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Lvgb8 Posted 15 years ago
Essay & Composition Writing
This is a poem response I am doing for class. I'm unsure of how to improve it or if my explanation even make sense, help would be appreciated.
Freedom
William Stafford (born 1914)
Freedom is not following a river.
Freedom is following a river
though, if you want to.
It is deciding now by what happens now.
It is knowing that luck makes a difference.
No leader is free; no follower is free—
the rest of us can often be free.
Most of the world are living by
creeds too odd, chancy, and habit-forming
to be worth arguing about by reason.
If you are oppressed, wake up about
four in the morning; most places
you can usually be free some of the time
if you wake up before other people.
In the poem “Freedom” we explore the meaning and achievement of freedom. The author uses contradicting lines to express the freedom that comes from choice. He also suggests that our pattern of life is restraining and oppressive and that true freedom is solely controlled by the individual.
The poem begins by telling us that ‘freedom is not’ or ‘is following a river’. It is whichever you choose. It is the ability and the right to make your own choice. It is the freedom to be in control of one’s self and outside the pressure of others. Rivers allow us to travel, to come and go as we please, and they support our lives and livelihood. Rivers present us with an escape from civilization to the freedom of the countryside perhaps.
William Stafford tell us we “are living by creeds to odd, chancy, and habit-forming”. He is telling us our doctrine of a standard life, (school, work, retire), are strange and confining. And that their outcomes are unpredictable and can become a practiced dogma leaving us without choice, taking the freedom we desire. He tells us that the rat race of life, the 9 to 5 job, and the assembly line life most of us live creates “No leader (who) is free; no follower (who) is free”. Not a single employer or employee without choice is free.
The speaker suggests that we can obtain freedom through the individual. Only when you are alone and outside “creeds” “of the world” can you have the freedom of choice. He tells us to “wake up about four in the morning... before other people”, before the expectation and guidelines of society have a hold on you. This is when our freedom is not “oppressed”.
In the individual’s choice “the rest of us can be free”. “Luck makes a difference”, so maybe we should take a chance, step away from societal expectations and take that ride down the river.
William Stafford (born 1914)
Freedom is not following a river.
Freedom is following a river
though, if you want to.
It is deciding now by what happens now.
It is knowing that luck makes a difference.
No leader is free; no follower is free—
the rest of us can often be free.
Most of the world are living by
creeds too odd, chancy, and habit-forming
to be worth arguing about by reason.
If you are oppressed, wake up about
four in the morning; most places
you can usually be free some of the time
if you wake up before other people.
In the poem “Freedom” we explore the meaning and achievement of freedom. The author uses contradicting lines to express the freedom that comes from choice. He also suggests that our pattern of life is restraining and oppressive and that true freedom is solely controlled by the individual.
The poem begins by telling us that ‘freedom is not’ or ‘is following a river’. It is whichever you choose. It is the ability and the right to make your own choice. It is the freedom to be in control of one’s self and outside the pressure of others. Rivers allow us to travel, to come and go as we please, and they support our lives and livelihood. Rivers present us with an escape from civilization to the freedom of the countryside perhaps.
William Stafford tell us we “are living by creeds to odd, chancy, and habit-forming”. He is telling us our doctrine of a standard life, (school, work, retire), are strange and confining. And that their outcomes are unpredictable and can become a practiced dogma leaving us without choice, taking the freedom we desire. He tells us that the rat race of life, the 9 to 5 job, and the assembly line life most of us live creates “No leader (who) is free; no follower (who) is free”. Not a single employer or employee without choice is free.
The speaker suggests that we can obtain freedom through the individual. Only when you are alone and outside “creeds” “of the world” can you have the freedom of choice. He tells us to “wake up about four in the morning... before other people”, before the expectation and guidelines of society have a hold on you. This is when our freedom is not “oppressed”.
In the individual’s choice “the rest of us can be free”. “Luck makes a difference”, so maybe we should take a chance, step away from societal expectations and take that ride down the river.
Top answer
Your teacher might not agree with me, Ivg, and may well give you 10/10; but I think you have written a paraphrase of the poem, rather than a response. " But it isn't a response if I say "Your statement means: your facial configuration displeases me". That's just a paraphrase.
- Your teacher might not agree with me, Ivg, and may well give you 10/10; but I think you have written a paraphrase of the poem, rather than a response.
- " But it isn't a response if I say "Your statement means: your facial configuration displeases me".
- That's just a paraphrase.
- Take the last 4 lines.
- What was your response when you read them?
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1 Answers
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Your teacher might not agree with me, Ivg, and may well give you 10/10; but I think you have written a paraphrase of the poem, rather than a response.
If you say to me, "I don't like your face, MrP," it's a response if I say, "Quite frankly, I don't like yours either, Ivg."
But it isn't a response if I say "Your statement means: your facial configuration displeases me". That's
If you say to me, "I don't like your face, MrP," it's a response if I say, "Quite frankly, I don't like yours either, Ivg."
But it isn't a response if I say "Your statement means: your facial configuration displeases me". That's
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