The Life Of Sohum

Summertime, and the livin' is easy Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high Oh, your daddy's rich and your ma is good-lookin' So hush little baby, don't you cry One of these mornings, you're goin' to rise up singin' And you'll spread your wings and you'll take the sky But 'til that mornin', there's a-nothin' can harm you With daddy and mommy standin' by One of these mornings, you're goin' to rise up singin' And you'll spread your wings and you'll take the sky But 'til that mornin', there's a-nothin' can harm you With daddy and mommy standin' by     Summertime, composed by the great George Gershwin for Porgy and Bess and popularized by the great Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, was written to bring attention to racial injustices of African Americans under the era of Jim Crow laws. Upon a casual listen, it seems as if the song carries a lazy slant reflecting a summer evening and the dre...

  Poetry is complicated. I often wondered why poets mix and mash their words so that the reader can barely comprehend what the author is trying to say. Today, I have finally received my answer. Look no further than Emily Dickinson's "Tell all the truth but tell it slant." Success in Circuit lies Too bright for our infirm Delight The Truth's superb surprise As Lightning to the Children eased With explanation kind The Truth must dazzle gradually Or every man be blind —      In this poem, Emily argues that directly delivering the truth will overwhelm the audience and should instead be told in a roundabout method. While I understood this concept, I couldn't appreciate what she was trying to say until I read one of her other poems. In her other poem, "Come slowly - Eden!," the author's intent may not be understood at first glance- Come slowly – Eden! Lips unused to Thee – Bashful – sip thy Jessamines – As the fainting Bee – Reaching late his flower, Ro...