Remeber BY ALICE WALKER

Remember

Remember me?
I am the girl with the dark skin
whose shoes are thin
I am the girl
with rotted teeth
I am the dark
rotten-toothed girl
with the wounded eye
and melted ear

I am the girl
holding their babies
cooking their meals
sweeping their yards
washing their clothes
Dark and rotting
and wounded, wounded.

I am the woman: Dark,
repaired, healed
Listening to you

I would give
to the human race
only hope.

I am the woman
offering two flowers
whose roots
are twin

Justice and Hope

Let us begin.

On Virtue by Phillis Wheatley

On Virtue by Phillis Wheatley

O Thou bright jewel in my aim I strive
To comprehend thee. Thine own words declare
Wisdom is higher than a fool can reach.
I cease to wonder, and no more attempt
Thine height t' explore, or fathom thy profound.
But, O my soul, sink not into despair,
Virtue is near thee, and with gentle hand
Would now embrace thee, hovers o'er thine head.
Fain would the heav'n-born soul with her converse,
Then seek, then court her for her promis'd bliss.
Auspicious queen, thine heav'nly pinions spread,
And lead celestial Chastity along;
Lo! now her sacred retinue descends,
Array'd in glory from the orbs above.
Attend me, Virtue, thro' my youthful years!
O leave me not to the false joys of time!
But guide my steps to endless life and bliss.
Greatness, or Goodness, say what I shall call thee,
To give me an higher appellation still,
Teach me a better strain, a nobler lay,
O thou, enthron'd with Cherubs in the realms of day.

A Hymn to the Evening by Phillis Wheatley

An Hymn To The Evening by Phillis Wheatley

Soon as the sun forsook the eastern main
The pealing thunder shook the heav'nly plain;
Majestic grandeur! From the zephyr's wing,
Exhales the incense of the blooming spring.
Soft purl the streams, the birds renew their notes,
And through the air their mingled music floats.

Through all the heav'ns what beauteous dies are spread!
But the west glories in the deepest red:
So may our breasts with ev'ry virtue glow,
The living temples of our God below!

Fill'd with the praise of him who gives the light,
And draws the sable curtains of the night,
Let placid slumbers sooth each weary mind,
At morn to wake more heav'nly, more refin'd;
So shall the labours of the day begin
More pure, more guarded from the snares of sin.

    Night's leaden sceptre seals my drowsy eyes,
Then cease, my song, till fair Aurora rise.

From Africa to America by Phyllis Wheatley

On Being Brought From Africa to America by Phillis Wheatley

 

'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
"Their colour is a diabolic die."
Remember, Christians, Negro's, black as Cain,
May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.

Women by Alice Walker

by: Alice Walker      Women

"They were women then
My mama's generation
Husky of voice stout of
Step
With fists as well as
Hands
How they battered down
Doors
And ironed
Starched white
Shirts
How they led
Armies
Headragged generals
Across mined
Fields
Booby-trapped
Ditches
To discover books
Desks
A place for us
How they knew what we
MUST know
Without knowing a page
Of it
Themselves."

 In Alice Walker's poem "Women", it shows that women sacrificed themselves for their children's education. It's about knowing the consequences of what they are doing  but they still had to do it for their children to have an education and to not be a slave like they were. You can tell it's about education in the last eight lines. Education was a very important thing back then, that the parents really wanted for their children. This poem is harsh, strong, and beautiful. I think that this poem is trying to convey that women of her mothers generation had to be tough, but were also loving and caring at the same time. Line five says "With fists as well as / Hands." The fists represents the tough side of women, but the part about the hands shows that they still have a soft touch. At the end of the poem it says that the women discovered books. I think that the end of this poem means that these women did not have much knowledge but they knew it was important for their children to be educated and have a better life than they did. Walker uses poetic devices in this poem. The first poetic device that I found was in lines 12-18. She used an implied metaphor to compare women to generals in the army that are tough and led soldiers into battle. An implied metaphor means that it was not directly stated but you are to imply what she is trying to say. In line seven I think that Walker used the doors that were battered down to represent things that women like her had to overcome. Like women rights movements, and the end of slavery for African Americans. Another poetic device used in this poem is assonance. In line 10 it says "Starched White / Shirts." This line is using the repetition of the "S" sound. The last poetic device used in this poem is tone.  

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Expect Nothing by:Alice Walker

Expect Nothing

Expect nothing. Live frugally
On surprise.
become a stranger
To need of pity
Or, if compassion be freely
Given out
Take only enough
Stop short of urge to plead
Then purge away the need.

Wish for nothing larger
Than your own small heart
Or greater than a star;
Tame wild disappointment
With caress unmoved and cold
Make of it a parka
For your soul.

Discover the reason why

So tiny human midget
Exists at all
So scared unwise
But expect nothing. Live frugally
On surprise.

Alice Walker

It is evident that Alice Walker explains that expecting nothing can be our greatest surprise. She explains that our mind urges for things that we expect to happen and that we are blind by this. We are unable to live life as a surprise.   She’s trying to tell her readers to just live life without a plan and to have fun with it . Life should be a surprise. You never know what life is going to bring next and I think that Alice wants her readers to notice how true that is. She always has you notice how much you have, compared to what others don’t, and to wish for smaller, more humble things than what you already have. If you don’t expect a lot from life you can’t be disappointed, but you can be surprised. Because Alice expects you to agree with her  she uses few figures of speech, and does not support her points. This poem is not trying to explain, or convince. A homily - like a sermon - sets out to reinforce prejudices already shared with the reader.
Example of A Metaphoric stanza:
 "Wish for nothing larger
Than your own small heart
Or greater than a star; "
 Heart is used as a metaphorical equivalent for smallness, a star as a metaphorical equivalent for largeness, and you could argue that 'smaller than your ... heart' and 'greater than a star' are also weak examples of   hyperbole (understatement / overstatement).