Poetry DedicationBy: Ryan Hoy

Why?

• Mom, you were chosen to have this dedicated to you because of all you have done. You have schooled me for all of 8 years now. I hope you appreciate this as my final thank you.

To My MotherBy: Christina Rossetti, 1842

•To-day’s your natal day,Sweet flowers I bring;Mother, accept, I pray,

My offering.

And may you happy live,And long us bless;

Receiving as you giveGreat happiness.

• (This is Rossetti’s first poem, written when she was 11 years old.)

“To My Mother” explanation• I really love this poem. For starters, I found it very

intriguing that this was Rossetti’s first poem and that she wrote it at the young age of 11, that is why I included the excerpt at the bottom. I also really appreciate the simple genius of the poem. There is nothing to fancy about the words used, no complex rhyme pattern, but it works. Each line flows beautifully to the next. There is not a great deal to say about the poem, it is very straight forward and to the point and it has a great message. Rossetti was one of the prolific poets ever, and she shows that she was a natural right of the bat.

Unfolded out of the FoldsBy: Walt Whitman, 1860

•Unfolded out of the folds of the woman, man comes unfolded, as is always to come unfolded,

Unfolded only out of the superbest woman of the earth, is to come the superbest man of the earth,Unfolded out of the friendliest woman, is to come the friendliest man,

Unfolded only out of the perfect body of a woman, can a man be formed of perfect body,Unfolded only out of the inimitable poem of the woman, can come the poems of man—only thence have my poems

come,Unfolded out of the strong and arrogant woman I love, only thence can appear the strong and arrogant man I love,Unfolded by brawny embraces from the well-muscled woman I love, only thence come the brawny embraces of the

man,Unfolded out of the folds of the woman's brain, come all the folds of the man's brain, duly obedient,

Unfolded out of the justice of the woman, all justice is unfolded,Unfolded out of the sympathy of the woman is all sympathy;

A man is a great thing upon the earth, and through eternity—but every jot of the greatness of man is unfolded out of woman,

First the man is shaped in the woman, he can then be shaped in himself.

“Unfolded out of the Folds” explanation

• This might be my favorite poem of the bunch. There is so many positive things that could be said about it. The main thought is what really struck me about this poem. We, as men, cannot even exist without women. Nothing great that any man has accomplished over the years would have been possible without women, more specifically, mothers. The poem really details how great of a part our mothers play in molding our future self. As children, we are always around them and many of the things they do we will likely someday do. This could be a daunting, stressful thought for many women, I would imagine. Fortunately I have one who is not perfect, but she hasn’t done too badly of a job.

Sonnets are full of LoveBy Christina Rossetti, 1881

• Sonnets are full of love, and this my tomeHas many sonnets: so here now shall beOne sonnet more, a love sonnet, from meTo her whose heart is my heart’s quiet home,To my first Love, my Mother, on whose kneeI learnt love-lore that is not troublesome;Whose service is my special dignity,And she my loadstar while I go and comeAnd so because you love me, and becauseI love you, Mother, I have woven a wreathOf rhymes wherewith to crown your honored name:In you not fourscore years can dim the flameOf love, whose blessed glow transcends the lawsOf time and change and mortal life and death.

“Sonnets are full of Love” explanation

• This is another excellent work from Rossetti. For starters, she did a wonderful job with the rhyme scheme. Everything works nicely together and as far as I’m concerned, it didn’t take away from the content of the poem as is prone to happen sometimes when focusing on rhyming. It is interesting to see how some of the best wrote sonnets after we learned and wrote some of our own. The main thing that made me choose this poem was the use of imagery in lines 10 and 11. “I love you, mother, I have woven a wreath of rhymes wherewith to crown your honored name.” In a nutshell, that is the mission statement of this project for me, this poem was an obvious selection.

Mother o’ MineBy: Rudyard Kipling, 1891

• If I were hanged on the highest hill,   Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mineI know whose love would follow me still,   Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine!

If I were drowned in the deepest sea,   Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mineI know whose tears would come down to me,   Mother o’ mine, O mother o’ mine!

If I were damned of body and soul,I know whose prayers would make me whole,   Mother o’ mine, 0 mother o’ mine

“Mother o’ Mine” explanation

•As I looked up poems for this project, it became apparent to me that I love simplicity. Poems that are simple and say a lot with few words are amazing. They are difficult to write, but when done properly, there is nothing better. I love the message in this poem. It tells how mothers would go to the end of the earth for their children. No matter what you do, your mother’s love will be there. Particularly in the first line when Kipling says “If I were hanged on the highest hill.” I tend to think of hanging as a punishment. To me, this is a picture that shows no matter how bad we mess up, our mother will love us through it.

Song of the Old MotherBy: William Butler Yeats, 1899

• I rise in the dawn, and I kneel and blowTill the seed of the fire flicker and glow;And then I must scrub and bake and sweepTill stars are beginning to blink and peep;And the young lie long and dream in their bedOf the matching of ribbons for bosom and head,And their days go over in idleness,And they sigh if the wind but lift a tress:While I must work because I am old,And the seed of the fire gets feeble and cold.

“Song of the Old Mother” explanation

• This poem describes the life of many mothers. They do nothing but work and generally they are under appreciated. This is another fairly simple poem. The rhyme scheme isn’t very complex but it does help the flow of the poem. The beginning and end of the poem works very nicely together. It opens with how the mother rises in the dawn and the end tells how she is still working when the fire is beginning to go out at the end of the day. I also enjoyed lines 5-8. It tells how her young children have already been sleeping for a long time, but more specifically, how they are so touchy. “They sigh if the wind but lift a tree.” We are often much too demanding of mothers even after they have put in a long days work, but our mothers always help us with a smile.

Ode to MotherBy: Ryan Hoy, 2013

Mothers are loving,

Mothers they care.

They carry you inside of them,

For nine long months.

Then clean your dirty diapers for years to come.

They feed you,

They hold you,

They drive every tear.

They help you along whenever they can,

They build you up whenever you’re down.

To list all the things that mothers do,

Would take far too much room to fit an ode.

But this is a start,

I dedicate this to you.

Ode to Mother explanation

• An ode seemed like the obvious first choice to open this project. An ode, in a sense is a dedication. A dedication to something or someone you love. An ode had to be used at some point and it just seemed right to open with one. I really wanted to convey just a small fragment of what mothers do for us and why we should appreciate them for it. They do so much, the least we can do is say thank you every now and then.

A Mothers LoveBy: Ryan Hoy, 2013

Love; a four letter word,

So hard to explain,

To figure it out is a test of the brain.

It should be incurred,

And never deterred.

We oft try to abstain,

But always come back again.

Love sometimes is absurd.

Then one day it all makes sense,

You leap up with delight,

As you finally see the light.

A mother’s love is immense,

It will never leave you with fright,

So long as you accept it, at any expense.

A Mother’s Love explanation

• This was another obvious choice. There simply had to be a poem about a mothers love in here. I have enjoyed tinkering with rhyme schemes over the past few weeks and that is evidenced with this poem. There needed to be a poem included that detailed all the ways a mother loves us. No matter what we do or how badly we mess up, a mother loves us. They might be disappointed, but they always love.

She Does it Knowing…By: Ryan Hoy, 2013

A mother rises early,

And goes to bed late.

She cleans her home,

Knowing that it will soon be made dirty.

She washes clothes,

Knowing they ill soon be tattered.

She bakes a meal,

Knowing she will have to clean up the mess to follow.

She moves heaven and earth for her family,

Knowing she will be underappreciated.

A mother works all the day,

This you can see,

So respect her today,

This is my plea

She does it Knowing… explanation

• This was the last poem I wrote for this project and it was the most difficult to find inspiration for. When I started this was not how this poem was supposed to turn out. It was supposed to follow a rhyme scheme. But as things moved along I thought of all the things mothers do, and how often we almost go out of our way to undo them. The least we could do is show some respect every now and then.

There is no one Like a MotherBy: Ryan Hoy, 2013

They carry us along for 9 months long.There is no one like a mother. They feed us, clean us, and smile all the way.There is no one like a mother.We continually mess up, and they love us the more.There is no one like a mother. We break their hearts and they can’t help but adore.There is no one like a mother. We ask them for everything and they are quick to provide.There is no one like a mother.So the next time you are selfish enough to complain about yours, remember,There is no one like a mother.

There is no one Like a Mother explanation

• You might get the feeling of deja-vu after reading this poem. This was completely inspired by the poem I included by Rudyard Kipling, Mother o’ Mine. I took his idea and expounded on it. I like how a repeating line can really drive home the message that is to be delivered and truly, there is no one like a mother. There are some recurring themes throughout this project and that is one of them. As well as the idea that mothers love us through anything.

Mine is the BestBy: Ryan Hoy, 2013

Who is there when no one else is?

Who is the one that always does what she says?

Who tucks me in bed;

With a kiss on the head?

Who dries every tear;

And removes any fear?

Who says anything we create;

Is perfectly great?

Who loves us through,

Any bad we may do?

Mothers love us, hold us and lift us up.

Yours may be good,

But mine is the best

Mine is the Best explanation

• Mine is the best, and as far as I am concerned, this is the best. The best poem I put together for this project. I again toyed with rhyming just to keep things interesting. I followed the Shakespearean model for the most part and really enjoyed rhyming my way through. The closing thought being hat your mother might do all the things mentioned, she might be wonderful and great; but mine is still the best.

Credit…

• Rossetti, Christina “To My Mother”

1842

• Whitman, Walt “Unfolded out of the Folds”

Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman, 1860

• Rossetti, Christina “Sonnets are Full of Love”

Pageants and Other Poems, Alexander Macmillan, 1881

• Kipling, Rudyard “Mother o’ Mine”

1891

• Yeats, William Butler “Song of the old Mother”

The Wind Among the Reeds, Kessinger Publishing, 1899