Link to "Come Sleep! Oh Sleep":
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/45160 Well would you look at that, I am writing about a poem that isn’t from Richard Blanco! That’s because our class is trying to widen our poetic horizons, so each student is analyzing something new. This poem is called “Come Sleep! Oh Sleep” by Sir Philip Sidney, and it is about the benefits of sleep on our mental health. The first thing that I noticed was the title. This time, we had to pick our poem from a pre-made list, so all we could see was its title. It turns out that it is quite difficult to choose a poem based on its title alone, so it definitely encouraged me to make some first impressions. I usually don’t like to judge a book by its cover, but when I read the title “Come Sleep! Oh Sleep”, it reminded me of a lullaby that one would sing to children to help them fall asleep. That small hint of nostalgia was enough to make me choose it as the one I am analyzing today. I am happy to say that it was a lot deeper than I initially imagined. The next thing I notice is the structure. It is a rather short poem with only one stanzas to give it a sense of unity. It seems to have no real chronological order, because it is more about the description of sleep rather than the explanation of the process. In this poem, Sidney reflects on the positive aspects of sleep in everyday lives. He calls it the “certain knot of peace” and “baiting place of wit,” because it gives us time to check out from the rest of the world and be alone with our thoughts. He also called it the “balm of woe,” and since balm is considered a healing remedy, this line represents how sleep can subdue our sadness for a short time until we awake. He then goes to say how it affects different types of people, like how sleep is both a “poor man's wealth” and a “prisoner’s release” . A poor man does not own much, so he will treasure what he has, and that includes sleep. A prisoner has many rights and privileges taken away from him, but he still has his sleep. This allows them to dream about things that make them happier than they feel in their current position, giving them the happiness they need where they otherwise would not have without sleep. As the poem continues, the speaker talks about the relationship between himself and sleep. He asks sleep to be a “shield of proof” to protect him from the “fierce darts” of despair in order to make the “civil wars...cease” in his mind. This makes me think that Sir Philip Sidney was going through quite a rough patch in his life when he wrote this. He was probably plagued with depression and anxiety about the outside world and was just longing to go back to sleep. I think we've all been there before. Life can get rather unbearable at times, but sleep is only a short-term solution. Sidney’s diction caught my eye toward the middle of the poem. He used phrases like “smooth pillows” and “sweetest bed” to indicate how tempting it would be just to go back to bed and not deal with the world that day. I also enjoy his contrast in phrases like “deaf to noise” and “blind to light,” which describe how sleep keeps us from hearing and seeing our responsibilities and issues. Even though they are right there waiting for us when we get back up. Although this poem is different from the other poems I'm used the reading, I really enjoyed how relatable it was. I have trouble getting up in the morning when I know something unpleasant will happen, and this just describes it perfectly. That is what makes having anxiety so difficult. because it can keep you from getting that well deserved rest.
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This poem was also created by the one...the only...Richard Blanco! I’m so glad that I am still able to write about his fascinating work. It is fun to decipher his poems like an intricate puzzle with infinite possible solutions, but only one reveals the true picture it was meant to display. I hope to get as close to Blanco’s true meaning as possible, but only he knows the real reason he writes these poems. This particular poem is about the passing of time in more ways than one. He describes the way things physically change in the world around us, but also in the way we change as a society.
The first thing I notice is the poem’s structure. It is rather short compared to Blanco’s other poems, but looks can be quite deceiving. I also notice that he didn’t split the poem into stanzas either, giving it a more unified effect. It is his way of telling a story that flows well enough for the reader to get this message. The title itself is pretty straight forward. The “Photo of a Man on Sunset Drive” part indicates the subject Blanco is discussing, the “1914” indicates the year the photo was taken, and the “2008” indicates the year Blanco was comparing the picture to. There is a lot of time between those years, so there is bound to be many physical and mental change to compare the times to. Blanco first describes the picture in detailed imagery. He mentions a shack by a dirt road with “crates of avocados and limes, white chickens” and a “man under the shadow of his straw hat.” The reader gets a sense for the time period back in the early 1900s. Life seems so simple back then when we compare it to what we deal with today. Blanco realizes that this man in the photo would never see the products of the future. He wouldn't see “streetlights” or buildings that rise “taller than the palm trees.” As the poem comes to an end, the point of view shifts to first person. Blanco knows that the man from 1914 will never see him “trying to read his mind across time.” It seems to make Blanco quite solemn. My favorite line is the last few when he says, “both of us, looking down the road that will stretch on, for years after I too disappear into a photo.” He realizes that he too will be stamped into a certain time period, only being known by a picture hanging on a wall. |
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