Poor Mr. Flood and his party of one... I was sad
when Mr. Flood said to himself, '"Well, Mr. Flood, we have the harvest
moon / Again, and we may not have many more.'" (Line 9-10) All I could
think about was why Mr. Flood was having his party all alone. Especially
because he was so close to home and Mr. Flood doesn’t expect to stay around
much longer. Then it talked about his "friends of other days" (Line
22) and I was once again sad because all of his friends are dead. When I'm old,
like Mr. Flood, I don't want to be the last of my friends, BUT I will probably
have parties of one like Mr. Flood if I am.
Also the line 27 and 28 "He set the jug down
slowly at his feet / knowing that most things break" made me think that
Mr. Flood has gone through a lot. It's probably getting to him. What had
happened to Mr. Eben Flood that made him worry about everything breaking? I’m
guessing it’s because of the loss he’s going through, with his friends most likely
and probably more of it because he is getting to such and old age. Lines 30-31 “It
stood, as the uncertain lives of men / assuredly did not, he paced away” suggest
this. Also, I think he’s thinking about himself passing away and how little
reassurance he has. Well, if you are ever reflecting your own life, and what
the future may hold, I guess a good way to do that is to sit on a road and sing
to yourself.
ANYWAYS, this chapter was about internal structure.
Mr. Flood's Party has a very simple narrative structure, to the point and in
chronological order. It doesn’t follow it exactly; it does go reflect back to
Mr. Flood's life a bit, with his friends and past home life. But mainly, it
tells the story of Eben Flood as he drinks and reviews his life.
This poem was sad but I really liked. I felt that his losses where more than just in the form of people but also in ways of his fortune and even his mind. I got this by the way it starts "Old Eben Flood, climbing alone one night Over the hill between the town below And the forsaken upland hermitage". He is by himself, walking in the middle of the night with nothing but a bottle to comfort him; the forsaken upland also leads me to believe he's a little bitter that part of the town he overlooks belong to him. And his mind? Well I sense that he lost it when he lost his friends, considering there are technically two speakers in this poem: Eben and Mr.Flood- the same but not. There was a slight rhyme, but it was scattered through out the poem and not the bothersome.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with both of you. I liked how this poem was written in a narrative structure. Having it written as a story with all the narrators precise thoughts made you grow sympathy and love for Mr. Flood. With most poems background and the speaker is muddled or unknown, but for this one you feel emotions specifically for the speaker, which personally made me appreciate this poem more. I could distinctly see someone like my grandpa, who has a sense of humor but alone with the bottle, his thoughts and memories. The complete and defined story was different then most of the poems we have read thus far. It was cute at some points, but altogether a sad tale.
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