What Poets Are You Doing In Engish?

Aporia

I'm focusing on -

Longley
Plath
Bishop
Donne

A women poet must come up on the Leaving paper.
Is this true of false?

I will look over Hardy too just in case.

grimloch

Aporia wrote:

A women poet must come up on the Leaving paper.
Is this true of false?

Not officially no. I also wouldn't put it past the goverment to try to catch people who are being lazy out.

I'm doing:

Bishop
Plath
Longley
Elliot
Yeats
GMH

I can see myself doing 4 maybe 5 if I feel really bothered but odds are I won't be.

Lord Oz

Longley, Yeats and Plath is all I've done, and Yeats came up last year

abercrombie

Bishop, Longley, Plath, Hardy, Donne, Yeats and i think we're due to start a new poet after the midterm but not too sure who yet!

A female poet has come up every year but it's not a definite thing (even though it may look like that!) my teacher thinks it's so people don't think it's discrimination against females...so hopefully the department of education will keep those people happy again this year!

casanova_kid

we've only done Bishop, Yeats and Longley, we're going way too slow.

GrumPy

Had my paper1 and 2 today, - longley, bishop, gerard manely hop, and donne.

Raphael

Bishop, Yeats, Longely and Plath. Did Eliot and Hardy as well, but I'm concentrating on the four

Muiriosa

We have finished all the serious work on our poets:
Plath
Bishop
Yeats
Longly
Hardy

We still have to revise Hardy and Longely but I feel very confident about the poetry in general.

I would tend to believe the theory that a woman will come up. It would almost be seen as sexist if they didn't! Study Plath and Bishop very hard would be my advise!

Raphael

The same thing goes for Irish poets

smemon

im just studying Hardy. bishop's handy to study and i did her in 5th year so she's my back up.

Hardy will definately come up, its a waste of time studying anyone else as in like 3+

JackKelly

smemon wrote:

Hardy will definately come up, its a waste of time studying anyone else as in like 3+

I'd be very careful banking on a certain poet to come up. Last year, nearly everything came up as predicted and in general it was a very nice paper, so i'd be expecting a bit of mix up in this years one.

Shelga

Ok, I need to have a big rant...So far in English we've done Hardy, Donne, Longley, a bit of Plath and now we're in the middle of Yeats. But it occured to me yesterday as I sat down the back of the class, reading 'The Wild Swans At Coole'...I simply do not giv a sh*t about this man's poetry. So the swans symbolise his youth- WHO CARES. In general I do not like poetry and in my opinion Yeats is a preachy, sanctimonious git. I'm sure I will now be labelled a philistine or whatever, but I'm just expressing my frustration!! I'm sick to death of reading poems about the passage of time, the transience of time etc. Why doesn't someone ever just put up their hand and say (im not brave enough) "Why the hell are we meant to think these inane ramblings are so important?"

They should put poetry about the hell that is the Leaving Cert on the syllabus, there's something I'd like to see.

Rockerette

Shelga wrote:

Why doesn't someone ever just put up their hand and say (im not brave enough) "Why the hell are we meant to think these inane ramblings are so important?"

people in my class do that.... its not that big a deal if you dont like them.. I don't like the poems on my Irish course, but i get the hell over it - theyre not meant to be "fun". the leaving cert isnt meant to be a laugh y'know..

We're young... we dont understand "the passage of time" as many of these poets felt it.
Whatever you think about them, remember that something inspired these poets to write these poems, and they wrote them for a reason...

think outside of your narrow-minded self-centred little box, and maybe imagine how other people feel soemtimes.

They should put poetry about the hell that is the Leaving Cert on the syllabus, there's something I'd like to see

its not that bad for god's sake... stop over-reacting..

proletarian

Can't imagine the Board of Education being so ironic. On the up side, Yeats' poetry is fairly Junior Cert level stuff - ie- easy to write about. Personally not big into writing about him, not for any particular reason, just don't. Hope this 'a woman has to come up' thing holds true because I've been banking on it, and Plath and Bishop are not difficult to, y'know, talk out your **** about.

If I was the motivated kind, I'd write out sample essays ad stuff about my poets. Unfortunately I'm not and get too easily distracted by drink, TV and sleep. I might fail but at least I'm normal.

exiot

Im going to concentrate on Bishop, Plath, Longley and Hardy. Im sure one of those poets will come up, just hope they are good questions!

Anto and Moe

I want to do Elliot, but our teacher doesn't like him.

Dagnir Glaurung

Anto and Moe wrote:

I want to do Elliot, but our teacher doesn't like him.

Do him yourself then. It's not too difficult, there are loads of notes on the internet for him. We're not doing Hopkins, Eliot or Donne in class but I'm doing them and haven't found them any more difficult than the others. Then again, I do tend to just sleep in class.

smemon

Shelga wrote:

Ok, I need to have a big rant...So far in English we've done Hardy, Donne, Longley, a bit of Plath and now we're in the middle of Yeats. But it occured to me yesterday as I sat down the back of the class, reading 'The Wild Swans At Coole'...I simply do not giv a sh*t about this man's poetry. So the swans symbolise his youth- WHO CARES. In general I do not like poetry and in my opinion Yeats is a preachy, sanctimonious git. I'm sure I will now be labelled a philistine or whatever, but I'm just expressing my frustration!! I'm sick to death of reading poems about the passage of time, the transience of time etc. Why doesn't someone ever just put up their hand and say (im not brave enough) "Why the hell are we meant to think these inane ramblings are so important?"

They should put poetry about the hell that is the Leaving Cert on the syllabus, there's something I'd like to see.

your my new best friend!! dam right there Shelga, thats how it is. a load of waffle from fools that think they're clever. ive a few thoughts on poems:

-all of them should rhyme, all good poems rhyme.
-all of them should have 1 meaning, not loads.
-all of them should be 12 lines and 3 verses max.

thats how u rite a good poem. none a this yates rubbish with a million interpretations and 20 3 line stanza's which ryhme every 6.38 lines!! poetry is out of date.

Rockerette

smemon wrote:

your my new best friend!! dam right there Shelga, thats how it is. a load of waffle from fools that think they're clever. ive a few thoughts on poems:

-all of them should rhyme, all good poems rhyme.
-all of them should have 1 meaning, not loads.
-all of them should be 12 lines and 3 verses max.

thats how u rite a good poem. none a this yates rubbish with a million interpretations and 20 3 line stanza's which ryhme every 6.38 lines!! poetry is out of date.

oh lord smemon, if i didnt have a go at you last week, i would be havin it right now...


Seriosuly, with comments like that, you're asking for abuse....

smemon

its my opinion on it. don't expect everyone to agree with me. it's blunt, honest and to the point.

i dont see the point of poetry and why we're forced to learn it in the 21st century.

here's a poem i just made up:

the wind quivers beneath the hallowed turf,
on the ground i see a peanut,
shaped like a round egg.

such earthly soil clings to the ground,
a force beneath the withered oak tree,
the sun's daggers split.

i am old and degenerated,
feeble and shaken like a lamppost,
to which my body sticks.



put that in ye're pipe and smoke it.

:|

smemon wrote:

its my opinion on it. don't expect everyone to agree with me. it's blunt, honest and to the point.

i dont see the point of poetry and why we're forced to learn it in the 21st century.

here's a poem i just made up:

the wind quivers beneath the hallowed turf,
on the ground i see a peanut,
shaped like a round egg.

such earthly soil clings to the ground,
a force beneath the withered oak tree,
the sun's daggers split.

i am old and degenerated,
feeble and shaken like a lamppost,
to which my body sticks.



put that in ye're pipe and smoke it.

poetic genius

UU

smemon wrote:

here's a poem i just made up:

the wind quivers beneath the hallowed turf,
on the ground i see a peanut,
shaped like a round egg.

such earthly soil clings to the ground,
a force beneath the withered oak tree,
the sun's daggers split.

i am old and degenerated,
feeble and shaken like a lamppost,
to which my body sticks.

put that in ye're pipe and smoke it.

It doesn't make much sense so I'll stick to Sylvia instead!

I'm doing poetry by Sylvia Plath (who is my favourite poet as she writes about something interesting!), T.S. Eliot (who sucks), Micael Longley (who is ok). We'll be doing Elizabeth Bishop and W.B. Yeats next term.

What annoys me about the LC Higher level English course is that we go through all the trouble of studying around five poets with six poems each and that the prescribed poetry question is only worth a scabby 50 marks and we only answer on one poet! :mad: So unfair!

Raphael

smemon wrote:

your my new best friend!! dam right there Shelga, thats how it is. a load of waffle from fools that think they're clever. ive a few thoughts on poems:

-all of them should rhyme, all good poems rhyme.
-all of them should have 1 meaning, not loads.
-all of them should be 12 lines and 3 verses max.

thats how u rite a good poem. none a this yates rubbish with a million interpretations and 20 3 line stanza's which ryhme every 6.38 lines!! poetry is out of date.

Smenon's quite an idiot
I swear to god its true
You needen't take my word for it
I leave it up to you

He thinks he makes a point at times
When really he does not
He thinks his crap is quite inspired
He thinks it means a lot

He can go to hell for all I care
That's the meaning of this verse
And freeze inside the devils lair
In Cocytus, there's no worse


In the likely chance you don't recognise it, Cocytus is a reference to Dantes Inferno...but that's longer than 12 lines, so you don't recognise its validity, do you?

Zounds

smemon wrote:

your my new best friend!! dam right there Shelga, thats how it is. a load of waffle from fools that think they're clever. ive a few thoughts on poems:

-all of them should rhyme, all good poems rhyme.
-all of them should have 1 meaning, not loads.
-all of them should be 12 lines and 3 verses max.

thats how u rite a good poem. none a this yates rubbish with a million interpretations and 20 3 line stanza's which ryhme every 6.38 lines!! poetry is out of date.

Just when I think I've seen the most ignorant person the internet can produce I'm inevitably proven wrong. Funny, isn't it?

Nice work Raph, btw.

Dagnir Glaurung

smemon wrote:

its my opinion on it. don't expect everyone to agree with me. it's blunt, honest and to the point.

i dont see the point of poetry and why we're forced to learn it in the 21st century.

here's a poem i just made up:

the wind quivers beneath the hallowed turf,
on the ground i see a peanut,
shaped like a round egg.

such earthly soil clings to the ground,
a force beneath the withered oak tree,
the sun's daggers split.

i am old and degenerated,
feeble and shaken like a lamppost,
to which my body sticks.



put that in ye're pipe and smoke it.

What? That poem makes no sense.

the wind quivers beneath the hallowed turf,

on the ground i see a peanut,
shaped like a round egg

That's some weird peanut. Shaped like a round egg? Are you sure?

Wind under the ground?

such earthly soil clings to the ground,

Earthly soil? What other type do you commonly see?

a force beneath the withered oak tree,

Why are oak trees in bad poetry always 'withered'? Heck, even calling it an ash would have improved this line.

feeble and shaken like a lamppost,

A lamp post is not feeble or shaken.


It's a pointless poem filled with boring and often senseless imagery that starts nowhere and goes nowhere. What was your point, that great poetry is difficult to write? If so you've certainly proven it.

Rockerette

im just curious smemon - do you see lyricists and songwriters as poets?
is there no set of song lyrics that ever stand out to you?


cos i often think of music as poetry in motion..

smemon

Dagnir Glaurung wrote:

It's a pointless poem filled with boring and often senseless imagery that starts nowhere and goes nowhere.

and thats what i think all the poets & their poems ive studied. im proving it doesnt take a genius to write a poem, any idiot can do it. it doesnt have to rhyme, make sense or have any point. so ive produced a masterpiece which we'll be seeing in a leaving cert book some time in the future.

music has..........music in it. lyrics dont matter so long as the music is good. beethoven, snoop doggy dog for example.

Raphael

smemon wrote:

any idiot can do it.

Well you've proved that, anyway.

Zounds

smemon wrote:

im proving it doesnt take a genius to write a poem, any idiot can do it. it doesnt have to rhyme, make sense or have any point.

Correct. However, to write a technically proficient (let alone aethestically pleasing or meaningful) poem requires a bit more.

smemon wrote:

so ive produced a masterpiece which we'll be seeing in a leaving cert book some time in the future.

No. Just no.

smemon

i dont get paid for writing poems, if i did i'd master the 'art'.
i dont like poetry, maybe you do. big deal, we have different opinions - send me to hell

im not tryna convert people to my thinking, im giving it as i see it. end of.

Dagnir Glaurung

smemon wrote:

im proving it doesnt take a genius to write a poem, any idiot can do it.

No; you're proving that any idiot can't write a poem. I showed exactly why your poem was crap, why not back up your claims that the poetry on the course is crap? You can pontificate about the generalities of why you don't like poems all you like but everyone will think you an idiot for it unless you back your claims up with some specifics.

smemon

Dagnir Glaurung wrote:

No; you're proving that any idiot can't write a poem. I showed exactly why your poem was crap, why not back up your claims that the poetry on the course is crap? You can pontificate about the generalities of why you don't like poems all you like but everyone will think you an idiot for it unless you back your claims up with some specifics.

im not going to reduce myself to analysing poetry just to please you! meaningless description, stupid subjects, overuse of thesaurus are all things which spring to my mind when poetry is mentioned.

im not going to go into huge detail on why i dont like poetry or poets, tbh i couldnt be bothered as it's not worth the time. my opinion won't change, as ive said before, im simply expressing it.

proletarian

Hahaha, lads, knickers getting in twists over poetry here! Leave the twisting til you get the papers in June and chillax about it until, yeah?

I'm more inclined to believe the people saying they don't like poetry than the ones rhapsodising about it. I like some poetry, and some doesn't work for me. It's like prose, I mean you don't just like 'books' you like genres, you like writers, you don't like them ALL.

And, come on, doing LC poetry is a pill. The overanalysing sucks any pleasure out of it. There's no point in twirling and sighing about how much you love it, we're not the examiners and you're not getting A's from us.

So like I said, chillax! I won't say nothin' if people are honest and just say, it'd be nice to genuinely like poetry, but, in accordance with the honesty, I have to say most of it is a bit take or leave.

Rockerette

i see where you're coming from proletarian, but im not raving about poetry here, just for the sake of it...


of course theres people who dislike it.. of course theres people who thinks its "ok" or grand.. or whatever, theyre not fussed either way... but believe it or not, theres is some people who geuinely do love it.....!

its not like i just love the poetry on the LC course, hell no, i read a lot of others too... not trying to impress anyone, or get an A... i just enjoy reading it.

so yeah, each to their own....

proletarian

Hey, I'm sorry, it's cool if you actually do really like lots of poetry. Its just that usually if the topic of poetry comes up amongst people of my age, which I cna't say it often does, you get your people who overemphasise a certain poetry-hatred because naturally everyone judges people who show remote fondness for anything school-related with contempt (ok, slight sarcasm, but yeah), and then you get the other extreme, who try and make out that they're the newest members of the intelligentsia brigade, and sound like utter pills talking about poetry that you know they have only ever studied in a school setting.

But yes, my point, I shouldn't have judged. Fair dues if you really like the stuff, I'd like to like it but I'd only be kidding myself if I said I did. The medium is not my favourite.

But so as not to digress form the topic, yeah, I'm doing, er, Plath and Bishop, Hardy, Yeats....ah, you get the gist.

Shelga

The overanalysing sucks any pleasure out of it.

That's my whole point! I think that English classes cause people who love literature to love it even more, and completely turns off those who are only semi-interested in it. What constitutes a good poem anyway?? Maybe I could appreciate poetry a bit more if someone explained to me why it's so damn important. It's the same with Shakespeare- generations of people think he's great because that's what they've been told to think.

Now, enough of my angry ranting at the faults of the education system...where's that chocolate??

smemon

Shelga wrote:

Now, enough of my angry ranting at the faults of the education system...where's that chocolate??

no, keep the angry ranting going! i like to slam the education system whilst also slamming anyone that defends it.

shakespeare couldnt speak english, he's not great, he's a fool. he's no better than anyone else so stop putting him up on a pedestol along with the poets.

ahhh... it's like shooting those discs as they fly out of that machine thing.

Rockerette

smemon wrote:

shakespeare couldnt speak english

that smemon, is possibly your finest quote....

smemon

Rockerette wrote:

that smemon, is possibly your finest quote....

he's past his sell by date and lived in the stone age. why we study his ancient language is beyond me as it has no relevence to today's modern english language.

tell me how i benefit from reading shakespeare?? go on. if i spoke like him i'd be labelled gay and a wierdo. i'd be pushed out of society and everyone would point and laugh. so why don't we do it to shakespeare now??

Raphael

shakespeare couldnt speak english

You != shakespeare.

Oh, and what Shakespeare is writing is essentially modern english. Try reading Chaucer if you want some really awkward language, and that's only Middle English.

Rockerette

smemon wrote:

he's past his sell by date and lived in the stone age. why we study his ancient language is beyond me as it has no relevence to today's modern english language.

tell me how i benefit from reading shakespeare?? go on. if i spoke like him i'd be labelled gay and a wierdo. i'd be pushed out of society and everyone would point and laugh. so why don't we do it to shakespeare now??

thats not my point...

i was merely highlighting your statement of saying how Shakespeare "couldn't speak english" - i said nothing about why you should read him or not... i can understadn if people dont like him..

but he "couldn't speak english"?? - jees smemon, thats like me claiming not to be able to speak english.
hhmmm.

Johnner111

I've got seven poets done. Just T.S Eliot left to do. I plan on studyin every one of them except Yeats because he was up last year. I like all the poets really... I've got a great english teacher so it helps...