3

The poem “In the Secular Night” shows tragic flaw of humans. The theme of this poem is that rejecting the sacred and seeking fulfillment from the world, leads to dissatisfaction, loneliness and emptiness. This is a tragic flaw of human beings that people always chase after satisfaction and comfort. However, what do most of people get? Satisfaction? In my opinion, people who only pursuit happiness and chase after their own satisfaction often time end up destroying themselves. Also, this poem shows the human tendency to feel lonely. In Chinese character, human is 人. The shape of this letter represents two people leaning against each other. This shows that humans cannot live by themselves but live together with other people, helping each other and satisfying others which also satisfy themselves. This poem’s message is enhanced for me when I relate it to hamartia because I can clearly see the poet’s intention and message of the poem. Also, it is easier to relate to my own life if the poet’s message refers to a flaw of human beings because everyone has that flaw. In addition, I feel the connection with the characters in the poem because it is talking about the flaws that I have also.

2

Poems are of them times hard to understand and just like any other poems, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” was hard to understand. This poem is by Emily Dickinson who is one of the best poets in the world. This poem reveals Emily Dickinson’s calm acceptance of death where she describes death as a man who gently comes to accompany her. This is very interesting because normally people fear death. We can see that Emily Dickinson is saying death is not to be feared because it is a natural part of life. Also it is an endless cycle of nature; you will die someday for sure then why bother fearing death? This kind of also reflects the personality of Emily Dickinson. Because she was reclusive and introspective, maybe she didn’t care about living or dying. I think, because of her personality, she gave up easily on life and accepted death as a new journey to begin. Also, she might have gone through horrible times, such as her nephew’s death, that shaped her point of view in death. Personally, I agree with her point of view in death, seeing as a new journey. I always thought death was not the end of life but a new beginning. Also, death is a great adventure because no one knows what will happen when one dies. However, I do not want to die so soon because I am still young and did not lose many things like Dickinson did. Maybe I would accept death with calmness if I have nothing to lose, just like Dickinson did.

1

Margaret Atwood is similar to me. Her life is greatly affected by the profession of her father. Because her father studied entomology, Atwood spent most of her childhood in middle of nowhere in Quebec. I am similar to her because my father’s profession shaped my early childhood and my interest. Because my father is a professor who moved around a lot all over the world, I was exposed to many different cultures. Because of this, I learned new languages and had interest in international relations. However, I guess, new kinds of art that I was exposed affected more that I am now majoring in art. Also, she is kind of humorous which is similar to my personality. Furthermore, she is a feminist and I am a feminist since I believe that women should be respected in the society as same as men. Furthermore, poems that she wrote are very interesting and the most appealing poem is “In the secular Night”.