My poem analysis

As soon as I looked deeper into the meaning of the poem “Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind” by William Shakespeare, I connected to it in a new way through my life experiences. William is comparing the ingratitude of mankind to the winter wind and cold snow, and how ingratitude and lost friendships hurt more than the sting of the cold.

 The key part that really spoke to me was when he writes, “Thy sting is not so sharp as friend remembered not… most friendship is feigning.” In this line, William is writing of the pain of ungrateful friends, fake friendships, and lost friends. I have experienced part of what William is describing in those lines.  When I was in elementary school, I was friends with a kid who lived down the street from me. Not having much homework then, we spent much of our time during the week with each other, practically inseparable. Then, around the end of fifth grade and the start of middle school, we started to split up, mainly because he was influenced by another one of his friends, who never liked me and would be rude and obnoxious. By the end of middle school, we barely talked to each other. The pain I felt then was worse than the cold, just how William describes it.

I’m not sure how I am going to incorporate the meaning into my recitation. I guess I’m mostly going to show the meaning when I recite my poem through voice and articulation. It will be somewhat hard because while the meaning has a somber tone, half the poem is a sad song that, for some reason, says life is jolly. This line is an oxymoron, only making it harder to show the meaning through recitation but I think that I can get past that bump easily if I speak in the right tone. A change in my speaking volume along with tone will also help add to the mood of my performance and the theme of the poem. Along with tone and volume, timing is a very important part of voice and articulation. I will tell the poem at more than one pace, speeding up and slowing down when needed. Through my tone of voice, volume, and the correct timing, I will have (at least, I think that I will have) a great performance.

My only fear is that I’ll get nervous and lock up. I am preparing myself the best I can so that if I start to get nervous, I won’t start stuttering or forgetting lines. I am definitely looking forward to the competition.