poetry critical

online poetry workshop



the plight of men
Inuki

this is the plight of men
 1
which we may sympathize with
 2
but never truly understand
 3
at least, not well enough to fix:
 4
her frail hands with pale lumps of flesh
 5
hanging loosely from the bone,
 6
was not made for this kind of
 7
back-break, stomach churning labour,
 8
she is hardly even five.
 9
 
 
her face is grim and grimy
 10
from being unexposed to the sun
 11
from being overexposed to poor conditions
 12
for so long long long
 13
 
 
her face is emotionless
 14
and her hands are numb
 15
forged so long from the repeating
 16
steady beating
 17
(for so long long long)
 18
of the hammer on the anvil
 19
of the pick-axe on the coal
 20
on the coal coal coal
 21
 
 
of the hammer and the sickle
 22
of the axle and the pickle
 23
scrounging for a nickle
 24
on the ground
 25
on the ground ground ground.
 26

26 Dec 04


(define the words in this poem)
(184 more poems by this author)



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Comments:

"I am not really sure what you are trying to achieve here what ever it is it fails miserably."
morch, you obviously have some valuable and specific things to say.  i would rather get a review from you than so many who say, "fucking rocks!"  
but come on, if you dont know understand what the author is going for, you should shut up and think about it some more, or just pass.
i suggest you review poems you like, or want to like.  then you can improve the writer instead of discouraging someone more daring than yourself.

i am not the author.
 — unknown

I congratulate the unknown for pointing out the fatal flaw of Morchuis' comment, which was the problem of trying to make suggestions for improvements but clearly not understanding the poem. Where I would reprimand the unknown, however, lies in the manner of commenting, as the unknown was possibly a little harsh and rough sounding, and might come off as offensive.

Well, Morchuis. Your comments seem to be well-worded, but I don't think you understand the nature of poetry from what I have seen of your comments on poetry on this site as of late. I also do not think you understand the nature of this site.

Your recommendation of the renaming of this site was a rude joke that I find very offensive.

I'm not sure why you're trying to get me to repeat "grim" twice in your suggestion for my second stanza.

Also, if you yourself agree that you are unsure as to what I am trying to achieve, I am not quite sure why you are recommending changes.

Nonetheless, I do appreciate your eloquent phrasing and the time you have taken to comment, but the intent behind those words does not seem to serve an appropriate purpose.
 — Inuki

"of the renaming of this site"
I mean "renaming of this poem" rather, of course.
 — Inuki

Morchuis,
It seems pretty arrogant
to admit that you do not understand
the meaning or the significance of the poetry,
and then openly critic size
it just on the basis of that
(i.e. plight of poetry).

But on to the poem itself,
the first stanza is my favorite.
It reads as the most genuine and sincere,
compared to the other stanzas, which read
as slightly forced.

I'm not exactly sure if I like the repetition
found throughout here. I don't
really understand it, but I cannot
so soon decide I dislike it just because
of that, though.

The last stanza, however, doesn’t
do much for me. It doesn’t resolve
anything, but is that what you were
going for? I’m not so sure.

If you may,
just explain some of these things to me
and I will come back and reread this
and form a better opinion.
 — Rixes

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