"In The Metro" Poem Summary

In The Metro describes how many desires, including love, can pass you by leaving you with little other than sadness. In the beginning it depicts a man who developed an infatuation towards a beautiful stranger he notices in the subway. He lusts over her physical appearance by mentioning her "shining legs" (3) but if quickly reminded that he will never meet her again because "she goes her way" (4) and he'll go a different way. From his downheartedness he makes it clear he's no sure why he/ll "never meet [her] again" (1). He compares "the escalator [carrying] her away" (7) from his view to a flower flowing down a river to the sea. The man admires the women's ability to go where she pleases while he's "crucified to family duties" (9). At the end he realizes that he is just a man, alone on the platform with nothing more more than "a shopping bag dangling from [his] hand" (12). He has seen love, in all its beauty, but almost as soon as it arrived, it disappears.

"Hamlen Brook" Poem Discussion Summary

Hamlen Brook transforms from a nature poem into a deeper reality of life. The opening image portrays a small stream running through the woods. The speaker approaches the luminous stream describing it in contrast to the "alder-darkened brink". Sweat dripping into the water signifies the speaker had performed an activity to cause perspiration. As the speakers kneels down, they describes a translucent fish swimming in the water whose shadow on the streams bottom appeared to be more solid than its body. The speaker continues to describe the fish as under "sliding glass" suggesting its as if they are observing the specimen on a slide through a microscope. Only the reflections of birches, dragonflies, and "deep cloudlets" on the surface of the water add more layers than reality. Through the speakers description it can be determined that they themselves can not get enough of nature because moments like these are so rare; making him want to return to feel this satisfaction. By stating "How shall I drink all this?" he questions how he can absorb all this beauty in the nature around him in that moment. At the end the narrator writes "Leaving them dumbstruck also with an ache" to represent the shock of complete satisfaction. The poem catches the aspect of the inability to always have total joy because moments like these fade quickly. Permanent satisfaction is not possible. Nothing can fully satisfy people, people are always searching to be happier.

"The Wild Swans at Coole" Summary

"The Wild Swans at Coole" conveys a middle aged man's awareness on the process of life. The opening image is the narrator admiring the "autumn beauty" (1) as he watches the swans in the lake he has been visiting for the past nineteen years. The swans begin to represent something beautiful he can hold onto. As the poem continues, the swans "all suddenly mount and scatter" (10) before he had finished counting. This brings attention to how change is starting to happen by mentioning the painful process of realizing that things change as we grow older and that they'll never be the same. The narrator continues to illustrates how "all's changed" (15) from the "first time on this shore" (16). This change affects him emotionally and physically as the speaker states "my heart is sore" (14). The forth image portrays the speakers realization that the swans are started to grow older, "unwearied still, lover by lover" (19) and how they're going on their own paths to adulthood "wander where they will" (23), assumingly comparing this development to himself. At the end the speaker is looking ahead and wondering if he will "awake some day to find they have flown away," (30) relating to his initatal unwillingness to accept change.

Rebel Still Frame Analysis

This frame expresses the unconventional family connection of Jim, Judy and Plato. The three teens band together because they share in the same feeling of alienation from their families. Jim and Judy pretend to be married and Plato pretends to be their real estate broker; Plato wants Jim and Judy to be his family.

It is apparent from the beginning of the film that the characters are rebellious teenagers who each have different troubled family relationship. The scenes depict the need they have to try to fit in with their peers and find the love they so desperately needed from their families. Judy has been ignored by her parents while Jim is has not been completely accepted by his parents. While Plato has been disregarded by his parents. Now as they are together in this frame, they create a new family and bond over their tough backgrounds. Plato has always looked up to Jim as a father figure. This fulfills Plato’s desire for acceptance from others that he’s never had. However Plato is faded in the frame and Jim is not looking back at him. Although Plato stance is lower than Jim and Judy, implying that he is less than them, Plato remains in front of them, guiding them. This makes Plato finally feels a sense of belongingness.

Jim’s figure appears grand and is the main focus point because he is acting like his father and articulating how he feels about his father which is an instinct that both he and Judy do because of their family’s rejection. Within the scene, the teenagers adopt the voices of their parents. This illustrates how they’re trying to correct what they didn’t have while mocking them. Jim and Judy glance directly at each other suggesting the husband and wife role they portray while on the house tour.

The irregular family connection amongst the teenagers is exhibited through this scene’s lighting, staging, and body language. Jim’s red jacket also contributes to his figure appearing as the main focus point while Plato’s clothing blends in with the abandoned mansion. Continuing on, the lighting in the scene are the candles Plato is carrying. The three candles represent those are the only three people within the darkness of the house. Half of Jim’s face is in the darkness and the other side of his face is lit up. As the darkness is regarded to the emptiness of his true family, the lit up part expressed the connection he has with his new family as he looks at Judy. The angels of the characters the closeness they wish for among each other. The frame captures the growing family relationship between Jim, Judy and Plato.