ANALYZING A POEM

"VAGABONDS" by Langston Hughes

We are the desperate

Who do not care,

The hungry

Who have nowhere

To eat,

No place to sleep,

The tearless

Who cannot

Weep.

This poem was written by Langston Hughes in the XX century. The writer says he is a vagabound and writes which are vagabonds' characteristic and main problems. The poem is composed of nine lines, which are not devided into verses, so it is quite small. In these lines are analysed three different aspects of vagabonds' life. In the first one, lines refer to vagabonds' behaviour, the second one to their material poverty and the third one to their mental condition.

There aren't many figures of speech and the words chosen are simple and concrete. The musicality of the poem is given by rymes and alliterations. "Desperate" and "care" finish with the same sound, like "eat", "sleep" and "weep". Moreover "sleep" and "weep" form a ryme.

In this poem the author does not only describe what vagabonds' life is like. It may be interpreted like a metaphore to human existence. It describes the life of people who don't accept to conform to society and do not manage to find their place in the world. They would like to live a normal life, but they do not manage and do not accept to live that kind of life proposed by society and today's world.

LESSON OF SEPTEMBER 26^th, 2011

LITERARY WORDS:

·         To apply something = applicare qualcosa a;

·         To provide something FOR = fornire qualcosa;

·         Procedure = procedura;

·         Poetry = tutta l'opera e i testi poetici scritti da qualcuno;

·      Poem = componimento poetico;

·         Suitable = adatto;

·         To convey = trasmettere;

·         To deny = negare;

·         Relation = relazione tra cose;

·         Relationship = relazione tra persone;

·         To originate FROM = avere origine da;

·         The earliest = il primo (più antico)

·         The latest = (il più recente);

·         To consider = prendere in considerazione;

·         To take into a count = "  "     "

·         To take into consideration = "   "   "

·         To account FOR = fornire un resoconto di;

·         What = tutto quello che;

·         All that =  "        "      "

·         There is no need = non è necessario;

·         Force = forza (astratta);

·         Strenght = forza (fisica);

·         Discorse = textual forms of organisation;

·         Speech = something said or reported;

·         To influence = influenzare;

·         To affect =              "

·         Con-text = all the influences coming from a period;

·         Co-text = what goes together with the text;

·         Architext = the earliest text showing that particular structure;

·         To be remote FROM = to be distant (not only in time) / something not familiar;

·         To show = to give evidence = mostrare;

·         To be aware of = essere consapevole di;

·         UN awareness =   consapevolezza;

·         To discuss = discutere, criticare;

·         To locate = to set = ambientare;

·         Setting = ambientazione;

·         Milieu = environnement = ambiente;

Textual analysis meansto analyse the interrelationship of form and content.

Oral and written level = level of sound and other level:

• Phonological level = level of sound;
• Semantical level = word choice, semantic domains, use of verbs (active, passive, aspects), tone of language;
• Syntactical level = words order, punctuation;
• Rethorical level = figures of speech (metaphores, synedoch, methonymy, hiperbole, litote...).

In the end the reader has to be able to explain how the choices made in the previous levels make up meaning.