Blog 11: Poetry

To be honest, I have a hard time interpreting the original poem. It sounds good and it rhymes and has the feel of a song, but I'm unsure of the intent. I realize that this is written by a Scot and therefore contains slang unfamiliar to me. What I'm able to understand is that it is sexual in nature and probably similar to the loss of innocence faced by Holden. Poetry tells a story. It uses language to express emotions and ideas in a condensed format. An example of good poetry is Haunted By: Shel Silverstein.

I dare you all to go into

The Haunted House on Howlin' Hill,

Where squiggly things with yellow eyes

Peek past the wormy window sill.

We'll creep in to the moonlit yard,

Where weeds each out like fingers,

And through the rotted old front door

A-squeakin' on its hinges,

Down the dark and whisperin' hall,

Past the musty study,

Up the windin' staircase-

Don't step on the step that's bloody-

Through the secret panel

To the bedroom where we'll slide in

To the ragged cobweb dusty bed

Ten people must have died in.

And the bats will screech,

And the spirits will scream,

And the thunder will crash

Like a horrible dream,

And we'll sing with the zombies

And dance with the dead,

And howl at the ghost

With the axe in his head,

And- come to think of it what do you say

We go get some ice cream instead?