Painting by Alex Katz, Ted Berrigan, 1967, oil on linen, 121.9 cm x 121.9 cm, Photo courtesy Pace Wildenstein , New York.
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42 comments:
In the poem Red Shift, Berrigan suggest that people become increasingly bitter and angry as they age. He dose so by his tone while reading the poem and the words that he uses in the poem.
The begging of the poem which represents a person’s childhood is hopeful and looking toward the future. When read by Berrigan seems to have a somewhat hopeful. Also in the actually wording of the poem he talks about “looking at the smilingly attentive women”. Both of these things suggest that Berrigan believes that a person’s childhood is the most optimistic and hopeful time of his/her life.
Next is the middle of the poem which represents the middle ages of a person’s life. The poem when read by Berrigan has an uncertain and confused tone. This suggests that during a person midlife they become uncertain about what they are support to be doing in life. This suggestion is further reinforced by the text of the poem in which Berrigan talks about “Love, children, hundreds of them, money, marriage-/ethics, a politics of grace,/ up in the air”. By talking about how all of these things are up in the air suggests that a person will face uncertainty in this period in their lives.
Last of all is the end of Berrigan’s poem, which is representative of when people are old and nearing the end of their lives. At this point when Berrigan reads the poem his voice becomes louder and his tone becomes angry. Also in the text of the poem Berrigan speaks about how “you will never escape from me…Who lives only to nag”. These two things suggest that Berrigan believes that people when they become old become angry and cling to the things in their lives not wanting to let go and clinging to life.
Berrigan believes that as people age they all go through certain phases of their lives. When they are young they are hopefully, when they are in their middle ages they are uncertain, and when they are old they are angry and bitter.
In the Poem Red Shift, the poet Ted Berrigan explains a poem using diction to show the change of tone as the story progresses. Poets like Ted Berrigan implements many different literary devices into their story in order for the reader to sympathize and bond with the poem so that the reader can find the changing of the tone. The title is also relevant to the poem. Red which usually denotes as an emotion that is relevant to or similar to anger becomes apparent as the poem progresses through from someone with no anger or emotion at all to someone who fills with hatred.
The poem begins with a description of the setting which is substantial and concrete and shows little to no emotion at all. The setting serves as a base to place the reader into the speaker’s mindset. The next few lines “I drink some American poison liquid air which bubbles and smoke to have character and to lean in.” gives the sense that the speaker is actually a person and not some omniscient deity who watches over the winter streetscape. The speaker then goes on to speak about Allen and Frank. Allen Ginsberg was a renowned American poet who, like a movie, becomes very popular and has many poets who admires him very much. Unfortunately all good movies come to an end and so did Allen who dies. Frank O’Hara vanishes into the air which depicts that he dies too early before his time has come. This shows that the speaker becomes lonely and depressed because of the fact that they are writers and possibly friends or idols of his which might lead him to thinking that the time might come for him soon to also leave the realm of the living.
As the poem progress, the speaker asks the question “Who would have though that I’d be here, nothing wrapped up, nothing buried, everything love, children, hundreds of them, money, marriage ethics, a politics of grace, up in the air, swirling, burning even or still, now more than ever before?”. This finally shows a change in tone of how the speaker feels about everything that has been just mentioned. He seems to have once had value in life but now he seems to realize that none of it matters to him anymore. He answers his own question three times. His first answer is a boy who “eyes penetrating the winter twilight at 6th & Bowery in 1961.” This might not be obvious but this is when he begins to have a somewhat angry tone. His second answer which is a pretty girl who “careening into middle-aged so, to burn, & to burn more fiercely than even she could imagine so to go”. Burning represents fire and fire is commonly used as a representation for hate. His last answer to his own question is about a painter whom he said he “who from very first meeting I would never & never will leave alone until we both vanish into thin air we signed up & so demanded To breathe & who will never leave me, not for sex, nor politics nor even for stupid permanent estrangement which is only our human lot & means nothing.” The tone he uses is bitter and very sarcastic because of the fact that in the beginning of this paragraph he is examined to not have those types of value anymore. The values he once had went up into the air which exemplifies that in the end he was most likely abandoned by the painter and that he will never trust someone again.
In the last several lines of the poem he becomes completely blinded by rage. He begins saying “I will never die, I will live to be 110, & I will never go away, & you will never escape from me”. By saying this is being stubborn and is in a denial of dying which show he is afraid of dying. His thoughts also make less sense as it progresses. The lines that states that he is a “ghost that nags” and that he is “all the pronouns” is proof of this and must be confusing to the reader. In the last couple of lines his resolve becomes firm. Life is of no value to him anymore. It is filled with hate and loneliness which is nothing worthy of living for. He finally accepts that he would rather kill himself then continue on living.
In conclusion, the tone changes drastically throughout the poem. With the help of literary devices and diction he is able to convey his own feelings toward the readers all through out his writing. The title Red Shift is befitting for the poem because the shift or change of the tone eventually becomes hate which is what red is usually represented as.
In the poem “Red Shift” by Ted Berrigan the poet suggests many ideas about change and how it can be very negative throughout one’s life. The poet also suggests that speaker failed in trying to obtain his dream and regrets things that he has done in his lifetime.
The poem begins on a cold winter night where a man is walking through the streets on a winter night remembering about things he once had. He describes his two children, Frank and Allen and describes a scene where he is at long island talking to women than he describes it all being thrown up into the air just like he lost everything. The speaker’s life changed from being a successful man who lived in long island to being an elderly alcoholic who is reminiscing about his lifetime.
The speaker describes a boy and a pretty girl who is 19 which would later be his girlfriend. The girlfriend becomes a nagging woman whom he eventually leaves and leaves the currently old man, depressed and wondering the streets drunk and not sure about who he is. The speaker describes himself as a ghost with a body who lives only to nag. That he wonders around the streets and just nags at people.
The speaker describes himself as pronouns meaning that he has no identity. The poet is trying to describe humans or more Americans that try to achieve the American dream because it’s what you’re supposed to do in America and people lose everything because they conform with the rest of America and how people end up unhappy because they decided to follow the path that the rest of Americans tried to do. The last line of the poem “The world’s furious song flows through my costume” adds conformation to my idea. Costumes represent the pronouns that people become and the furious song is the regret that people have trying to conform with other people’s ideas and the world is simply the people who failed trying to conform to other people’s ideas and ideals.
The poet suggests in his poem that people try to conform to each other ideas instead of trying to come up with their own. He does this by describing the successes and failures of people who have failed and succeeded in trying to achieve the American dream. The poet also describes the speaker as pronouns and never introduces him he does this to show that the speaker is many people all conforming and not having their own ideas and identities.
In the poem ‘Red Shift’ by Ted Berrigan he suggests that life is not always easy. There are constant struggles in one’s life, people die, you grow old, and your happiness can soon fade. Thinking about past events in your life may be very hard for some people, and it seems that way for Berrigan. Berrigan shifts his tone from mellow to angry throughout the poem.
The poem Red Shift shows how a person can go through tragedies throughout their life. Berrigan shows a change in his tone throughout the poem. In the beginning, he seems very calm and mellow. The speaker shows that he may be reminiscing about old friends and old times. In the first stanza Berrigan says “The streets look for Allen, Frank, or me, Allen is a movie, Frank disappearing in the air, it’s heavy on that lightness, heavy on me.” This line suggests that the speaker is thinking about how he lost two friends that were very close to him. By saying that it is “heavy on me”, he is trying to say that it is very hard for him to accept they are no longer with him. As the poem goes on the speaker seems to star to become more emotional as he talks about his life.
Reading further into the poem made me realize that the speaker is becoming emotional talking about this part of his life. He speaks about a boy, who I believe is himself, and also about a girl who is nineteen. He says “Not that pretty girl, nineteen, who was going to have to go, careening into middle ago so, to burn and to burn more fiercely than even she could imagine so to go.” The speaker suggests that he may have lost a girl that he loved when he was younger. By saying “to burn and to burn more fiercely than even she could imagine so to go” he may mean that it was so hard for him to watch her go. Also Berrigan says “I am 43. When will I die? I will never die, I will live to
Rogers 2
be 110.” I think the speaker of this poem has lost so many people that were close to him in his life that he is wondering when he will be put out of his misery and die. At the end of the poem, Berrigan’s tone goes from emotional to angry.
As I read the end of this poem I realized that Berrigans tone is now angry. After speaking about his life throughout the entire poem, he seems to finally show anger. The speaker seems to be angry at a specific person. As he says “I’m only pronouns, and I am all of them, and I didn’t ask for this you did.” When listening to the poem you can hear the anger in the speakers’ voice as he repeats these lines. Somebody may have done something to him in his life, and he seems to want revenge. When he says “The world’s furious song flows through my costume” I think he is suggesting that the world is against him, and he has been through more bad times than good. Also I believe his anger is towards the world, because he feels he has been given a life with nothing but tragedies.
In conclusion I believe that Berrigan is showing one man and the troubles that he encounters during his life. He shows how one man can go through so many struggles in his life that he just does not appreciate life anymore. I believe the speaker of this poem has had a very hard life, and expresses how he feels in this poem.
"Redshift"
“Red Shift”
In the poem “Red Shift” the poet Ted Berrigan suggests many things at once; he suggests that time in and of itself can effectively change people not only physically, ageing them, but also their nature. He suggests that change is not always positive. Finally, the most important point he emphasizes is how powerful both love and patterns are. All of his points are defined within the misery and seeming hopelessness of his present situation.
The first point is perhaps the most tentative of them all. Since we are deriving the entirety of our introspective from the narrow confines of the poem, we are allowed liberty to make certain assumptions. Given the fact that the author is reflecting back on his life as it was twenty years ago, this immediately creates juxtaposition between that flash frame of his life back then and his current predicament. Taking into account that he describes himself as fat and is walking alone at 8.08pm on a February night while revisiting his life many years ago with obvious relish he is clearly unhappy now. What we know about the narrator is very limited. However we do know that he is overweight, meandering on a cold winter night, and reminiscing about his life twenty years back. These are not the charectistics of a person who is content with their life.
He has illustrated the superficial part of the change with the obesity and the car crash that his wife became. The non-physical and ultimately more important part of the change is the estrangement. If not for the estrangement, there would not be a poem. Change is often used throughout literature to signify progress, which is nearly always thought to be positive. This is not the case here. The change in this situation was for the worse, at least from the narrator’s point of view. We do not get a glimpse into the mind of the estranged wife, who may well have found the change to be entirely beneficial. This brings to light the as yet unmentioned point that not all that is beneficial is necessarily beneficial to all parties involved, or to all parties equally. Back to the point, this change has plunged our speaker into depression. The first two of the initial three points could for all intents and purposes be combined to one two part point, as both are directly related.
The most crucial point of the poem is how important love and patterns can be. As we our given a basic understanding of the narrators situation, we are not sure which of these he misses more. We aren’t so naïve in audience as to not know that many times many people mistake the one for the other. People see patterns in their life which they may mistake for love because it feels like stability, but really it is because they are creatures of habbit, in their life with one particular person has become a pattern. It is the change which drove the speaker to depression, but it is the loss of the love of the patterns which make the change so significant.
In conclusion, “Red Shift” by Ted Berrigan catalogues a mid life crisis, during which the speaker, upon finding himself overweight, aged, and alone on a cold winter night happens on the realization that life was better twenty years ago. The points it makes are far more eloquent than the actuality of the circumstances. Never the less, the poem provides an almost grim parable of growing older and perhaps growing apart.
In “The Accident,” by Erica Funkhouser, Funkhouser suggests that the husband is
having an affair with the women’s husband and the woman has just come to the
realization that this is going on. Funkhouser uses descriptions, reactions, and other subtle
ways to suggest the affair is going on.
In the first part of the poem, Erica Funkhouser subtly suggests that there may be a
hint of something going on but she doesn’t completely give it away. “She heard the hasty
scraping of sole and heel against the clipped turf of the doormat; than the neighbor rushed
in. (Line 1-3)” This quote is one of the first ways Erica Funkhouser shows that this is no
ordinary situation. As the neighbor comes in she doesn’t knock or even say hello. “She
slid a chair from underneath the kitchen table and sat down, her long legs straight in front
of her like a ladder to a different world, (Lines 16-19)” This quote is interesting, it shows
that the wife thinks as though the neighbor is a completely different world to her, like she
has no way of comprehending the neighbor.
In the second part of the poem, Funkhouser shows us that the neighbor almost
gave up the secret of the affair. “It was when the neighbor answered “yes” to a question
the women’s husband had not yet asked that the women finally understood.(line 20-24)”
This quote shows that the speaker finally sees what is actually going on in the picture.
She can see that there is an unspoken connection between the neighbor and the husband.
“How many times had they eaten together, the women watching wondered. Enough.
(lines26,27) This quote in it self gives away the fact that the speaker knows the husband
and the neighbors are having an affair. She knows they have eaten together many times
before.
In the third and final section of the poem the speaker raps up her assumption.
“She had never seen him do it like this before two-handed, He always liked to show off
by breaking the eggs with one hand. (Lines 40,41)” It shows that today for some reason
the husband wasn’t showing off. This action makes you wonder what is going on in this
scene. “This evening his hands were trembling as he cracked the eggs on the skillet’s
rim,(Line 44-47)” This is the last way that the speaker hints the husband is having an
affair. It shows that he was obviously shaken up at something that had happened earlier
that day. It may have been the wife walking in on the neighbor and the husband having
the affair.
In conclusion, in “The Accident,” by Erica Funkhouser, Funkhouser suggests that
the husband is cheating on his wife with the neighbor. Funkhouser suggests this in subtle
ways using different quotes and certain lines to show the imagery in the poem.
The Accident
In the poem “The Accident” by Erica Funkhouser, she suggests that the husband is cheating on his wife, through subtle suggestions in the description of the scene. The four stanzas explain the encouraging, casualness and comfort, understanding and last, the desperate.
The first stanza suggests how the neighbor’s son suffered by the accident with the delivery van, and nothing serious happened. She was tranquil after all. The tone of encouraging means she is expectant to tell the news to the husband.
In the second stanza the tone of casualness and comfort means how the neighbor was so comfortable in the husband’s house. She came, sat down in a chair, and straight her legs, like if this was her own house. She comported like a family member, doing whatever she wanted.
At the third stanza, the tone understanding means everything. Now the husband’s wife understood what was happening between her husband and the neighbor. The neighbor jus answered “yes” to the question the wife didn’t ask. The neighbor had unspoken connections with the husband, because she knew all his habits, like how he cooks.
The last stanza explains the desperate tone. The husband was so nervous. The secret that maybe was supposed never be reveled, now everybody knows. He was trembling. His hand was shaking. He was doing actions that he never did before.
The conclusion of all four stanzas ends with the main idea. With evidences, we see that the husband was cheating on his wife with the neighbor.
“ THE ACCIDENT”
In the poem “The Accident”, Erica Funkhouser suggests that the husband is cheating on the wife in the poem through subtle suggestions in the description of the scene. The husband’s actions throughout the poem show his uncomfortable feeling in the scene. The neighbor in the poem has many non usual aspects between the husbands which makds the wife very suspicious throughout the poem until she completely reveals herself.
In the begging of the poem, the speaker describes the neighbor entering the house of the husband and wife. She had come from the hospital which her son has just gotten into an accident. The speaker describes her cloths as very sportive as she just came from a jog by showing it in (Line 12-14) “The neighbor was still wearing her jogging clothes--pale blue ripstop nylon, the same blue flame along the instep of her running shoes.” The speaker shows how the neighbor walks into the husband and wife’s home casually as if it’s her own home, showing that she has been there at least more than once. All that knowledge gives us reason to believe that there is an affair going on.
During the middle of the poem the speaker starts by telling us the neighbor sits down in the kitchen table spreading her legs out nice and wide in line (18-21) “She slid a chair from underneath the kitchen table and sat down, her long legs straight in front of her like a ladder to a different world.” This action shows the neighbor giving the husband a sexual move for him to notice her. Her legs spread wide like a ladder explains that she is trying to get the husbands attention about sexual intercourse. Also through the middle of the poem the neighbor spits out a answer saying “yes” when the wife hasn’t even asked a question showing the wife that there is something going on between the two and the neighbor jus told her without given notice. Another important part is that the husband started to cook egg when the neighbor came in without the wife asking him to. That particular action made the wife very suspicious in believing that the husband and neighbor had a communication of such.
The last and ending part of the poem shows the husbands nervous actions, the speaker how he usually cracks the eggs with one hand to show off but he cracked them with two due to the reason that his hands were so shaky. These actions made the wife wonder why he is acting this way and does he have anything that he is hiding from her. (Line 26-33) “How many times they had eaten together, the woman watching wondered enough. Her husband worked slowly, strolling back and forth between the stove, the coffee maker, and the table where his wife and the still-flushed neighbor leaned on their elbows discussing the hazards of dusk.” The speaker shows that the husband is wondering around like a mad man very nervous and suspicious as the wife is wondering why he is acting this way.
In conclusion, Erica Funkhouser shows all different ways to proves that there is a very well good chance of an affair. The husband’s precautions behavior in the same room as the neighbor had the wife thinking ass well. Also the neighbor’s non communication with the husband allowing him to start making eggs as soon as she walks in makes one believe that there is communication between the two outside. Last but not least the neighbor spitting out yes before the wife could ask any question of sort made it very obvious that the two were having an affair and the neighbor blew her cover. Throughout the poem husband is cheating on the wife in the poem through subtle suggestions and actions.
The “Accident” by Erica Funkhouser suggests that the husband is cheating on his wife in the poem, through subtle suggestion in the descriptions of the screen. The crisis is that something has been going on between the husband and the woman next door.
In line “25” the author said “the neighbor knew he was going to cook for her.” This is not the kind of relationship neighbor’s should be having. It’s not normal; this quote brought me back to how come he’s still cooking for her, while his wife is here watching them. This might identify that wife might have been sick or something because if not she would have surly noticing her husband and the neighbor. Line 23 did mention “the woman finally understood” she did know something was going on maybe she was too dense to know what was going on.
The argument that finally comes together was; when the husband cheating on his wife with the next door neighbor? The reason the husband might also be kind of shaky might also be because the neighbor’s son is at the hospital. He might be the father after all. The motive that gives it away is because the husband sounds like he doesn’t take control over anybody “she had never seen him do it like this before.” I mean he must have known about the accident and he wants to know how his little boy is doing but he can’t thoroughly ask because than he would have cause more trouble. The author tries to make an understanding of how confusion it is to finally be on a hot spot.
Another difficult process for the husband was in line 30-31 “his wife and still-flushed neighbor.” This is the part the husband had in his mind that everything is over because the neighbor has said something that catch the wife’s attention that she couldn’t return back. Once something is said you can’t not reset once it’s done it’s done so the this line capture how to think before you speak because people might get hurt by things you think are just simple things.
There are other difficulties involving with this poem that looking at makes me wonder how come he didn’t leave the room and let the girls talk their way out their own little problem? If he did do that maybe the wife wouldn’t get so caught up in this little game that his playing. The reason that showed he is playing a game is because he seems like the type of guy that likes to show off. In line 42 it say “he always like to show off by breaking the eggs in one hand.” So the wife should have know for long ago because if you notice that there is something kind of different about him and the eggs you should have know why he like showing for. It might be because he wanted to entertain the neighbor and not you so. She shouldn’t feel bad now because he’s doing what he doing right now.
“This evening his hands were trembling” it’s not the first time they have been eating together, why is it that it happens today at this evening while the neighbor’s son is at the hospital. He wanted to get away but he can’t because he is trap in a place where he can’t get out of. To have someone you love in the hospital is hurtful, not been able to see or talk to them. You wanted them to know that you are here no matter what happen. But instead you’re in a kitchen cooking eggs. He did not feel like his self because even though he was cooking everything was a mess. The whole thing was a brimming mess. Did he give the lady’s it to eat or did he put every thing in the trash after he was done. This is a mystery.
This poem has a lot of information for those who are using other people, cheating and everything. You have to know how to hide your or else others might know it. Funkhouser brought up a good point on this poem and a lot. Know your neighbor before sharing your life with them.
In the poem “The Accident”, Erica Funkhouser gives off the impression that there’s something more to the relationship between that of her husband and their neighbor. It seems that they have either had or are still having an intimate relationship with each other and the neighbor’s son may in fact be her husband’s own son.
Funkhouser conveys this idea throughout her poem by expressing the tension between the two that the wife also notices. The first eighteen lines suggest nothing of the sort. All it makes apparent is that an incident happened to the neighbor’s son and she stopped by to keep the husband and the wife up to date on her son’s condition. Yet by the nineteenth line the author uses a rather sexual description of the neighbor’s legs, “Her long legs straight in front of her like a ladder to a different world”. The way it’s said is provocative and too sexual to just be in this poem.
It’s around the twentieth line that the possibility of an affair becomes apparent. Without having to ask a question the neighbor immediately knew what was on the husband’s mind. Connections like that are usually reserved to people who are close to each other. Just one line after that without asking her and without her asking she knew he was going to cook for her and he knew what to cook. It’s at this the wife notices and wonders how often they eat together.
While he’s cooking the neighbor some food the wife notices how he’s trembling, and seems to have difficulty doing a simple task, also he usually shows off while doing this same task. So why is he doing it differently all of a sudden? They way the husband is acting seems to be more than how one would expect a neighbor to act, which is usually trying to comfort the neighbor instead he’s beside himself over someone else’s child. That’s not to say people don’t care for one another and their children, but it’s almost like he has an emotional attachment to the neighbor’s son. This is why it’s easy to speculate that he is in fact that child’s father.
Funkhouser suggests this through her poem by how the two interact with one another and with the wife looking on at what’s happening and wonders they same exact thing. The character’s actions would lead anyone to conclude this. The title may have some meaning to it like maybe the husband made an accident and cheated on his wife thus creating an accident, the accident being his son.
In the poem “The Accident”, Erica Funkhouser suggests that life isn’t what it really seems. She suggests this in the way she wrote her poem.
Some may say that the accident was the neighbor’s son getting hit by a van and going to the hospital. What it seems to me is that the neighbor’s son is just an excuse; I think the real accident is the husband’s wife being there that morning. “It was when the neighbor answered ‘yes’ to a question the woman's husband had not yet asked that the woman finally understood. Her husband had not even mentioned eggs, but the neighbor knew he was going to cook for her.” (Ll.20-25) In these lines, there is some evidence that the neighbor and the woman’s husband are having an affair. How did the neighbor even know that the woman’s husband was going to cook for her, unless they have been together and she just accustomed to his cooking. Another piece of evidence that suggests this is that the woman didn’t even know that her husband was going to cook until the neighbor said “yes”.
“At long last he broke the eggs. She had never seen him do it like this before, two-handed. He always liked to show off by breaking the eggs with one hand. This evening his hands were trembling as he cracked the eggs on the skillet's rim, hurrying to slide the whole brimming mess into the pan to quiet the sizzling fat.” (Ll. 39-49) In these lines, it shows how the husband seems nervous, he is not showing off like he usually does to the neighbor; he seems very scared that his wife is there, nervous that she may pick up on something.
In the poem “Red Shift” Ted Berrigan suggests that life changes as the speaker ages and so do his emotions. The emotions are established by the title which explains change that has happened to the speaker through out the poem.
The emotions start with the title “Red Shift” red meaning love and anger, “Red shift” also meaning the scientific term immeasurable. He can be describing how love can be immeasurable and how love can change through out experience as said in the poem “Not that pretty girl, who was going to have to go...”
The tone also changes as the poem’s sections change to more depression tone, but it had to do also with weather he is in “February, fierce arabesque on the way to tree in winter streetscape..” then he was thinking about his past what has happened such as political & love life. I also think the poem has to do something with “red scare” that caused him to be depressed, “who would have thought that I’d be here, nothing wrapped up, nothing buried, everything love, hundred of the. Money, marriage ethics, a politics of grace...” He also can’t think about happy thoughts either “There’s a song California Dreaming, but I wont do that” which suppose to be a cheerful song.
Ted Berrigan suggests that life changes as the speaker ages and so do his emotions. The speaker also wants to be remembered when he dies “I will never go away & you will never escape from me...” The whole Idea of the poem was that the speaker repeated his past what he went through and going through till now. Life changes as it goes it can be for the better or for the worse like shown in the poem.
In the poem “The Accident” by Erica Funkhouser the author suggest adultery between a married couple. No one realized that a marriage can be easily broken by just liking someone else. People have second life to disguise their true self from the other self. The title goes very well with the poem Accident can be the marriage or the accident did when the husband cheated on the wife. First the poem makes the point of the neighbor alluring by making her seem provocative “She slid s chair from underneath / the kitchen table and sat down, / her long legs straight in front of her / like a ladder to a different world.”- Funkhouser. The author made the neighbor very provocative, as if they were seeing each other for a long time.
When the wife realized that her husband is cheating on her is when “It was when the neighbor answer “yes” / to a question the woman’s husband / had not asked / that the woman finally understood”-Funkhouser that quote gave so many hints that she came to the house more then one time and she already know how to answer to the wife’s husband question an “accident” she did not meant to do.
The wife question her husband silently in her head “How many times had they had eaten together, / the woman watching wondered. Enough.”- Funkhouser, the wife is correct as she watch them having their breakfast.
The next move on what the husband did was more obvious Her husband worked slowly… // At long last he broke the eggs. / She had never seen him / do it like this before, two-handed.” The husband put more care in the food without even realizing as if he really cared for the neighbor then his own wife.
Since the husband realized that he made a grave mistake that cause to end his marriage with his wife “This evening / his hands were trembling”- Funkhouser. The wife realized that the husband was cheating her, made him nervous.
In conclusion the husband really did cheat on the wife for a long time without her realizing. So many little accidents can conclude one huge problem; in this case it was this woman marriage to this cheating man.
In the poem “Red Shift”, Ted Berrigan suggests that life is slowly slipping away. Berrigan expresses this in his poem at many different points such as when he speaks to the reader about Allan and Frank, loosing his life. Also he expresses in the title, “Red Shift”. The color red can represent a lot. The author makes it seem as though it is talking about love, life and death because that’s what expresses the most and what he talks about the most in this poem.
Ted Berrigan expresses to the reader about Allan and Frank. He is telling the reader that he is looking for Allen and Frank. Allen is a movie and Frank is disappearing in the air. The reader could interpret this in many ways but he makes it seem like those were once his friends and now there slipping away. Being said that Allen is a movie could be that he went to Hollywood and left the author alone. Also being said that Frank is disappearing in the air could mean that he is very sick and he won’t be able to make it out of the illness that he has. There are many ways to interpret this but the author makes it seem as though anything in life is possible and nothing is guaranteed.
Ted Berrigan also mentions towards the end of the poem (line 18); “I am 43. When will I die? I will never die, I will live/ To be 110, & I will never go away, & you will never escape from me/ who am always & only a ghost, despite this frame, Spirit/ Who lives only to nag.” The reader could interpret this in many ways. The speaker make it seem as though he wants to die, but at the same time doesn’t. Ted Berrigan expresses a lot of emotion, he makes you wonder about life, he doesn’t want to die because he is only 43, but to be 43 and think about death is taking a lot out of someone. And the line, “…Spirit Who lives only to nag…” This line was very interesting because it seems like he may feel like he is a sprit to people and a nag to people so that’s why they leave him. The speaker is confusing at times because he states; “I am 43. When will I die? I will never die; I will live to be 110…” It makes it seem like he cant make up his mind on whether or not he wants to live to be 110 or just end it at 43 because all the troubles he’s had in his life. The speaker at 43 should not be thinking about death he should live his life and leave his troubles behind.
Ted Berrigan has a very unique title for the poem. As the reader, it seems like he really wanted to focus on life, death and unhappiness. The color red can mean a lot of things, but when it comes to a title it seems like he wants to mention love and death. (Line 12); “...Not that pretty girl, nineteen, who was going to have to go, careening into the middle-age so , to burn, & to burn more fiercely than even she could imagine so to go.” The line mentions both love and death. Love because it seems like he lost a girl at the age of nineteen and he cant have her back and now he’s 43 and still alone. He expresses that she had to go away to the middle age. He makes it seem like she died in a fire because in the same passage he talks about death. Also the author talks about being unhappy. He really seems like he doesn’t want to be here but he’s forced to be. (Line 24); “Alone & crowded, unhappy fate, nevertheless I slip softly into the air the world’s furious song flows through my costume.” This line makes him seem very unhappy. Maybe the “costume” is something in his past he can’t let go and doesn’t want to let go. The title “Red Shift” is a big hint to making the author seem unhappy. Also when he mentions “fate” it seems like he was forced to be in this world and this life was given to him not chosen.
This poem was very interesting; the author really makes it seem like if he could have another life he would. He doesn’t want to be unhappy. He doesn’t want to have no friends because they leave him and they go away for good. He wants his childhood back where he could forget about everything and just start all over. In this poem it could really make people think about life and not to take anything fro granted and just live life. Ted Berrigan really relates the poem to the title. It seems like he lived it and is just telling a story in a different manner.
In the poem “Red Shift,” the poet Ted Berrigan suggests that the life can start very well, but simultaneously it can end very badly because some reasons or some other things have to change in the life. Death will come to everyone in the life, whether it is expected or not. When death approaches busily, nothing is possible to bury or carry off by oneself, in this time everything become insignificant by the poet uses different word choices to change in his emotion, tone and his disaffection to the death. Also, he uses the title of the poem to expresses his emotion. The color red can represents to anger and the shift can represents he keep change his tone in the poem.
First, the poet establishes his point based on word choices to change his emotion when he speaks the poem and he divides the poem up into small sections. At the beginning of the poem, the poet said with normally way to us about himself, he mentioned the time 8:08 P.M. which he started writing this poem to tell us about himself. Then, he mentioned the characters Allen, Frank and himself. These two men show him about the death must come to everyone in the life by he saying “Allen is a movie, Frank disappearing in the air, it’s Heavy with that lightness, heavy on me, I heave through it, them, as”. In this point, he foreshadows that his death will be coming soon after these two men.
In addition, he tells us about his past and what he had during his life in the next section of the poem. In this section, his tone start to change by saying, “Wrapped up, nothing buried, everything Love, children, hundreds of them, money, marriage ethics, a politics of grace, up in the air”. He thinks all those things are disappear and will not follow him when death is coming. Then he mentioned few more people, an innocent and young girl that only nineteen must dies without choice in 1961. The next person he mentioned is the painter. The painter should be someone very important in his heart based on he said, “I would never & never will leave alone until we both vanish into the thin air”. He not willing to leave the painter alone until the last moment of the life, it demonstrates the painter must be one of the significant people in his life. Finally, his tone change to anger seems he yelling to death by saying, “I will never die, I will live to be 110, & I will never go away, & you will never escape from me”. In here, he expresses his disaffection to the death. He thinks he will never die, nothing will leave away from him. He feels alone, depressed and anger in this time.
In conclusion, the poet uses his different word choices, the change in his tone from normally to anger and the title to show his thesis statement of the poem. The title “Red Shift” can foreshadows the poet’s tone change in the poem. The color red can represents the poet’s anger by speaking the poem, and shift can represents his emotion when he speaking the poem. Also, he suggests that death will come to everyone in the life, whether it is acceptable or not. This is the process which does not choose in the life.
In the poem RED SHIFT, Ted Berrigan suggests that time can effectively change people, and the change may not always be positive. He also emphasizes how love and patterns are both very powerful and are defined by the hopelessness of his resent situation.
Ted Berrigan states that he is now 43 and is wondering to himself when will I die? He has grown, not only in age but also in emotion. Ted Berrigan and his wife have broken up from a harsh relationship and he believes that he has changed her life, even if she doesn’t believe so. “I came into your life to change it & I did so & now nothing will ever change that, and that’s that.” Even though they are divorced, Ted Berrigan believes that he has changed his wife’s life and will accept nothing more.
In the line “The world’s furious song flows through my costume.” Ted Berrigan believes that he has experienced life at its true meaning. He has lived as a young man and has enjoyed his times. He got married and was loved by his wife and then as he suggests, emotions changed as long with age, and the marriage didn’t work. He and his wife divorced, but as he explains, the marriage has changed both his life and his wife’s. Now, Ted Berrigan is ready for anything. He has already witnessed life by true meaning and believes nothing can get worse. The only thing left for him in life is death, but when will he die? “I am 43. When will I die? I will never die, I will live to be 110, & I will never go away, & you will never escape from me who am always & only a ghost, despite this frame, Spirit Who lives only to nag.” Ted Berrigan believes that love has patterns and is recited in his hopelessness of his life. His wife has gone through with these patterns, along with him. No matter how much she wants to forget him, she will not be able too. The love will always be there and she will feel guilty for the divorce, but he didn’t ask for it, she did. From now on, he will live too her as only a nag that she will never be able to get rid of. He will never die to her and she will never escape from him.
Lastly, along with Ted Berrigan changing his wife and believing that she will never escape from him, Ted Berrigan believes that change is not always positive. Considering that he lived a good life and is now sitting somewhere wondering what possibly could have happened? “The streets look for Allen, Frank, or me, Allen is a movie, Frank disappearing in the air.” Ted Berrigan emphasizes that not only his life has changed dramatically. Allen who is now very famous now, is probably living a good life. Frank, has died and Te Berrigan believes that his spirit is somewhere in the air, because he will never be forgotten. Ted Berrigan is now probably asking, what will happen to me? With this question, he knows whatever happens, he will have went through life the right way and have experienced much of what life is worth.
In conclusion, the idea of this poem is very important. Life should be lived asking questions and wondering, what will happen next? No matter what anyone wants to believe, life changes for both the better and the worse. People experience things that they may not want too but it’s just the flow of life. Love has patterns, and some people will experience those patterns as Ted Berrigan has. We will all die, but no one knows exactly when. Life must be lived curious to experience more and more.
Michael Gilardi The Way I See Ted Berrigan
In the poem “Red Shift,” Ted Berrigan suggests that even after becoming a poet he will not be happy without his love. He shows us through the words of… “Never leave me”…“never escape me”…“American poison”…“Alone”…and “Unhappy”.
In the First stanza, he tells us a little about what he is doing at the moment. He tells us that it is 8:08 p.m. on a February night. Some people suppress themselves by drinking alcohol or smoking, which he tells us that he is doing through the words of, “I drink some American poison liquid…” and “smoke to have some character and to lean in.” He also mentions Allen and Frank, which are two authors he looked up to.
Ted Berrigan changes his tone in the second stanza, when he starts to mention things from twenty years ago. Here he tells us about a man smoking, “…looking at the smiling attentive woman”. The man he mentions is himself when he had first talked with the woman, whom has made him depressed. He questions, “Who would have thought that I’d be here…,” meaning that he never would have thought this would happen to him.
In the third stanza, Ted Berrigan brings up another moment from the past which took place in 1961. He mentions a boy as well as a pretty nineteen-year old girl. The nineteen-year old girl is his love, while the boy is himself. This must have been their first sighting. He also mentions a painter which he, “…would never and will never leave alone…” until they both, “…vanish into the thin air…”, or die. The painter could have been the reason why his love left him. She could have had an affair with the painter, which could be the reason why he will never trust him again.
In stanza four he says some things out of depression. He mentions how the air, “…will never leave me, not for sex, nor politics, nor even for stupid permanent estrangement…”. These might have been some of the reasons why his wife left him. The words “…not for sex…” tie into the possibility of an affair with the painter. He brings up the song, “California Dreaming”, and mentions “…I won’t do that…”.
He goes back to talking about current information in the fifth stanza. Here, Ted tells us that he is fourty-three years old and questions, “When will I die?” He then states, “I will never die, I will live to be 110…”.
He then has a sixth stanza which he uses to send messages to his former love. We can prove this because he uses words such as, “you” and “your”, repetitively with most of his statements. He says that he will never go away and, “…you will never escape from me...,” which is telling his former love that she will never get away or forget about him. Through the words of, “Who lives only to nag.” he tells her that he is going to continue to nag her. He tells her that, “I came into your life to change it…,” most likely for the better and, “it did so and now nothing will ever change that…”. He probably says this to make her regret her mistake. He’s trying to make her feel bad and show her that he was just trying to make her happy when they were together.
Ted Berrigan finishes the poem by stating again that he is in an, “Alone and crowded, unhappy fate”. This shows us that he still is not and will not get over his former love. He says “I slip softly into the air...,” meaning that now he feels invisible. Berrigan feels like he is nonexistent and he feels like he has nobody left. Berrigan compares himself to a costume, meaning he feels like he is not the same person. Throughout the poem, “Red Shift,” Ted Berrigan shows us that he will not be happy without his former love.
John Nguyen
9/15/08
In the poem “Red Shift”, the poet Ted Berrigan uses tone through diction. Berrigan illustrates the meaning of “Red Shift” to the audience through expressing literary devices such as symbolism and imagery as the speaker speaks.
First, the speaker introduces Allen and Frank saying, “The streets look for Allen, Frank, or me, Allen / is a movie, Frank disappearing in the air, it’s / Heavy with that lightness, heavy on me, I heave / through it, them,…”. Allen Ginsberg and Frank O’Hara are both famous poets that influence Berrigan. Allen “is a movie” symbolizing and showing imagery of how famous he becomes. Frank “disappearing in the air” illustrates that Frank has died at a young age which also gives imagery of death. The speaker “heave through it, them,” towards Allen and Frank illustrating that he lives on even though the poets that influences himself to write. The speaker’s tone of voice here is depressing because two famous poets died.
Next, the speaker says, “Who would have thought that I’d be here, nothing / wrapped up, nothing buried, everything, / Love, children, hundreds of them, money, marriage-ethics, a politics of grace, / Up in the air, swirling, burning even or still, now / more than ever before?” is relevant to Allen and Frank. “Love” illustrates the passion he has for the famous poets. “Love” also symbolizes red to the title, “Red Shift”. The speaker also illustrates something “Up in the air,” like memories “swirling” around in his head. The speaker begins pondering about “burning even or still, now / more than ever before?” illustrates whether or not the poets still concern him because of memories. The speaker is giving an imagery of a burning flame as if it is “burning even or still,” to his memories. The speaker’s tone here is curiosity because he questions himself.
Afterwards, he says, “I am 43. When will I die? I will never die, I will live / To be 110, & I will never go away, & you will never escape from me / who am always & only a ghost, despite this frame, Spirit / who lives only to nag. I’m only pronouns, & I am all of them, & I didn’t ask for this / You did / I came into your life to change it & it did so & now nothing / will ever change / That, and that’s that”. As he speaks, he becomes enraged and rants that “You did I came into your life to change it & it did so & now nothing will ever change That, and that’s that” which illustrates what has happened is done. The speaker becomes angry because of his wife, and also the death of the famous poets. His tone of voice is anger because he can’t change what’s done. Imagery in here comes in play as if the speaker is an old man nagging everyday. Anger also symbolizes red which relates to “Red Shift”.
Moreover, the idea of the poem “Red Shift” is becoming develop as the audience reads the poem. The poem builds as its being told. The term “Red Shift” is a scientific word that explains a way to measure immeasurable things. The color red in “Red Shift” illustrates love and anger which are also emotions that are immeasurable. The speaker creates meaning to “Red Shift” through the choice of dictions he speaks. As he talks, the tone of voice is being shown. The title “Red Shift” also relates to another political point in time the “Red Scare”. The “Red Scare” is anti-communism at the time. People were scared of communism all around. They both have the color “Red” in common. “Red Shift” is brought up by diction, giving imagery, symbolism, and tone as he speaks. Symbolism, imagery, and the choice of dictions are important as it builds through the poem because it gives the reader an idea of the title “Red Shift”.
In the poem Red Shift, the poet “Ted Berrigan” suggests that the lift is alone, gloomy and melancholy. In the poem, I walked in the winter streetscape alone. It was a cold night. Until I was 43 I didn’t have love children money and so on. He asked himself that who never leave him. The answer is no people never leave him. He asked himself that when will he die also. But his thought was very contradiction. The last sentence means he was very sad at that time.
At the beginning, it said he was in a street. Then the street was looking for somebody. It means that there was no more people in the street. The lightness was heavy to him. I think the lightness means the tomorrow. The life was difficult to him.
In the middle, it said that he didn’t have love, children, money and so on. In almost 20 years, he did nothing. But the world is also moving. The sun always come up in the east. He thought that no one had never leave him.
At the end, he asked himself when he will die. But he said he will never die, he never go away. He wanted to changed someone’s life and his life. The last two sentences mean that he wanted die.
In the “Red Shift” , The title mention the color red. Can be mean love and anger. Ted Berrigan suggests that are things that can not be help in the life of a man. Such as the time that can not get back. No matter how hopeless you will become or how anger might get into. There still, nothing can do or change anything that already done. And the things that he did not do in the past. In the beginning of the poem:“air is biting”, “drink some American poison”, “smoke”. Sounds pretty normal, quite. But also sounds just like follow the flow, that already gave up. But then, he mention about the life before. “twenty years almost ago, and the man smoking Is looking at the smilingly attentive woman, & telling.” He’s mind is in twenty years ago, but he is actually lost all those times. And as the more he thinks, the more hopeless he gains. “ I am 43. When will I die? I will never die, I will live To be 110, & I will never go away, & you will never escape from me.”here talks about his
age and sounds kind of out of mind. Which mean twenty years ago, he was twenty-three.
The highest point in a person’s life. And yet that he can not believe that he lost the most
important time in his life that can not be get back. Also normally people won’t say they
will never die. And mostly they say it because they can not accept what is happening to themselves and don’t want to believed. Then , at then end of the poem, shows most hopeless. In the life of speaker, there maybe someone that he love so much. But he miss the chance. There “unhappy fate, nevertheless”, no matter what did happen, before. No matter what he did before. This is what he get after all. And not thing can change anymore. Because this is the end of the story. This is what Ted Berrigan try to tell, maybe living in today thinks there still many time left. But after one moment, today will become yesterday that never come back.
The “Red Shift” by Ted Berrigan
In the poem “Red shift,” the poet Ted Berrigan suggest that he thought that he would never make it to were he did. He never thought that his carrier was going to take off the way it did. He wrote this poem to express his feelings and to leave the rest of the people something that he did. This poem was written to tell the people about his success and how he never thought he would have everything he did, money, kids, wife, and ethics. To me this sounds like he had something that would not let him live longer than he did.
To me he shows his point by how he ended his poem, “alone & crowded, unhappy fate.” this words just stand out. These tells me that he wrote this poem to tell about his life and to leave the world with something to remember him by. The words “I am only pronouns, & I am all of them.” that tells me that he is referring to the poem as his life story and were the meaning comes from.
The title of the poem tells me that this poem went from being good to being bad. In order to get to the point of the poem you have to do a lot of background search In order to understand what the poet is trying to say. If you don’t do that the meaning is harder to understand. With out you having any background knowledge you are not going to be able to understand what this poem is trying to tell you.
Some people would say that this poem had to do with the time the usa had the great scare but I would say no to the thought. This is because I don’t see any evidence while I was reading the poem. The title may be kind of close to the red scare but it still does not prove that this poem is close to , this does not signify that it means that.
2.Cuevas
This poem may take you a long time to understand but when you understand, you can understand the meaning of it. In order to achieve this purpose you have to study the poem line by line and seen how they make since to the life of the author/ this is the way to find the meaning of this poem, and to understand what the poet is suggesting.
In the poem the accident, the poet Erica Funkhouser suggested not only the neighbor's son has an accident, but also the husband's wife has accident. The accident is unpredictable and something we can't control. The poem the accident also manifests the disbelief between person and person. The poet Erica Funkhouser establishes his point by using implication method. I divided the poem into three sections. In the first section, the poet Erica Funkhouser describes the neighbor's son has an accident. "He had been grazed by a delivery van / while crossing the street on his bike." In the second section, the poet Erica Funkhouser describes the neighbor's personality and looks. The neighbor is a beautiful woman. "She slid a chair from underneath / the kitchen table and sat down, / her long lags straight in front of her / like a ladder to a different world." In the last section, poet Erica Funkhouser describes the relationship between the neighbor and husband by using the implication method, and also shows the disbelief between the husband and wife. "It was when the neighbor answered "YES" / to a question the woman's husband / had not yet asked." This sentence implicates that they might had eaten together for many times. "How many times had they eaten together, / the woman watching wonder." This shows the woman disbelieves her husband. "She had never seen him / do it like this before, two-handed. / He always liked to show off / by breaking the eggs with one hand." This scene shos the husband was nervous. He did some strange things today. He fears his wife figure out the extraordinary relationship between him and the neighbor. In my view, the diebelief between the wife and the husband goes deeper. The husband didn't use both hands to break eggs before, it doesn't mean he can not use both hand to break eggs now. I think the poet Erica Funkhouser wants to show the extraordinary relationship between the neighbor and the husband, and also shows the accident is unpredictable. It could happen around us. In another hand, the poet Erica Funkhouser wants to show disbelief between the wife and the husband, the disbelief between person and person in our society.
“The Accident,” by Erica Funkhouser
In “The Accident,” by Erica Funkhouser, Funkhouser suggests that the husband is
having an affair with the women’s husband and the woman has just come to the realization that this is going on. Funkhouser uses descriptions, reactions, and other subtle ways to suggest the affair is going on.
In the first part of the poem, Erica Funkhouser subtly suggests that there may be a
hint of something going on but she doesn’t completely give it away. “She heard the hasty
scraping of sole and heel/ against the clipped turf of the doormat;/ than the neighbor rushed
in. (Line 1-3)” This quote is one of the first ways Erica Funkhouser shows that this is no
ordinary situation. As the neighbor comes in she doesn’t knock or even say hello. “She
slid a chair from underneath/ the kitchen table and sat down,/ her long legs straight in front
of her /like a ladder to a different world, (Lines 16-19)” This quote is interesting, it shows that the wife thinks as though the neighbor is acompletely different world to her, like she
has no way of comprehending the neighbor.
In the second part of the poem, Funkhouser shows us that the neighbor almost gave up the secret of the affair. “It was when the neighbor answered “yes”/ to a question the women’s husband had not yet asked /that the women finally understood.(line 20-24)”
This quote shows that the speaker finally sees what is actually going on in the picture.
She can see that there is an unspoken connection between the neighbor and the husband.
“How many times had they eaten together,/ the women watching wondered. Enough. (lines26,27) This quote in it self gives away the fact that the speaker knows the husband and the neighbors are having an affair. She knows they have eaten together many times
before.
In the third and final section of the poem the speaker raps up her assumption. “She had never seen him do it like this before two-handed,/ He always liked to show off by breaking the eggs with one hand. (Lines 40,41)” It shows that today for some reason the husband wasn’t showing off. This action makes you wonder what is going on in this
scene. “This evening his hands were trembling /as he cracked the eggs on the skillet’s
rim,(Line 44-47)” This is the last way that the speaker hints the husband is having an
affair. It shows that he was obviously shaken up at something that had happened earlier
that day. It may have been the wife walking in on the neighbor and the husband having
the affair.
In conclusion, in “The Accident,” by Erica Funkhouser, Funkhouser suggests that
the husband is cheating on his wife with the neighbor. Funkhouser suggests this in subtle
ways using different quotes and certain lines to show the imagery in the poem.
In the poem “Red shift” by Ted Berrigan .The author express his life is red. The red means love and die. It is changed when the age is changed .At the beginning, he expressed his life is very well. Then, he said the life is terrible. And he doesn’t want to die.
At first, he was talking about he is at 8:08 p.m.That means his best time has gone. He use 24 hour as a life. It is dark at 8:08p.m in the day.It is lonely and terrible .He images many bad things.He said "I drink some American poison liquid air which bubbles and smoke to have character and to lean in. "That means he is at a loss. Second, he was talking about his best time. He said "The Calvados is being sipped on Long island now twenty years almost ago, and the man smoking is looking at the smilingly attentive woman, and telling . "At third, he was talking about the impossible thing. He said" when will I die ?I will never die, I will Live To be 110,and I will never go away,and you will never escape from me ."That means he is a unrealistic people .
I think he is a unrealistic people, because he only like young . When he encounter the problem of age ,he will think many bad things.
Kristi Gjikondi 9/13/08
English 12 CP, Per.7
RED SHIFT
In the poem “Red Shift” the author Ted Berrigan believes that life moves on fast and leads in different directions. Ted Berrigan gets his point across by giving examples of how life went episode by episode. By the title Red Shift the author Ted Berrigan talks about his life and how it changes from happiness, and also the struggle and sadness he faced in his life.
Ted Berrigan opens up the poem by saying “Here I am 8:08 p.m. indefinable ample rhythmic frame/ The air is biting, February, fierce arabesques” The reason why Berrigan opens up the poem by saying “Here I am 8:08 p.m.” is to let the reader know the time of life, because time goes by without knowing it. From this point on forward Ted Berrigan starts to talk about his life and how life moves on and changes directions.
After Ted Berrigan lets us know the setting where he is at the moment, he starts to tell us the readers about different parts of his life. About how some were enjoyable and others filled with sadness and hatred. Ted Berrigan says on line 7 “The streets look for Allen, Frank, or me, Allen is a movie, Frank disappearing in the thin air” the author is sharing with the readers the sad part of his life how he has lost his friends. How Allen has died and now you can only see him in movies cause his gone. And Frank is in the air, nowhere to be found. After the author talks about his friend Allen and Frank he changes the topic and tells us another and perhaps a happier period of his life; about his girlfriend.
Berrigan changes the topic from Allen and Frank to a “pretty girl, nineteen, who was going to have to go.” The author is talking about a different part of his life perhaps a much more enjoyable he talks about a pretty 19 years old girl he meet and “I would never and never will leave alone until we both vanish into the thin air we signed up for” Line 27 Ted Berrigan is saying I will never forget that moment and that pretty 19 year old girl until “I vanish into the thin air” line 28
Ted Berrigan ends the poem by saying “I am 43, When will I die? I will never die, I will live to be 110, and I will never go away.” At his point of his life the author Berrigan is facing a conflict about death and how now he is 43 with half of his life gone on the drain and has left him without noticing how fast life moves on. When Ted Berrigan says “I will never die, I will live to be 110” he starts to change his mind about life. The fact that he is still young and there is much more to witness in life.
The reason why Ted Berrigan splits up the poem into different parts is because to show us the readers how his life went and how fast it goes without noticing. And how there is happiness and struggles in life. Ted Berrigan is letting us know there is much more in life than happiness; life deals with many problems and changes. That’s why he calls this poem “Red Shift”. Because in life us humans deal with many changes and hardships.
In the poem “Red Shift” by Ted Berrigan the poet suggests shows a change in his tone throughout the poem. In the beginning, he seems very bad and sad. The speaker's for he life changed from being a successful man who lived in long island to being an elderly alcoholic who is reminiscing about his lifetime. he say “I am 43. When will I die? I will never die, I will live to be 110.” I think he have a very bad life and he think some carzy. maybe heand the middle of he life. In this poem it could really make people think about life and not to take anything fro granted and just live life. People experience things that they may not want too but it’s just the flow of life. this poem think take care about your life.
In the poem “Red Shift” by Ted Berrigan the poet suggests shows a change in his tone throughout the poem. In the beginning, he seems very bad and sad. The speaker's for he life changed from being a successful man who lived in long island to being an elderly alcoholic who is reminiscing about his lifetime. he say “I am 43. When will I die? I will never die, I will live to be 110.” I think he have a very bad life and he think some carzy. maybe heand the middle of he life. In this poem it could really make people think about life and not to take anything fro granted and just live life. People experience things that they may not want too but it’s just the flow of life. this poem think take care about your life.
Jonathan Bastos 9/16/08
Red Shift
In the Poem “Red Shift” Ted Berrigan seems to suggest that a lot has happened in his life. It consists of his inspirations, his love, and his downfall. All of these are things that he will always remember.
He starts the poem off with the time of day and goes on to explain the weather. Ted mentions “American poison liquid air” this refers to an alcoholic beverage. Berrigan mentions 2 people in the next couple of lines, “Allen is a movie, Frank disappearing in the air”. Allen was actually a poet who was around before Ted. His name was Allen Ginsberg. The other person is Frank O’Hara. Barrigan’s is known as Frank’s precursor. In these lines it shows how both of these writers have come and gone. As I went deeper into the poem Ted takes us back in time. He goes on to say, “Love, children, hundreds of them, money, marriage, a politics of grace”. These were probably things he wanted but never achieved. The man looking at the “attentive woman” was him. Ted most likely fell in love with this girl.
Berrigan later goes on to say, “When will I die? I will never die” he is telling people that he will live on through his writing. In the next line he is expressing his anger towards another. “You will never escape from me…” its as if he will never let this woman go no matter what happens, whether he is with her or not. “I’m only pronouns and I am all of them…” A pronoun is a substitute for nouns. I have a feeling he started falling deeper into his writing at this point in his life, he probably felt like it was all he had left. “Alone and crowded, unhappy fate …” Barrigan is basically fed up with his life especially how it turned out.
With this poem Ted Barrigan brings everybody into his shoes. He does a great job of getting everybody to ask themselves, “What is he talking about? It may not make sense at first, but I think he wrote it like that on purpose because I think sometimes he felt the same way about his own life.
In the poem Red Shift, Ted Berrigan suggests that the Speaker’s life is insipid, disappointing, and has no purpose because of this the character’s life is fatalistic from the speakers point of view.
The Speaker shows this when he says “I drink some American poison… and smoke to have character and to lean”. He says this to express that he doesn’t have character; he drinks and smokes to show people he is like them. He has no individualism and only imitates what others do.
The Speaker wants to talk about his life and how miserable it is. The first example is when he says “who would have thought that I’d be here, nothing wrapped up, nothing buried, everything love, children … money, marriage… up in the air swirling”. His life is miserable because he is missing the important parts of life; love, marriage, children. These are feelings that make life interesting and worth. If life goes by and he has none of them there is no point for his life.
In other parts the Speaker just points out different people for example: Allen, Frank, the attentive woman, the painter, these are people who are affecting his life and he only points out the events that are taking place. He wants to be like them because he says “The streets look for Allen, Frank, or me” but he is so disinterested that he is standing there doing nothing. His life is paralyzed.
At the end the speaker thinks about a song “California Dreaming” but he suggest that he can’t do it, he is too old to be dreaming of going somewhere and to start again somewhere else. Later on he says “when will I die”. At this point he has lost hope; he doesn’t want to live because his live has no point. So he suggests that he will become a ghost only to nag or intimidate.
These parts of the poem talk about how simple and insipid the Speaker’ life is. The author establishes his point by the explanation of certain events that occur; he also describes very good people in order to compare them to the speaker. When he compares these two different lives it becomes clear that the speaker is a simple, pathetic person who has no point in life which makes him negative about his life. At the end the Speaker realizes this and he is just waiting to die or become a spirit to bother and make people unhappy just like him.
A redshift is a scientific term used for measuring things that cannot be measured. In the poem Red Shift by Ted Berrigan, the term red shift is used to measure the anger in the speakers voice. In this poem, the speaker suggests that he is angry and frustrated that his girlfriend left him. The speaker is also trying to teach us that rejection is not a good thing and it makes people very upset. He proves his point to the readers of this poem by making his tone angrier as he is reading the poem to us. Here is how the author establishes his point.
At the beginning of the poem, the speaker explains where he is. He is describing the setting to us. When the speaker says "The streets look for Allen, Frank, or me, Allen is a movie, Frank disappearing in the air." The speaker is trying to explain how alone he is. He is looking for his friends but they are no where to be found. The speaker is also trying to set the scene for us. He says in the second line that he is in February and in the third line he tells us how it is in the middle of winter. That is how the author is telling us how he is lonely.
In the middle of the poem, the speaker was trying to tell us about the girl he was trying to pick up in 1961. He tells us how he is in "6th and Bowers in 1961." In line 19 through line 24, the speaker says "a boy, seriousl in corduroy car coat, . . . . . not that pretty girl, nineteen, who was going to have to go, careening into middle aged so." The speaker is saying to us how in 1961, he was trying to pick up a 19 year old girl and he was wearing a corduroy coat. When the speaker says, "to burn and burn more fiercely than even she could imagine." The speaker is already starting to express his anger toward having to brake up with his girlfriend.
The end of the poem is where the speaker's anger comes out the most. The speaker says "I came into your life to change it and it did so, and now nothing will ever change that, and thats that." The speaker is speaking angrily about his ex girlfriend. He is telling her how she made a big mistake by breaking up with him. Then in the last couple of sentances, the speaker once again tells the reader how lonely he is. He mentions how he is "alone and crowded." he also restates his anger by saying how "the worlds furious song flows throughhis costume."
In the poem RED SHIFT bu Ted Berrigan, the speaker is trying to explain to the reader how he is very angry about his girlfried brreaking up wit him, and he also is trying to explain to us how miserable and depressed he is. He does this by using a very angry tone. That is how the speaker proves his point to the audience.
The Accident”
In “the accident” by Erica Funkhouser, Funkhouser suggest that the husband is cheating on his wife with the neighbor, thought suggestions in the description on the scene.
In the first paragraph is explaining how the child had a bad accident, and he was in observation, then they went home and the neighbor was watching them and she was wearing the same jogging cloths.
When they all went to the house, the wife was sitting down at the kitchen table, and the husband was cooking.
The neighbor walked inside the house and she sat down next to the wife and she answered “yes”. The wife was curious and thinking why she said yes, she knew something was going on, she seen that her husband was getting nervous. The neighbor knew that the husband was going to cook eggs, she was watching and wondering.
The husband was working slowly, and he was working with to hands when he cracked the eggs, the wife was surprise cause she never seen him cooked with two hands.
Conclusion:
The meaning of the title the accident is not about the accident that happened with the child, the meaning is what the neighbor said “she answer yes” and that’s when the wife was suspicious, and the wife was thinking how the neighbor knows, the husband was going to cook.
In the poem “Red Shift” the author Ted Berrigan, Believe in lasting relationship and also reflecting back to memories when he was little kid. The reason why I said that is because in the poem. He said “he meet a smilingly attentive women, smart at a party, in long island about twenty years almost ago. He was also happy by seen the women, who would have thought that I’d be there to see her, nothing wrapped up, nothing buried, everything love, children, hundreds of them, money, marriage ethics, a polities of grace, also commitment to each other and no break up in union, he would never and never will leave alone until we both vanish into the thin air we signed up for and so demanded to breathe and who will never leave me, not for sex, nor politics nor even for stupid permanent estrangement which is only our human lot and means nothing. By this point I think that he like the girl that he meets at the party so much. I mean the lasting relationship, when he said “when I will die, I will never die, I will live to be 110 and I will ever go away, and you will never escape from me. Who is always and a ghost, despite this frame spirit. Who lives only to nag? He saying that he will never live her no matter, why happened even in his death he will still be a part of her life. The lesson of this poem is that if you love someone so much you have to commitment to them and also be there when for them when they need you.
In the poem “Red Shift”, The poet Ted Berrigan suggest that growing old is difficult B/c it leaves one alone, bitter and regretful. The author has the speaker shift his tone throughout the poem.
Towards the end of the poem the speaker seems to become angry when he starts off saying “there’s a song California dreaming, but no, I won’t do that I’m 43. When will I die? I will never die, I will live to be 110, and I will never go away, and you will never escape from me who am always and only a ghost, despite this frame, spirit who lives to nag. I’m only pronouns, and I am all of them, and I didn’t ask for this you did”. I believe the speaker is trying to say that he probably felt like he did so much for his country that he doesn’t want to go away when he say “I will never die, I will never go away.
In the poem the author has the speaker speak in different tone throughout the poem in the middle of the poem the speakers tone is in more of a bitter/ loneliness tone for example when he say “ not that pretty girl, nineteen, who was going to have to go, careening into middle age so, to burn, and to burn more fiercely than even she could imagine so to go. Not that painter who from very first meeting
I would never and never will leave alone until we both vanish into the thin air we signed up for and so demanded to breathe and who will never leave me, not for sex, nor politics estrangement which is only our human lot and means nothing no, not him.
At the end of the poem the speakers tone becomes more regretful the last six lines of the poem he says “I came into your life to change it and it did so and how nothing will ever change that, and that’s that. Alone and crowded, unhappy fate, nevertheless I slip softly into the air the worlds furious song flows through my costume.
Due to the following quotes Berrigan shows in his poem that the speaker might be a bitter, lonely, and regretful man that’s going through life in a difficult way. I say this because he kind of rambles on about no one leaving him for anything, and dying, he doesn’t want to leave the earth, and for that I believe he doesn’t want to grow old and face life with all of it’s trouble in it.
"The Accident"
In the poem, “The Accident,” Erica Funkhouser suggests that the woman is going through the process of betrayal from finding her husband and neighbor together. Funkhouser displays the actions of how the people in the poem act and react to each other. The simplest actions shown throughout the characters quickly give away the scene in the poem.
Funkhouser shows how the neighbor comes into a couple’s home from the hospital in the beginning of the poem. “She heard the hasty scraping of sole and heel against the clipped turf on the doormat.” The neighbor comes inside the house unexpected by a woman while she sits down at the kitchen table. As she sat down “her long legs straight in front of her like a ladder to a different world,” there was a reason why she was there with the couple. The “ladder to a different world,” is a place where the wife has never been since she did not know it had existed until her husband’s and neighbor’s interactions with each other.
The neighbor and the husband seem to have a connection the wife was realizing throughout the poem. “It was when the neighbor answered “yes” to a question to the woman’s husband had not yet asked.” The woman didn’t take long to realize what was going on between her husband and neighbor. “The neighbor knew he was going to cook for her. But how many times have they eaten together. Enough” As she was watching how her husband went cooking for their neighbor, the “still-flushed neighbor” was blushing showing embarrassment, nervousness, or guilt to the wife. While the husband was preparing food for the neighbor, the way he was cooking the food gave away the guilt the husband was feeling.
At the end of the poem, the husband’s smallest actions when cooking food for the neighbor has just gave away the message to the wife on what was going on. “She had never seen him do it like this before, two-handed. He always liked to show off by breaking eggs with one hand.” The husband was not behaving like himself, making the wife feel like the husband is up to something with their neighbor present in the room. “This evening his hands were trembling as he cracked the eggs,” while the wife was consuming all of the smallest details in the room and the connection between the neighbor and her husband.
In conclusion, Funkhouser displays “The Accident” as a poem with betrayal and realization to a character. As the wife went through the scene of having her husband and neighbor having such a strong connection by the neighbor knowing what the husband is going to ask. The neighbor has a better sense of what the husband is thinking, but as the wife sees this, she notices what the question was as the husband starts cooking. The husband has given away his feelings when he started cooking for the neighbor as he was trembling and not making the eggs like he always has. The husband’s and the neighbor’s ways of communicating has just told the wife what has been happening all along.
Red shift
The poem “red shift” by “Ted Berigan” in this poem about the author was very depressed in his life. He showing a sad situation .the author was very angry. He lost his friends and his family. He drunk
Alcohol and He smoked too. He was angry and alone. “I drink some American poison liquid air which bubbles and smoke to have character to lean in.” the poet tell about his life what he did he drink alcohol and he smoked too .its something happen to love because he said love and children, money
And married tics politics of grace. He was loved who’s 19 years old in 1961.he no wants to die .he want live 110.beacause he say that when will he die? I will never die; I live to be 110and I never go away, you will never escape from me whom always and only a ghost. He was alone and crowded. He lost his family and his friends know he was alone.
Alex Jannuzzi
Prd 7
9/12/08
Poem Explication: Red shift By Ted Berrigan
In the poem, Red Shift By Ted Berrigan the poet suggests that a change has occurred within the speaker’s life that has caused him to become depressed and vent to the reader what is happening to the speaker mentally.
The speaker is going through a change from a woman leaving him. Now that she has, it sounds as of he will never be the same ever again. In the first stanza, he speaks of it being winter; even so the loss of this woman causes a chill to his soul. He says “The air is biting” showing it’s so cold that is so called “biting” at his whole person. He mentions drinking twice that being alcohol. This is something people do to get rid of their problems, their mental issues; they dround themselves in alcohol.
In the beginning where the changes first start to occur he states” I drink some American poison liquid” then he mentions it again saying “The calvados is being sipped on”. Quite often throughout the poem he speaks of air seeming ton be very concerned with it. This one would think, is the fact now he can’t come up for air because now he can’t breathe without that woman. He needs to be concerned now that woman was semi keeping him alive is now out of his life forever. He says “disappearing in the air” which is about one of his friend’s frank who is actually dead. This is another person gone out of his life that makes it harder for him to function.
The belief that he was married came about when he mentions that” smilingly attentive woman” then directly in that second sentence he says “love, children, hundreds of them, money” which are all things that people dream of when they first are newly weds and only in the beginning. He also says “marriage” which corresponds with the heartache that comes about in the stanzas to come.
To let the audience become more personal with him he tells of how they first meet. He says “not that practically a boy” showing that he was a child when he met her yet he still had adult feelings for her, saying “serious’ in one word even as a boy. He also called her a “pretty girl” showing he did care for her as she aged with him.
Changes occur within the speaker quickly. He says “when will I die? I will never die” like the pain of living is too much to bear and living now is worse than death itself. The speaker feels as though he “will live to be 110” then it will be too late for him to care by then. When the speaker says that “I will never go away and you will never escape from me who am always and only a ghost despite this frame, spirit who only lives to nag”, showing when he does die eventually he will haunt this woman. “Nagging” is an interesting word choice because it is so inappropriate to the circumstance of the speaker being a spirit and haunting the woman forever. He has changed for the worse. As the poem progresses toward the end he mentions “ I slip softly into the air” signifying the spirit of his being floating into the air taken away from this as he vented to the reader ever so slightly.
The importance the theme is having someone there to witness your life. When you lose that person your life will never be the same. When the speaker lost this woman he changed for the worst because he cared so deeply for this woman.
“A doll’s house”
In the video “a doll’s house” it’s the winter time the children playing game. They are throwing the ice ball to Nora when she was going to home and she riding a horse to going hose. Her name is Nora. She was going her home and brig a lot of gift. The bell ring and maid open the door she was come in the hose and she buy gift for Christmas’s. She stays the door for study room and her husband in the house and he was in the study room. She is put all gift into the sofa and She’s going to inside and tell him she buy everybody for gift and she say its very chips gift and Christmas tree. She was very exiting for the charismas. She tells about her shopping what she bought for children. He asked her how you waste money. “We may be a wee bit more reckless now, mayn’t we? “ Just a tiny wee bit! You are going to have a big salary and earn lots and lots of money.” He gives her money first 10pound after 20and 30 and 40ponds.she was very happy and spoke like bird. She was showing him the Christmas tree and he liked him. She was very exiting for it and she is buy toy for her children. There never any children in the house there all out of the house. She is not care about his child. He put all gift away. He asking for her what you want to this Christmas first she said nothing I no want anything and after she asking for more money because she can buy something latter. He was feeling not so good when she asked him to money. He asks Nora what are little people called that are always wasting money and she said “spendthrifts.” “If you spend it all on the housekeeping and number of unnecessary things, then I merely have to pay up again.” She said how you can say that I do real save all I can and he said yes as you much can is nothing. Do you breaking rule again she say no the? Helmer said not even taken a bite at a macaroon or two. He was giving his money to his wife. He reminds her to last Christmas. He was tell her don’t waste money but she is money lover. In my opinion she don’t like him she is like only money. Nora friend Mrs. Lined always talked about her husband. “Nora the same little feather head! Suppose, now that borrowed fifty pounds to day, and you spent it all in the Christmas week, and then on New Year eve a slate fell on my head and kill me.” He said to the Nora if he died what happened than. He took the purse and she turning quickly and she say money. He asked Nora what you want to this charisma she said I no want nothing. After she said you really want to give something .you might give me money. She shows him to charismas tree. He said I gave you the money and you buy something to yourself. In my opinion Torvald explain to her save the money its help for you. You never save the money .she said to him how you can say that I never save money. He said you never save anything. “Helmer said hasn’t Miss Sweet tooth been breaking rules in town to-day? And Nora said no, I assure you, torvald helmer. No been nibbling sweet? Nora no, certainly not. Helmar not even took a bit at a macaroon or two? Nora no, torval, I assure you really-helmer there, there, of course I was only joking. Nora I should not think of going against your wishes. In the video the people wearing and talk like old people. They love each other and they are care about each other after that they are hug each other. In my opinion The Nora likes money so much. She asks torvald to money. He’s not happy because she asks every time for money. Some time he gave to her money he said to her my little sky lark it’s her house pet name.
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