Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter & Funeral Blues - Critical Essay

Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter & Funeral Blues - Critical Essay

1. INTRODUCTION - 

Throughout the course of literature, authors have customized their writings to that of either the time period they were living in, or that of which the piece was supposed to be set in. Along with the use of words, there is a difference in style, language and tone. The purpose of this essay is to "modernize" two poems, and explain the reasoning for the new composition/rewrite, while keeping the major theme of the poem the same as it was originally intended.

A. THESIS STATEMENT - 

Regardless of the time period in which a piece of literature was written, the message/moral can still be affective just the same if modernized.

2. BODY - 

A. SUMMARY - 

This is what was originally written for my first poem choice:

Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter

Author: Robert Bly

It is a cold and snowy night. The main street is deserted.

The only things moving are swirls of snow.

As I lift the mailbox door, I feel its cold iron.

There is a privacy I love in this snowy night.

Driving around, I will waste more time.

This new version, is the modernized version I have created:

My Kind of Night

It is dark and muddy out tonight. My hybrid broke down on the back woods road.

The only things I see are the trees swaying in the wind, not an animal or person insight.

I lift my flip phone to check my signal, I have three bars.

I ponder send you a text message, "liking" you on Facebook, and tweeting your twitter while sitting alone in the car.

And then I leave my phone in the car, grab my wallet, and walk 12 miles to the nearest bar.

This is what was originally written for my second choice poem:

Funeral Blues

Author: Wystan Hugh Auden

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone.

Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,

Silence the pianos and with muffled drum

Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead

Scribbling in the sky the message He is Dead,

Put crêpe bows round the white necks of the public doves,

Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,

My working week and my Sunday rest

My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;

I thought that love would last forever, I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,

Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun.

Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;

For nothing now can ever come to any good.

This new version, is the modernized version I have created:

Break-Up Blues

I stop checking my email, I started screening my calls

I don't let my cat leave my side, but she runs away in fright,

I turn off the tv, and turn off my ipod

I cancel my holiday party, I don't want anyone to come.

I let the thoughts race inside my head

Ultimately he isn't coming home, he's going to another woman's instead,

I put on my "fat" pajama pants

And I let my hair go, it's such a mess.

He was my love, my life, my everything

You were my first thought when I got up,and my last when I went to bed,

You were the one my mother looked down upon

I told her you loved me, but I was wrong.

I just want Ben & Jerrys now, I pulled every flavor

I ripped down our pictures and love letters, nothing left to savor,

Ill cry me a river at home tonight and watch your favorite movie...Goldmember

Although now, the movie is not as enjoyable as I remember.

B. CRITICISM/ANALYSIS

1. Regarding Driving to "Town Late to Mail a Letter", the main plot in the original text was the savory experience and pleasure of being alone. I captured that same feeling in my version called "My Kind of Night". In "My Kind of Night", the driver of the vehicle is on their way to the bar to drink alone. Along the way the car breaks down in the back dirt road. The driver contemplates using any and all forms of technology to call someone for help. Instead, they opt out and walk to the bar...as they'd rather be alone than not.

2. In the second poem "Funeral Blues", the main plot is that the world is no longer beautiful without the love of the persons life there to enjoy it with them...as the lost lover was their life. In my version, called "Break-Up Blues", this girl believes life will not go on without her cheating boyfriend. She cancels time to spend with friends, seeks her cat for comfort, doesn't see the beauty in not doing her hair perfect or enjoying that she can wear "fat" pajama pants without judgement of him, and looks for reason to believe in watching his favorite movie. As if watching the movie will bring him back. For now, her world has ended, and so won't her Ben & Jerrys Pint shortly.

I used some of the situations I did (going to the bar alone, the bad break up), items (pajama pants, cell, hybrid), and technology terms (twitter, Facebook, text) to make the story more relatable to a younger reader. Most people would be able to understand what the character is going through, but it is still portraying the original message intended.

3. CONCLUSION - 

Regardless of the language, tone and style, the moral of the story remains the same...no matter what time period or background of life.