And as long as I know it right, farmers take their jobs as great a privilege. Really, as "the call".
Without farmers labors and efforts, what would we be eating right now? :)
I like the poem, Mrs. Emery.
because of the fact that it's short. XP hahaha.
Thank you always,
Love,
CHACHA.
ps: I just recognized the time of posting. Wow. An early bird! :D
Hi Mrs. Emery~this is Eric Lee
Through reading this poem, I thought it has a mood very peaceful and contented. The mood created in this poem seems to be slow, even boring. Generations~ they seed, take care of it, and harvest~ and their sons and sons through generations take those jobs and "keep" doing the same thing.
What author trying to say seemed very vague and ambiguous to me, because this poem had very obvious and general line of story. But suddenly the line of dust rising and falling made me think deeply about this poem. Why did author mention this?this poem, I thought it has very peaceful and contented, but responsible. The mood created in this poem seems to be slow, even boring. Generations~ they seed, take care of it, and harvest~ and their sons and sons through generations take those jobs and "keep" doing the same thing.
What author trying to say seemed very vague and ambiguous to me, because this poem had very obvious and general line of story. But suddenly the line of dust rising and falling made me think deeply about this poem. Why did author mention this?
Dust rising and falling, like farming which is like growin the crops and taking them away, father's, the ancestor's lives had been rising and falling too. Because this line had been mentioned every stanza, it certainly emphasizes something stronlgy through repetition. I think this dust rising and falling is trying to say that men were born in the farm, live as farmers, and die as farmers. From generations, "men and machines join in this timless rite." Timeless, endless, neverending, farmers were working and are working. This indicates farmers' work as "never-ending" because although the men die, their sons will do the same thing; therefore, the work of men and machines do not end. Besides, I was wondering why author used "dust." First,I think it's because it gives us certain atmosphere kind of gloomy, boring, and menlancholy. Second, I think author used this because dust can mean "death." Like a dust sweeps over in a cloud, one generation is beeing sweeped away; as a result, there is dust clouds rising and falling repeated with a new stanza with new generations, the sons.
Okay..so I think I kind of found out the meaning of circulation, the labor passed through generation, never ending farmers' work... but I did not find why author wrote this. I think author was trying to talk about their lives at the time (I don't know the history backgroud of this poem) when they only had to work. With a very few rich people in the city, rest of them are all farmers. It says generation, but I think it can comprehensively talking about the whole Americans (maybe it's when there was a big gap between urban and rural standards of living)
Hi Mrs. Emery! This is Jihyun. First of all, great poem! I actually enjoyed the dry, sage-like-pessimistic tone of this poem.
Secondly, I've read this poem three times now, and I'm afraid I might overanalyze this one...
Anyways, here's what I think.
I don't think this poem is actually talking about a farm at all... that is, unless you are thinking of a farm in a metaphorical way and comparing it to Life.
In the first line, as the poem talks of dust clouds moving about, I felt that this represented not only time but the tides of change that comes with it. For example, in an actual farm, the soil may erode, grow different crops each year etc. However, the farm is still a farm. I believe that this is the point: although things change with time, the call to reap what you sow is the same (it's the farm). The poet, also mentioned machines along with men in order to state that everyone and everything will work by this principle despite change and time. Also, the poet clearly stated that "generations have answered this call" suggesting that this poem is directed not only for a specific audience, but for everyone. This point is summarized in the last two lines: despite changes that come about with time, man's purpose and habits to sow, tend, and reap will always be the same.
Hi Mrs. Emery!
When I first saw the title of this poem, I wasn’t really sure what “tribute” really meant, so I searched in the dictionary. It actually said that tribute meant homage and honor. Then I started reading this poem.
Unlike what I have been expecting, even the first line of the poem portrayed that the poem’s tone is going to be melancholy and depressing. It seems to be talking about workers (maybe slaves) who have to work days and nights, until they die. “As dust clouds rise and fall” reveals that the environment of men is not that good; it is dusty without any cleanness. Clouds rising and falling also tells us that the men are to work days and nights (during their working hour, clouds rise in the morning, and fall at night). When the poem says “Men and machines join in this timeless rite,” men and machines are considered the same level, meaning that these working men were not treated as humans, but machines. Moreover, what does the poet mean by timeless rite? Eternal ceremony?? How can “working” be a ceremony? I think it is very contradictory how the author had said it. “Generations have answered the call to sow, to tend, to reap” means, I think, that it is a family-thing that they have to work their entire lives, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. Sowing, tending, and reaping take the entire year, and once the cycle is done, it has to be repeated eternally. If the person dies, his son would take over the work and continue it, forever. It is a really sad reality for these men. The last two lines are really touching (in a depressing way).
Overall, I liked this poem, and was stunned how such a short poem could mean so much!
Hello Mrs. Emery:)(:
I was very curious about what
kind of poem you were talking about in class today
hmm
There is a lot going on in this short and simple poem.
I think it is a poem talking about
labor or even more specifically slavery. The repetition of "As the dust clouds rise and fall" reminds me of a poem we went over in class "Tide rises, tide falls" maybe the repetition used in this poem is also represents the passing of time. I picture bored and tired men in rusty clothes working endlessly on farms all day sweating.
The poet didn't use any words that showed darkness and coldness but somehow the poem sounds depressing and sad to me. I feel like the farmers/laborers are crying out to me for help.
I like how such a short poem has such a strong feeling.
Since this poem was short, I will talk about the poem short and simple. Even though the author started this poem with "As the dust clouds rise and fall" which has the depressing or boring tone, but I don't think the theme of this poem is talking about dullness and depressing. As matter of fact, even though my father is a teacher, but the blood of farmer flows inside of me. As the experienced hand, the farming is very dullness and boring; however, in this poem, the author wrote this poem with the NEGATIVE attitude. I can assume what kind of the author is by looking at his attitude toward FARMING, and I think he or she was the son of FARMER and their entire family lines devoted to farming industry, which the author does not like about it. From the second line "Men and machines join in this timeless rite.”, the author tend to give an idea that farming is very strict, following orders and every things are done by step-by-step. The author made this poem sound a boring repetition by generation because “As the dust clouds rise and fall” and “And Generations have answered the call
to sow, to tend, to reap.” like the annual Civil Defense training day. Even though it sounds like the author intentionally made this poem depressing and dull, but I think the main theme of this poem is “Every generations, every years, every day, and every times when the dust clouds rise and fall; farmers still sow, tend and reap the agriculture productions. No matter what, they still do their duties and jobs like an obedient son and time keep run like a stream during a winter; however, it is people who change not Time and they substitute the prior ones.
Hello. Mrs.Emery!
This is Robin Cha. Aren't we suppose to leave one sentence comment? Whatever...
when I first read this poem I just thought of a farmer working by generation to generation. But after reading it over 3times I realized that it can symbolize slaves. “Men and machines join….” Dust clouds rising and falling is somewhat depressing to me. In my opinion, this stanza represents slaves working day to night. Also i think the last sentence emphasizes that slaves will continue on on and forever.
After reading this poem I automatically thought about Africa, how they have hard work there. I think there can be various interpretations but my thinking was that it represents slaves.
see you Mrs.Emery!
Hi Mrs. Emery!! this is Amy:)
The poem has a very sad and gloomy tone. The repeated stanza “as the dust clouds rise and fall, emphasizes time passing by pointlessly. The author is telling us that the men don’t really have a life other than with their machines. All they ever do is sow, tend, and reap their land to produce what ever they are producing. I’m guessing that these men are slaves because the last stanza gives us a hint that their sons labor on the common ground. If these men were living in freedom, then their sons would have the option of following after their father or going onto a different path. The same goes to the son’s son.
Instead of giving a depressing feeling for me when I read this poem it made me feel something sort of like awe or something like farming is like a passage, I don't really know how to explain. But the wording "timeless rite" makes the idea of farming like good, er ya i can't really explain right. Anyways I think this poem is really great with imagery even though the poet uses few words. From the opening line, right away you can just imagine everything and ya it's great!
Hi Mrs. Emery! This is Jennifer Kim from G block.
A short, but very meanigful poem. The tone of poem is very dark and gloomy, describing the routine of farmer's life. Although the tone is very bleak, I think the poet was trying to demonstrate the importance of farmers' work. This poem reminded me of a story that my grandfather told me. He said that when he was young, all people had to work at farm, from generation to generation. The reason that our generation could have such a prosperous and comfortable lives, are all due to our ancestors' hard farm works. Throught this poem, I could once again thanked them. Very great poem. I like it:)
Hello Mrs. Emery~! This is Richard Sung~ I am in your English 10 (D Block)!
When I read this poem, I felt happy because it’s talking about the continuous great success of early ancestors who led generations to live in developed world. I somehow agree with people’s idea about the slavery, because author talks about labor and the title is Farm Tribute. BUT I don’t really agree to the people who see this poem with negative thought like war and bloody stuff. Because Tribute means showing your admiration and respect for someone, so this is completely unrelated with slavery which is very diabolical and dark. Maybe, tribute has connotation meaning of forcing admiration and respect. However, the author is showing his admiration and respect to his early ancestry and generations who will keep contributing their whole life to develop the world. Every generation is tasked to “sow, tend, and reap” to develop the world. And I think the meaning of “dust rise and fall” is passing of time because when one generation contributes their whole life and die, their descendant will rise and follow their ancestor’s road of developing the world. Maybe I was being too denoted (Denotation) compared to the people who thought this poem was about repeated life of slavery. However, the author showed me the lucid and bright future.
I like this poem!
Hi Mrs. Emery!^^
This is Rachel from your (E) Block!
I just read your poem and was amazed by how "Farm Tribute" contained such strong and thoughtful meanings inside with only few lines. The writer had chosen adequate terms to express her thoughts and harmonized them to create each line. By reading them I was able to guess about the theme of this poem and the content. The writer had used words such as sow, tend, reap, machines, men, and labor which all relates to one concept or theme called “slavery.” In this poem it seems like there is no hope at all. The word “rise” may seem like it has positive connotation or pleasant meanings but the author put two terms “dust clouds” and “fall” in the same line with “rise” which seizes the bright meanings of it. (Reference to: “As the dust clouds rise and fall”). The poem also gives a strong and vivid image by saying "Men and machines join in this timeless rite.” This phrase brings up an image of strenuous life of slaves. The writer used word “join” to associate man and machine. It naturally reveals a dark and gloomy image and the reader becomes conscious of sorrow. The line, “And Generations have answered the call to sow, to tend, to reap" which informs the audience that slave won’t end in one generation but will be continued. Also the sentence, “the sons of sons labor on their common ground” also contains the same meaning of repeated life of slavery and them having no rights becoming a slave or not. The line "As the dust clouds rise and fall" is repeated again which emphasizes the dark and negative image plus brings a dark tone.
I loved reading and analyzing your poem and would like to know the writer’s name of this poem.
The poem has a very sad tone. The repeated stanza “as the dust clouds rise and fall, emphasizes time passing by pointlessly. Why did poet repeat the stanza, "as the dust clouds rise and fall, emphasizes time passing by pointlessly." Because Poet wanted to emphasis this part. Then,, what does this stanze mean? I guess this stanze means sorrow of slaves, because in other stanzas, they mentioned that he didn't have a freedom. because all the man's work was to sow, tend, and reap his land to produce crops, and also the men worked like machine. The last stanza, "the sons of sons labor on their common ground.
" It also give a hint that the man is slave, because if he is not a slave, then his son has a chance to choose his job alone. This is the reason why I think the man is slave.
Wow, it is amazing how a short poem can contain such a deep meaning inside it. The author uses vivid imagery in this short poem to express clear ideas and intentions. Basically, the poem is about farmers who are working timelessly in their lives as time passes. The hard work is passed on from generation to generation. Actually, it is just a normal life for the farmers. However, the thing that had put value on this poem was the author’s writing styles especially the excellent word choices in this short poem, “Farm Tribute.” The part where it explains their work, “to sow, to tend, to reap” is full of imagery. I personally think that the author used repetition stating, “as the dust clouds rise and fall” to strongly symbolize time during that period. Rising and falling usually makes me think about how the sun rises and falls every day and it lead me to predict that it may be a symbol of time. Also the ‘dust clouds’ reveals the difficult situation at that time because the word ‘dust’ itself contains dark and depressing emotions. The repetition also accentuates the importance of difficult time passing in farmers’ lives. The last phrase, “the sons of sons labor on their common ground” shows that working keeps passing on from generation to generation. I think this part is where the author creates somber tone throughout the poem. When I first read this poem, I thought this poem was sad and gloomy because poor farmers have to work all day long even their generations. However when I read this poem for the second time, I was curious how would the farmers feel like when think of their fate of working since they enter this world until they end their lifetime. This poem left me with a question, why are the farmers had to be only sad and depressing when working is a part of their lives? Anyways, I actually like this poem! It astonishes me how this short poem brought out so many various opinions from different point of views. :)
Love,
Angela Kim (E block)
This is "real" Gabriela Park's
In the poem, I liked the part where the author (Mrs. Emery) expressed the farmers’ routine daily life. It made me to think about depressing life of the men and their generations; I think there is somewhat behind meaning of it. In my opinion, in the second line of the poem, it says “Men and machines join in this timeless rite,” this tells that the men get to work on their common ground timelessly as the dust clouds rise and fall. Moreover, the next sentence says “And Generations have answered the call to sow, to tend, to reap.” I think this sentence makes the poem’s tone even sadder. Since the author mentioned that the farm work is timeless rite, I guess Generations keeping working on the farmland seems to be unhappy thing. As other people said, the content of the poem can be interpreted as slavery; however it can be interpreted in another point of view. I think the farm land people work for their farm timelessly even though they are tired and exhausted, because they want their farmland to be developed. Also, if I see with the bigger view, I can think about farmers working for the nation.
Hi Mrs. Emery!
Apparently I missed the part where you told us we had to analyze this poem. I was under the pretense that we only had to "comment" on it. Either I wasn't paying attention in class, or the rest of the sophomore class' and my interpretations of the word "comment" are different. :-)
My brain is practically mush right now, so hopefully you'll understand my very brief analysis (and if my sarcasm comes off as a bit strong, I apologize in advance):
The Literal Meaning:
Obviously the poem is talking about farmwork. The title itself is blatantly self-explanatory. No other title could possibly be more obvious as to what the poem is going to talk about.
The "Hidden" Meaning:
With a mere six lines, it seems as if the poet is trying to convey the idea that, although technology may advance every generation, each generation is bound to work at a task that will never be finished, which the poet refers to as a "...timeless rite." The phrase "As the dust clouds rise and fall,..." are repeated. This is probably to emphasize another point the poet is trying to get across to the reader: although time goes by, the goal of each passing generation will stay the same.
Hopefully my analysis isn't too whacked out. :)
Good night! Or good morning, or good afternoon, depending on what time of day, or night, you read this. :)
Hello Mrs. Emery ^^
I really like your review on the previous poem.
I think this poem is very short and concise. I really like how the author used the shortness for his/or advantage. I think this poem gives a strong message with its shortness. The author didn’t use any fancy decorating words. Instead, he used words that are very strong and easy to understand. I could easily view things that are related to the author’s theme. Personally I think this poem is about slavery. The machine and men working together and laboring, it sounded like slavery going on. It made me imagine the scene of working with the cotton machine and picking up the cottons. It is quite depressing but I really like the mood of this poem. The author did a great job of including everything about slavery in such a short poem. Strong and conciseness are the facts that make this poem so amazing.
Hi, this is Jiwon from G block.
First all, I really liked the poem not only because it was short and simple but also it seemed like there is something more than meets the eye. Well, all the poems you pick have at least one great thing about it. I think this poem is arguing that Industrial Revolution was a necessary movement in developing the industry, yet it caused a lot of problems. Also, the harsh nature of working with the machinery is inherited to sons of the workers since they have to work as well.
In addition, the tone also sets the mood of depression. It repeated the phrase 'as the dust clouds rise and fall' to illustrate the repeated everyday life of the workers. Despite its length, the poem effectively showed how working with machinery can be ridiculously boring and hard.
Overall, I really liked the poem. Thanks for sharing a good poem with us, Mrs. Emery. :)
Hi Mrs. Emery:)
This is Grace Lee in your E block.
This is a wonderful poem depicting the issue of slavery and the background of farm. By the title, I guessed that it would at least contain what the farm has meant for the people there, and how it affected his/her life. However, it describes the agony of working and living in rural areas. It can somehow relate to the issue of slavery by the words such as "to sow, to tend, to reap" and some powerful words as "dust clouds rise and fall". I think it shows the painful sorrows, and how their lives were always so dark and full of labors.
What caught my attention was the word "Generation." I started thinking why you would capitalize the word "generation", and found out that it kind of relates to what I learned in American History class. Once a slave is born, their generation will never stop being slaves.
I'm very touched by how you put deep meanings into this poem, and how you described the painful agony of their lives. "the sons of sons labor on their common ground" reminds me again that Africans are still neglected in some places and are dying of numorous diseases everyday. Those are our "missions" as we live our daily lives, and to pray for who they are.
To speak of the truth, I couldn't really understand what this poem meant at first; and so I read it hundred times to extract something out of it. If I didn't get what you really intended to write about, sorry!:(
Have a nice weekend~♥
At first, I thought of monotony of the life too, but when I reread the poem, found words ‘call,’ and find the definition of the poem, I found the poem rather religious. Farm requires a lot of labors; in other word, it is painstaking. I believe this resembles glorify God. Glorifying God is a task that needs an effort .
It says ‘As the dust clouds rise and fall.’ Dust clouds always rise and fall especially when we do labor. Therefore, rise would mean that situation when people put their effort to understand God’s word and carry them on, and fall would mean when the guy stops these. Furthermore, dust clouds would resemble the temptation too.
The second line and the third line would meant how long people have strived. The word ‘timeless’ means continuity and rites mean religious ceremony. In this poem, ‘timeless rite’ mean continuity of glorifying God. Furthermore, the third lien says ‘And Generations have answered the call.’ As I said a moment before, Generations would continuity and it says ‘have answered the call.’ The call can be used between friends, but it is usually used as the call from the upper class and the call the Lord, and people, generations, have answered it. The second and third line would mean that people have strived to glorify God from the first generation; we have done continuously.
The forth line shows farmers do: sow, tend, and reap. Sow and tend would mean people in the past have glorified God, and reap would mean that they have gone to heaven as tribute to painstaking work. In addition, the last talks about the future: it means that people in the future would glorify God as the ancestors have done.
However, I still do not understand why the poet used ‘machine.’ Machine may be interpreted as help (for example, bible), but the word ‘machine’ is often interpreted as cold and emotionless. I have thought the poem religious, but I am not convinced yet because of ‘machine’
This poem first reminded me of a hot summer day's farm work in a deserted place where the sun is covered by dust clouds. Men and machines work in a timeless zone as a unity to get their work done. It then led me to think about slavery mostly because time did not matter to them; they just kept working and working. I really like the mood this poem sets for the reader especially the line "as dust clouds rise and fall". It's a perfect representation of a slave because they all felt enclosed to a certain extent and they were blinded by the Truth the way dust clouds blinds one's eyes.
-Jin Hong Kim
Hello Mrs.Emery~~
This is Christy Yu from D block!
"yup yup~ your lovely~~ student!^^"
(darn it ppl! Mrs.Emery said leave a one-sentence comment -_-;; why is everyone doing it so well?
anyways, cant lose! :P
i will express ~_~ my wonderful thoughts of this poem^^)
In the first line, the poem uses imagery and clearly shows the overall mood of the poem - very dark and serious, "As the dust clouds rise and fall." Then as the poem continues, it seems like the poet is comparing the physical and emotional traits of the people who are passing through a dark period of time, when it says "Men and machines join in this timeless rite" i directly felt that it is not only the thoughts of the people that join this...chaotic(?) or dark moment. As it says "Generations have answered the call," I can see that this darkness has lasted for a long period of time for people "to sow, to tend, to reap."
And at last, the second stanza, "As the dust clouds rise and fall," is repeated to put emphasis on the dark mood, and says "the sons of sons labor on their common ground," to show something that seems endless.
Therefore overall, the poem seems to describe the people who labour endlessly, such as during the war, but also, as it has said "Generations," I just can't stop thinking of the fact that there was a period of time where slavery was passed on for generations. And with this kind of event going on, nothing seems to have an end.
Hello, Mrs. Emery~
This is Jessica Chao* from D Block!
I loved the poem because it was short, but it was hard to analyze..haha anyway.. this is my comment.
Although this poem is very short, it contains deep meanings. When I read the poem for the first time, I could imagine a farmer’s life, which is simple and reapeated. However, in its deeper meaning, I could think that the author is not talking about only a farmer’s life. The author is telling us the hardship of people who are struggling in a war or maybe slavery, by stating “Men and machines….timeless rite” and “sons of labor..”. The words that the author stated were quite depressing, “dust clouds”, “rise and fall”, and “timeless rite”, which made the tone very gloomy overall.
Okay, this was my comment..
it is kinda short compare to other people..haha.. I am so curious about the author. Would you tell us the poet, please? Maybe on Thursday during the class period!
Hello(this is Ji Young Lee D BLOCK)...why are there so many LENGTHY comments?! Are we supposed to write that much? Anyway, I think this poem is very strong as it really impacts each individual reader in different ways. Even though this poem is actually quite short, there is enough meaning to give thought to the reader. My initial 'analytical' thoughts about this poem was that it was about a war. Phrases like 'Men and machines join in this timeless rite' seemed to indicate the image of men in a war. But as I read it again, I can see how other situations can apply to this poem. As many people have already said, this poem may as well be about farming or slavery. The line 'to sow, to tend, to reap' is the one line that makes the reader consider the theme of farming. I am also reminded of something historical, related to the industrial revolution which also involves labor. The tone used throughout this poem had a quite reflective feel to it, as if the narrator is actually a spectator observing events that have surrounded him. There's also repetition 'As the dust clouds rise and fall', which I think emphasizes the turbulent times of manual labor.I find the concise nature of this poem appealing even though I am not really interested in it personally. I sense a lot of messages buried in the poem, making the reader dig deeper to find possible meanings to the poem.
I hope this comment will suffice...See you on thursday Ms.Emery!:)
Hello Mrs.Emery.
I'm Richard Min.
I think this poem is depicting about the daily life of farmers during the Industrial Revolution Era. The line "Men and machine join in this timeless rite" gave me an idea of Industrial Revolution. This poem is showing the pride of farmers. They are proud of their land and they feel happy about their work. The mood of this poem is not dark. It is happy and prideful.
Thankk you.
Was this graded?
Oh well..I guess I was not listening careful enough.
Anyways, I think the poem is not only talking about the works that the next generation has to clean. It says that "As the dust clouds rise and fall" in the first line which could mean there some that the people left for the next generation are bad but some are good. So, in my opinion of what the author is trying to say is that the next generation changes those things to improve. The poem reads as “to sow, to tend, to reap” which I think it means to repair, to take care of, and to gather it. It sounds more like a improving process to me, more than just simply cleaning up the mess.
And I am pretty sure the author does not really have a negative feeling toward this process but more like a boring feeling. But then again, could boring be bad? I guess I will shut up and move on. (Just because it is a philosophy problem rather than for an analysis problem) Anyways, the last sentence says “the sons of sons labor on their common ground.” I interpreted this part more like a boring cycle working in the same place over and over again.
When I read the poem for the first time, I thought it was some kind of laborous people joining together to raise up a riot(preferrably slaves), but then I read it again and again and again, and I realized that these people are farmers celebrating their harvest. They are reaping what they sowed, which is farming. dust clouds rising and falling can be a metaphor for farmers working because dust rises and falls when you work on the field. I was not quite sure of the meaning of the word rite, so I looked it up on the www.dictionary.com. It says it's a religious ceremony, so the poem cannot be something violent as I thought it was at first. Then when I read the poem again for the last time, I came to realize that the poem is talking about human history. Very long ago, our ancesters did what they did and we, who are living present, had to either suffer the consequence of their mistakes or be proud of their accomplishments. Notice in the stanza three it says, "And Generations have answered the call to sow, to tend, to reap". We are constantly reaping what our ancesters sowed. Then again at the last stanza, "the sons of sons labor on their common ground", common ground symbolizes for our society, and now we, who are living present, are writing history.
Hello Mrs. Emery! First of all, I was really surprised how long short the poem is and it is really meaningful. First of all, When I saw the first stanze, “as the dust clouds rise and fall, emphasizes time passing by pointlessly. Why did poet repeat the stanza, "as the dust clouds rise and fall, emphasizes time passing by pointlessly." I think the author wanted us to know that this part is emphasing for us. I guessed this stanza means of sorrow of slaves. The author mentioned that he didn't have a freedom after he had finished his work also the men worked every day without resting. The last stanza, "the sons of sons labor on their common ground.
" I think this last stanza gave us a good information that the man would keep working on something that they don't want to do forever.
I really enjoyed the poem Mrs.Emery, I will see you on next class.
Hm... I guess I just completely missed the part about commenting on your blog at all! I hope it isn't TOO late. :)
hehe
The basic meaning of the poem I first grasped after reading it through once, was the literal meaning of it. "Farm Tribute" simply talks about what farmers go through, and what they do every year, generation after generation. I noticed the repetition: "As the dust clouds rise and fall," came out twice in the poem. That usually means there is some significant meaning to it, or the poet just wants to accentuate that point. Hm... I'm trying to think about each word both individually and together by asking myself if there is anything symbolic about words like 'dust,' and 'men and machines,' and 'to sow, to tend, to reap.'
"Me and machines join in this timeless rite."
Paraphrasing 'timeless rite,' I get 'eternal ceremony,' but I wonder why the poet refers to farming as a ceremony. I understand that without really looking into the poem for a deep analysis, men and machines joining in a timeless rite, with generations answering the call to sow, tend, and reap, means that farmers will always be farmers. Their sons after them will also be farmers and take on to work the "common ground" that their fathers before them had worked. This is why it's a "timeless" rite. Dust clouds rising and falling could possibly be in relation to life, when we have our ups and downs. OR! Maybeee.....
"As the dust clouds rise and fall,
Men and machines join in this timeless rite."
Maybe these two lines are referring to the machine as a tractor that moves across the field, leaving dust to rise and fall over and over, kind of like leaving your mark as you live life. "Plowing through life..."
I noticed that the G in Generations was capitalized, though I don't exactly know why. I think the poet wanted to emphasize that farming is never-ending.
The poem gives me a tired and restless feeling. I feel empathy toward the farmers because this poem makes their lives seem so repetitive and "routine." They all live their lives, doing the same things everyday, generation after generation, father to son, to sow, to tend, to reap. It all seems 'sad,' yet not exactly hopeless. There is some hint of hope; the farmers never stopped, but they kept going always working for the same purpose. It's almost like they're sacrificing their lives for the good of others, so that's why I don't think it's completely depressing. (I'm not reading too much into it, am I?)
Sorry, I'm not a very good poem analyzer. :S
See you during E block, Mrs. Emery!
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