I found Louise MacNeice’s poetry to be easy to read. In the poem “The Sunlight on the Garden,” MacNeice uses a sestet for the form of the poem. He follows a simple meter with his rhymes. In the first stanza MacNeice introduces symbolism “The sunlight on the garden/ Hardens and grows cold,” (line 1-2). These two lines introduce a dark side to the garden, the opposite of a welcoming warm sunny day. These lines make you rethink the title and what it really means. I feel that “The Sunlight on the Garden,” is a metaphor for false freedoms in life. In the second stanza MacNeice writes “Advances towards its end;/ The earth compels, upon it/ Sonnets and birds descend;/ and soon, my friend,/ we shall have no time for dances” (lines 8-12). In this stanza a sense of freedom is being taken away and their leisurely time in the garden will soon come to an end.

Both poet’s Warner and Ackland wrote about their experiences in Spain. Ackland’s poem “Winter” and “Instructions from England” I particularly liked. They related to the Spanish Civil War and were written during this struggle that was occurring in Spain. In the poem “Winter” Valentine writes “Then we whisper together and the word we say is red, /Over screech of sirens when morning comes and the red sun rises” (lines 8, 12). The use of the color red represents anger and the death of war. It also represents the color for communism. The word “red” is the devotion to communism and its role in the war. In Valentines poem “Instructions from England,” the last two lines were the strong points of this poem. Valentine writes “note churches burned and popes in pain/ but not the men who die” (lines 7-8). Line seven describes the pain that Spain is going through and how religion is being torn apart. Line eight talks about how the men who have already died no longer suffer, they do not have to see Spain in ruins and they are taken away from the crumbling foundation of Spain.

D.H. Lawrence

D.H. Lawrence’ poem “The English Are So Nice,” is a sarcastic poem. This is no wonder considering the English accused Lawrence of being a spy during World War I. This notion only came about because Lawrence was opposed to the war instead of for it. In Lawrence’s poem “The English Are So Nice,” he sets the sarcastic mood right of the bat. In the first stanza, “The English are so nice/so awfully nice/they’re the nicest people in the world” (line 1-3). In this first stanza alone you get the idea that he is not truly writing about how nice the English really are. Instead he is in fact mocking them in a sense.

This poem demonstrates one of Lawrence’s looser forms of poetry using sarcastic social commentary to portray the point his wishes to make. It is a free flowing poem with mockery and humor as the theme of the poem.

H.D. and Stein

H.D. and Gertrude Stein has similar backgrounds in life and when it came to writing their poetry. Both women were born in Pennsylvania, shared the same relationship values in partners, and were friends during their lifetimes. Although H.D. was considered an imagist poet and Stein was not. They both worked with psychologists to reveal their thoughts of the unconscious mind.

Both these poets had similar lifestyles. H.D. was not initially involved with women, but as she grew and lost loved ones to others she soon found love with Winifred Ellerman. The two continued their futures together in a relationship. Stein also had a lifelong romance with Alice B. Toklas. Unlike H.D., Stein only had this one romance and was not hurt from past lovers.

These two poets both wrote of the war. H.D. did not endure the war like Stein did, but she wrote of it in her poem “Helen in Egypt.” H.D.’s poems had a strong feminist background, and embodied the idea of strong females. Stein’s poetry made use of literary devises and words. She often repeated words throughout her poetry form open-ended poems.

Erza Pound and Amy Lowell were both considered Imagism poets. Pound would disagree with this statement, but none the less they are both in the imagist category. Pound, H.D., Richard Aldington, and F.S. Flint founded the Imagist poets group. They founded it on three Do’s. Pound’s definition of “an image is that which presents an intellectual and emotional complex of an instant of time” (347). Pound wanted this form of poetry to be simplistic. Pound later turned away from imagism. He did this upon the late arrival of Amy Lowell into their group of poets. Pound felt she was “taking over Imagism, turning it toward what he considered sentimentality and derided” (347), Pound called it “Amygism” (347).

Amy Lowell’s poetry was broad in contrast to the precision and focus of the founded Imagist work. After Pound left the Imagist’s group, Lowell formed her own group and changed the rules of Imagism to suit her style and ideas. Lowell and other poets appeared in a volume called “Des Imagistes.”