blog 3

We have been studying poetry in class for quite a while now. I have also begun to have interest in politics and what is really going on in the United States. Sometimes, I feel like I was better off being ignorant to world news and US news due to how messed up this world can be sometimes and what kind of people live in the same country I love so much. I started looking up poems that had to do with more political ideas after reading so much of Yeats. Perhaps my favorite poem right now is "Patriotism" by Sir Walter Scott. Basically, this poem is about a miserable unpatriotic man who only cares about his money. We see that quite a bit in the United States unfortunately. What is cool about this poem is how Scott gets his point across. The meaning of this poem is expressed through meter, rhyme, and most notably, the alliteration. The tone is important, but this is one of those poems that the tone is a result of the rhetorical devices used. For the most part, this poem is written in iambic tetrameter (also very similar to a lot of Yeats' poetry might I add). This poem is meant to be one that people can rally around and profess their appreciation for their country. I find that the shorter lines in this poem get the point across even quicker and it is easier to understand. The diction in this poem is not intended to be a difficult task to decipher. Actually, I would assume Sir Walter Scott made it more simplistic for rhetorical effect. This poem contains a lot of rhyming couplets which I find roll off the tongue easier when read aloud, and they allow the poem to flow easier. The alliteration in this poem is the most important part, however. In some lines, they are up to three instances where alliteration is used which is quite significant considering how short many of the lines are. The alliteration makes this poem more musical in terms of the rhythm it provides. It adds to the bold and in your face feeling this poem is supposed to provide the reader. My favorite line is when the narrator says, "His doubly death, he shall go down." The alliteration used here is so important to take note of because the "d" sound at the beginning of "doubly," "death," and "down" are supposed to create a more depressing tone. In this line, the narrator is discussing the dishonorable death this unpatriotic man who does not love his country is going to endure.