Poetry Response: "I Thank You God" by E.E. Cummings

When ever I do a poetry response, it is pretty much a habit to scroll through all the pages and look at the titles of each of the poems. When I come across one which I think is interesting, I read it. However, if it one that I cannot truly connect to or blog about, I go onto another one. The title of the one I ended up choosing for my poetry response this week is "I Thank You God."

I noticed that "God" in the title of the poem was not capitalized. I found this rather interesting because whenever I write "God" I make it capitalized. I chose this poem because I personally thank God too. I continue to thank God on a regular basis rather it is my night time prayers or it is just when I am sitting somewhere thinking. Cummings states in her poem, "i thank YOU God for most this amazing day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes." It is easy for me to understand where Cummings is coming from. I thank God for everything being able to wake up each day and the nature that we have around us. Even though I am not truly a green nature type person, I do believe that the nature we have has been created by God and even if we as people do not think about it everyday, nature is something that we should be thankful for.

Poetry Response: "Unveiling" by Linda Pastan

I really liked this poem. I read it back to back about five times because it had me continuously thinking about how this poem can relate to so many things. It made me think about my cousin and a friend who both passed away at the end of this past summer. I felt like there were things that I did not know about that led up to their deaths. Pastan says, "...just left out a bit as if they kept me from the kind of grown-up secret they used to share back then..." There are times that I feel left out because they both left me and went to heaven. Sometimes I think that there was somethings that they were never able to tell me and now that they're gone, I can only talk to them through prayer. It is definetly a confusing feeling not being able to have them here sitting with me and communicating face to face. I miss their faces.

I've also being thinking about tomorrow being the first home game for our girls basketball team. I remember Kate being so hyper and would give me the biggest hugs on game days. I remember her telling me stories and then saying I'll tell you the rest later because we had to get ready or focus on the game or go to practice, but we would always forget. I think about what were the rest of her stories. What else did Kate have to tell me? I miss her.

My cousin and I weren't very close, but when we were together we would talk. I wonder what we would be talking about this Thanksgiving Day coming up. Maybe how cute her hair always is, how cute her nails are, how her boys were growing up so fast, how cute her outfit was. I wonder what. Probably some girly talk. I miss that.

I miss them so much!

The Awakening: Chapters 35-39

Many things became clearer just in this last section of reading. Edna has became even more depressed because Robert has left her. They see each other at the garden place. While there, Edna tries to make Robert say something but he knows that them being together would not work, so he does not say anything. When they go back to the pigeon house, Robert does not stay long. He leaves because he knows that he could never have Edna has a wife. Edna is aware that her husband will not just give her up to Robert, she knows that she will have to have to make this type of decision her own. She does not want to be in the marriage anymore because she is basically not able to do what she wants because she is married. It is like marriage is the dead end of your life. She knows she actually wants to be with Robert, not Arobin, who she only wants because of sex.

Adele has had the baby and wants Edna to be there for moral support. Adele basically tells Edna how important children are and how you should be there with your family and not make it seem like your children are not even here in this world.

The Awakening: Chapters 30-34

In this section of reading, Edna has a dinner party of only ten people. The ones at the dinner party make up sort of a weird combination. In attendance include Mr. Ratignolle (who comes without his wife Adel because she is way too pregnant to leave the house and who also does not like Mrs. Highcamp or Arobin), Mrs. Highcamp, Victory (a nineteen year old who Mrs. Highcamp is trying to get at), and Madmoiselle Reize (who usually does not even leave her house). Edna wear a the diamond tiara that her husband gets for her on her birthday. The party mainly ends because Victor begins to play one of Robert and Edna's songs. This makes her upset and after the party Edna feels lonely, depressed, and desperate.


Mr. Pontellier eventually learns that Edna has moved out. Léonce decided to remodel and renovate the house, plans vacations (and even makes it known to the newspaper that he taking Edna on a vacation). It is obvious that he cares about what people are going to have to say about their marriage. He eventually takes the bad things she had done and turns the story around so it seems like he is a good loving husband. Edna's personal opinion about the situation is that going towards having a great amount of freedom.

The Awakening: Chapters 25-29

During these particular chapters of The Awakening, Edna brings another man into her life. His name is Arobin. Edna and Arobin hold hands and eventually kiss, but that is not what Edna really wants. Her sexual feelings come into play and that is mainly why the kiss happens. Because Robert has left and she loves him so much, she has basically gotten in the mind set that some man has to fulfill her sexual wants. This is basically why Arobin is around. Chopin says, "It was the first kiss of her life to which her nature had finally responded. It was a flaming torch that kindled desire" (112).

Chapter 28 is only one paragraph long. In this paragraph, Chopin says, "She felt as if a mist had been lifted from her eyes, enabling her to look upon and comprehend the significance of life, that monster made up of beauty and brutality" (113). In this chapter, Edna is just sitting and crying the night that Arobin left. She feels somewhat guilty because she notices all the "external things" that Mr. Pointellier has got her. However, she does not regret what she has done with Arobin. It only makes her feel that her love for Robert is "a quicker, fiercer, more overpowering love, which had awakened within her toward him" (Chopin, 113).

In chapter 29, Edna moves into the pigeon house. I believe this ties to the bird imagery that we have been hearing about throughout the story since the first page of the book. She has moved because she is still trying to show some sense of independency. It seems like she just wants to be able to have something that she has because she got it herself, not because her husband got it for her.

The Awakening: Chapters 20-24

In this section, Edna decides to pay a visit to Mademoiselle Reisz, Robert's mother. Edna finds out that Robert has sent a letter to his mother and has mentioned Edna in the letter. Edna is pretty ashamed that there is no letter sent separate to her. Mademoiselle Reisz does not allow Edna to read the letter but does tell her that Robert wants his mother to play the piano for her. The piece of music that Mademoiselle Reisz plays for Edna is Impromptu by Chopin. Mademoiselle Reisz finally lets Edna read the letter while she is playing the music for her and Edna begins to cry. Reisz also tells Edna what it takes to be a successful artist. She says that you have to courageous and have a soul that is yearning to get you where you want to be. I am not too sure if Edna will take this tip of information into a greater situation, such as wanting to have Robert in her life as more than a friend.

Also in this section, Léonce is starting to question his wife's behavior. He goes to get help from a doctor to figure out what is going on with his wife. The doctor and Mr. Pontellier has mentioned that it is just a phase that women go through that Edna is now experiencing. The doctor goes over to see Edna and sees how she has became hyper and has more energy. He is thinking that all this energy is from having a new man in her life. The only man I can think of right now is Robert.

The Awakening: Chapters 15-19

I believe in this section Edna is confused while hurt at the same time. Instead of Robert telling Edna about his departure to Mexico while they were talking all morning, she is told at dinner. Many people are telling her about the news. She is so astounded by Robert's plans that she only ask what time he will be leaving. When Robert finally comes to see Edna, he cannot give her a date of when he will be returning. I think Robert does not want to express how much he loves and cares for Edna, thus, is cutting himself short of the information he gives her because he does not want to hurt her anymore that he has by leaving.

Edna is thinking about Robert non-stop it seems like. Almost everyone can tell that Edna misses Robert terribly, even Mr. Pontellier. When she finds out that Léonce saw Robert in New Orleans on his way to Mexico, she continues to ask questions after questions about the two men seeing each other.

Also, in this section we are reintroduced to the lady in black and the two lovers. They were mentioned together each time one was talked about in this particular section.

The Awakening: Chapters 10-14

In chapters 10-14, Edna starts to come to many realizations of her life. During Edna's period of time of the realizations, it is referred to as her "awakening". Edna is so called 'moving toward an awakening' beginning in chapter 6. She starts to get the feeling that she is not who she used to be. She thinks she cannot relate to her former self. Before this feeling, Edna has the period of time that she wants to do something that she has never done before. Edna also gets this quick vision of death and has been moved by many emotions that she cannot seem to get an understanding of. This period of 'awakening' continues with Edna having dreams that are not making sense to her. It is not easy for her to tell if the dreams are telling her something or if something is going to soon happen. If something is going to happen, she still cannot tell what it is.

Robert's reaction is described as being triggered by her awakening. He has never experienced what Edna is experiencing right now. This appears to be powerful to Edna. In addition to her awakening, she is 'awakened' by noticing her interests that have never been developed such as art and music.

In this section there is reference made to water and swimming. Edna is learning how to swim, however, because she swims out to far, she is pushed out of her comfort zone. She starts panicking when she realized how far out her has went. The thing about this is that it may not be far for any other person, but for Edna she has went out too far of what she is comfortable with. This was an event that was pretty much prone to happening with her being able to control it.