Great Regulars: After describing an unthinking,

unfeeling "individual," the questions of freedom and happiness represent the height of folly. But then the final comment twists the logic. If T.U.C. had perceived anything wrong in his life, he would have complained, and thus "we should certainly have heard."

from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: February Poet--Wystan Hugh Auden

~~~~~~~~~~~

If, as is likely, the mother raised the child, then he would assume he would live and die as she did. If he were raised by the father, the same assumptions would hold true. But the stereotype of the conflicted mixed race child overshadows the possibilities that the speaker actually has. Because it attempts to air a grievance that has not been experienced, the poem merely offers a glance at a stereotype.

from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: Langston Hughes' Cross

~~~~~~~~~~~

The speaker then avows that in "this wide universe," his Muse--his talent, his affinity for the beautiful and the true--alone and nothing else represents for him the creative nature that he most cherishes. Quite appropriately, he chooses to call his Muse "my rose," the symbol for beauty, which he fiercely defends and lovingly evokes in his sonnets.

from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: Shakespeare Sonnet 109

~~~~~~~~~~~

This type of rime scheme fits precisely into the theme of deep meditation, which at first is accomplished by fits and starts. The speaker dramatizes the journey to peace and calmness that allows the deeply meditating devotee to view the all-important spiritual eye.

from Linda Sue Grimes: Suite101.com: Yogananda's In Stillness Dark

~~~~~~~~~~~