Poem Response #3

Poem Response

Finn Clark

4/25/13

Poems by H.D.

The poem “Heat” by H.D. is a poem about, well heat. It describes heat as being so thick that you can cut through it. That if a pear was to fall into the heat it would be dried to such as a grape. “ Fruit cannot fall into this heat that presses up and blunts” I think by this she means that the heat is so harsh that it is dangerous. As in blunt. Like a dull knife it can be dangerous. Towards the end of the poem it says something along the lines of plowing through the heat so it is on either side of your path. This could be a metaphor for cutting something or trudging on through something unbearable and hard to get through, but doing it anyways and somewhere, maybe, beyond that heat is a place that is cool and lush. Much more extravagant than where you were before. That might be what the meaning of this poem is. That even if other things or people, can’t get through it and might burn up, that if you try and trudge or plow through then you will be rewarded.

The poem “Sea Rose” by H.D. gave off the title to me feeling that it is like beauty in a sea of darkness. In the beginning it feels like the poet is saying like the rose is thin and easy to fall, without flaw, and in this case a flaw is a leaf. The next part says that it is more precious that a wet rose, and it is caught in the drift. This makes me think of the head of a petal floating down a river, easy to run into things but still goes along, and sometimes it will be stopped but will slowly make its way through it. Like life, sometimes you hit bumps and they slow you down, but slowly but surely you make it through it. Then it says that it is in the crisp sand, that drives in the wind. This makes me think it has hit land and then much like the sand it carried by the wind, the flower is picked up by this same wind and then fly’s through the air undisturbed only by the wind’s force. Then it talks about acrid fragrances caught in the spice-rose. So maybe this is the part where it is leaving all the bad parts of the rose behind and carrying in a new shell of its former self. This could relate to life a lot. Like sometimes you have to move on and leave the bad things behind. Like the rose did with it’s acrid fragrances. H.D. has become quickly become one of my favorite poets for such deep poems that she has created.