Essay 16

Asia Carter

Hamilton Salsich

Grade 9

Febuary 18, 2010

Sometimes the meaning of a poem, song, or piece of literature’s meaning is hidden.  It is almost as if an author puts gold into a poem, song, or piece of literature’s.You have to dig deeper to understand what is the author implies. 

Have you ever been ashamed of something? I feel that the message the author is trying to get across in the poem OZYMANDIAS by Percy Bysshe Shelley is that you cannot truly hide something. The author is talking about how he found a piece of artwork in the desert almost as if someone tried to hide it. The author read a message that was intended for the few that would ever read it. The saying that you can run but you cannot hide comes into play when I read this poem. Whoever was trying to hide this artwork did not succeed but only prevented from more to see. Eventually most things are found. While reading this poem I was trying to figure out why someone would hide their artwork. Was it not up to the standards of the maker? Or was someone jealous and hid it from the maker himself? Either way whoever tried to hide it, failed.

In the second poem WRITTEN IN KENSINGTON GARDENS by Matthew Arnold I believe that the message is that many things go unnoticed. He says that "here is peace for ever new" but he makes it seem as if he is the only one who actually sees it. He is saying in complex language throughout the poem that if people just opened there eyes and actually cared and believed then this world would be such a better place. Instead people shun anything that they might think of as 'abnormal'. He also says in the poem that a grown up is not the only person who endures work but a child does also, whether its school or trying to fix a toy a child's job is to learn new things and that, like grown up jobs, can be a difficult and frustrating job. He brings up birds quite a bit also. I feel he does this because birds can resemble peace, and most people don't see the magnificence of birds. Such beautiful creatures making such beautiful sound, is actually a fascinating subject. All in all Mathew Arnold saw the side of things that others didn't.

You cant just read something once and expect to understand it. You have to look into the meaning behind the words. If you keep a good eye then you will find more than expected.