Eu-Chae Park 1/16/13 Poetry Journal: Ecce Puer This poem seemed very interesting and unique to me.

I had never read anything like it before. The concept that really struck me was mix of emotions through just a few stanzas. In essence, the poem is about a man who just becomes a father, but he dies. These turn of events bring feelings of joy and excitement but also sadness and mourning expressions. The lines Of the dark past A child is born; With joy and grief My heart is torn. Show this contradiction through the child being born with a sad moment and the heart being torn with happiness. This paradox made me think about moments as a child going to camp. I used to hate going to summer camp to meet new people and hang out for hours waiting for my parents to pick me up later in the afternoon; however, eventually, I really became excited about waking up in the morning and playing, coloring, and reading with summer friends. It was odd, because I had still expressed this hatred toward it in front of my parents, because I wanted to show that I was persistent with my thoughts in hating camp from the beginning. Time not only flew by during the sessions, but time flew by during the summer. Eventually, the summer was over and I was about to start school, and finally, this meant that there was no more camp for me. The final week of camp I threw this thought out of my head and showed passion during the waning moments and hatred outside of it. When the final day came, my heart was filled with an enigma: joy and hate. Those feelings are almost identical to James Joyces poem as well. For those reasons, I really enjoyed reading this poem, because it meant more than just words that rhymed; it meant my past.