Sonya+R

  Example of "melancholy" by Sonya Raab

"Eight O' Clock" He stood, and heard the steeple Sprinkle the quarters on the morning town. One, two, three, four, to market- place and people It tossed them down

Strapped, noosed, nighing his hour, He stood and counted them and cursed his luck ; And then the clock collected in the tower Its strength, and struck. A.E. Housman

"Wish You Were Here"
As a top slows, teeters, falls on its side, vacation stalls to a halt. Rain six days running, newspaper limp, sand underfoot, kids frantic-too young for Trivial Pursuit

TV's broken. The muti-movie house has something new, but rain drew the tourists: I circled for miles, there was just no way to park. Back again, she takes up macrame.

I undertake the unnecessary: shave again, sort hardware I dont even own. Cocktails at fire, too much looked forward to. Phone- boothed one night,I call my old flame.

The inadequate mattress receives the blame for dreams I comprehend in the morning. My bearded boss fires me without warning. I drop the ball, lose the JV game.

Robert Phillips

"Old Ladies' Home"


in their direction.
Purpose of this poem



 All these poems were taken from Sound and Sense

The Big Ending!

All these poems fit the topic, "melancholy," in a different way. Each poem is filled with emotion, but a different kind of emotion. They leave you thinking after they are read. One could think about how lucky they are to not be in these situations. All these poems have a similarity that relates to emotion and thoughts. All these poems somehow are about being alone, especially in, "Wish You Were Here," and they could all lead to death as in, "Death of a Young Soldier". Yet each poem is different because of its moving topic. Even though some of these poems are about getting old such as, "Old Ladies Home," and some are about suicide such as, "Eight O' Clock," they all leave you with a similar feeling.

The poem, "The Tropics of New York," had the most effect on me. World hunger has always been a concern of mine. I have done so much to try to help it. I have done the walk for hunger for six years, and raised altogether around $2,500. During this poem, a story is told of a person who is looking at the fruit in a store wondering when the next time they will be able to eat again will be. Flashbacks stream into the persons head of when they were not in this state and they had money for food. This poem makes me even more aware of how lucky we really are. The poem is first talking about fruit and how it looks so luscious, and divine sitting in the window. Then, the poem talks about how it is bringing back memories for the person. The person then is sad, and has to walk away from the fruit. I think this poem can come out as a shock since the emotion changes drastically throughout the poem.