Generation

Generation

reflects positivism and acceptance to whatever happens over the course of life. This willingness to accept change can be especially noticed in the last stanza: “Through them the belled herds travel at will, long-legged and thirsty, covered with foreign dust.” Several images can be found in this stanza. For instance, the word “them” stands for the changes one faces throughout one’s life. In addition, the “bell herds,” which taken literally means cattle, may be a metaphor to represent those who are able to willingly adapt to changes. Moreover, the expression “foreign dust” represents the unknown, the ambiguous, and the uncertainty one experiences on the face of change. In the poem “Starlight,” a slight change can be observed on the tone of the speaker throughout the poem. This change, however, is not drastic. At the beginning of the poem, the speaker is graceful and dynamic: “Tonight I skate on adult ankles across the blue pond sifted with snow, back and forth across