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My theme is change but within two poem I explore loneliness.

The Giving Tree By: Shel Silverstein

Once there was a giving tree who loved a little boy. And everyday the boy would come to play Swinging from the branches, sleeping in the shade Laughing all the summer's hours away. And so they love, Oh, the tree was happy. Oh, the tree was glad.

But soon the boy grew older and one day he came and said, "Can you give me some money, tree, to buy something I've found?" "I have no money," said the tree, "Just apples, twigs and leaves." "But you can take my apples, boy, and sell them in the town." And so he did and Oh, the tree was happy. Oh, the tree was glad.

But soon again the boy came back and he said to the tree, "I'm now a man and I must have a house that's all my home." "I can't give you a house" he said, "The forest is my house." "But you may cut my branches off and build yourself a home" And so he did. Oh, the tree was happy. Oh, the tree was glad.

And time went by and the boy came back with sadness in his eyes. "My life has turned so cold," he says, "and I need sunny days." "I've nothing but my trunk," he says, "But you can cut it down And build yourself a boat and sail away." And so he did and Oh, the tree was happy. Oh, the tree was glad.

And after years the boy came back, both of them were old. "I really cannot help you if you ask for another gift." "I'm nothing but an old stump now. I'm sorry but I've nothing more to give" "I do not need very much now, just a quiet place to rest," The boy, he whispered, with a weary smile. "Well", said the tree, "An old stump is still good for that." "Come, boy", he said, "Sit down, sit down and rest a while." And so he did and Oh, the trees was happy. Oh, the tree was glad.

|| Barbie Doll By: Marge Piercy This girlchild was born as usual and presented dolls that did pee-pee and miniature GE stoves and irons and wee lipsticks the color of cherry candy. Then in the magic of puberty, a classmate said: You have a great big nose and fat legs.
 * 

She was healthy, tested intelligent, possessed strong arms and back, abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity. She went to and fro apologizing. Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs.

She was advised to play coy , exhorted to come on hearty, exercise, diet, smile and wheedle. Her good nature wore out like a fan belt. So she cut off her nose and her legs and offered them up.

In the casket displayed on satin she lay with the undertaker's cosmetics painted on, a turned-up putty nose, dressed in a pink and white nightie. Doesn't she look pretty? everyone said. Consummation at last. To every woman a happy ending HIghest and Best Purpose ||   by: Robert Frost || In a field I looked into going past, And the ground almost covered smooth in snow, But a few weeds and stubble showing last.
 * **Desert Places **
 *  ||
 * Snow falling and night falling fast, oh, fast

The woods around it have it--it is theirs. All animals are smothered in their lairs. I am too absent-spirited to count; The loneliness includes me unawares.

And lonely as it is that loneliness Will be more lonely ere it will be less-- A blanker whiteness of benighted snow With no expression, nothing to express.

They cannot scare me with their empty spaces Between stars--on stars where no human race is. I have it in me so much nearer home To scare myself with my own desert places.

Highest and Best Purpose ||

By: Edwin Arlington Robinson || All of these poems have change in them but all of the change is different. For example, the change in //Barbie Doll// is very different from the change in //The House on the Hill//. In //Barbie Doll// a girl changes her appearance because of what others say whereas in //The House on the Hill// the house slowly decays in time. One of the major themes in two of the poems, //The House on the Hill// and //Desert Places//, is loneliness. In //The House on the Hill// the house is physically alone because no one is living in it. In //Desert Places// the person is also physically alone but they also feel emotionally alone and is letting that loneliness fill them up. In each poem something is changes abruptly or over time. In //The House on the Hill// change occurs over time, the house slowly deteriorates. In //Barbie Doll// there is a bit of both. The girl diets and exercises but then later cuts off her nose and legs. //The Giving Tree// is another example of a poem which has change over time, the boy and tree grow up while the boy takes more and more of what the tree is willing to give. The poem that affected me most was //Barbie Doll.// This poem affected me because every girl deals with that sort of thing at one point in their lives, at some point there is going to be that mean girl in some form. Also, there are so many people I know that have let mean comments get to them and it's awful to see how that affects them so negatively. When something like that happens to you it is nice to know that you're not the only one going through that.
 * ||  The House on the Hill
 * T hey are all gone away, ||  ||
 *  The House is shut and still, ||  ||
 * There is nothing more to say. || <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Through broken walls and gray || <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> The winds blow bleak and shrill: || ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">They are all gone away. || <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Nor is there one to-day || <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> To speak them good or ill: || <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">There is nothing more to say. || <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Why is it then we stray || ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> Around that sunken sill? || <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">They are all gone away, || <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">And our poor fancy-play || <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> For them is wasted skill: || <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">There is nothing more to say. || ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">There is ruin and decay || <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> In the House on the Hill: || <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">They are all gone away, || <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> ||
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">There is nothing more to say. ||  ||