Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Life Is Fine by Langston Hughes

The poem
I went down to the river,
I set down on the bank.
I tried to think but couldn't,
So I jumped in and sank.

I came up once and hollered!
I came up twice and cried!
If that water hadn't a-been so cold
I might've sunk and died.

But it was Cold in that water! It was cold!

I took the elevator
Sixteen floors above the ground.
I thought about my baby
And thought I would jump down.

I stood there and I hollered!
I stood there and I cried!
If it hadn't a-been so high
I might've jumped and died.

But it was High up there! It was high!

So since I'm still here livin',
I guess I will live on.
I could've died for love--
But for livin' I was born

Though you may hear me holler,
And you may see me cry--
I'll be dogged, sweet baby,
If you gonna see me die.

Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!

Answers
1) A lot of Figurative Languages have been used in this poem. "hollered", "It was cold" and "It was high" are hyperbole as they are exaggerated statements. The poet chose to used this kind of figurative language to show how loud he screamed, how cold the water was and how tall the building was. "Life is fine! Fine as wine!" is a metaphor.The poet chose to used it as he is comparing life to wine.

2) I like this poem as it talks about a man, having problems and tries to kill himself by jumping off a tall building and drowning himself in cold water. In the forth paragraph, it showed me how someone can feel after being in love, then getting dumped and how deep it hurts the person. In the end, he realised that his problems were not as bad as dying and thought of how fine life was in "Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!" This poem tells me that life has all the miseries to pull us down but when we want to give up, it gives us power to stand up again. Everything in life has a reason. We have to face the miseries and understand failure to succeed in life.

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