Poem: The Tower

A flower plucked too soon

A rage forming over a furrowed brow
Children’s laughter rings through my mind
Acting like the leader of spoiled treasure
A court engulfed in Zeus’s lightning
No, just a kid playing with fire

A false idol deemed real

The tower shown and realized
Why is reason gone?
Why do I take the hit?
The slam from a sceptor echos
Cursed words spoken with burning coals

Teardrops fall, outcries made

The sweet love of dewdrops
Buried with my thoughts
Oh sweet sorrow
Only a mother’s love can
Diminish.

Reflection:
​ or my multimodal project I decided to write a poem. I chose this compositional mode because
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it allowed me to express my feelings about the text using different types of figurative language.
For example in the first stanza I wrote “Children’s laughter rings through my mind”, which is a
metaphor for Agamemnon's voice in Achilles’ head, and how he was acting childish about the
plague situation. I also chose to do a poem because of the option of multiple stanzas, so I can try
to show Achilles’ different emotions for each stanza. For the first stanza was trying to convey
Achilles’ rage towards Agamemnon. The second stanza is about how I believe the story is like
the Tarot card, the Tower, which is about a sudden intense change that can alter many things in a
person’s life, and change their lives forever. Which reminds me of the Iliad because of that one
decision by Agamemnon to not give Chryseis back, everything was suddenly changed in Greece
because of Apollo. The third stanza was about Achilles’ sorrow from having his prize taken
away and how he wanted his mother’s help to diminish the pain. I believe if I chose another
compositional mode my reaction to the text would not be as clear as I wanted it to be. I wanted
Achilles’ side of the story to be shown in a new light. His feelings being expressed in a more
meaningful and interesting way. Especially in my third stanza, I wanted to show his sadness for
losing Briseis, and how he turns to his mom for help and support. By saying, “the sweet love of
dewdrops” I wanted to express how he saw Briseis and how easily she was taken from him, like
how dew drops fall and dissipate so easily. Another example of Achilles’ emotions being shown
in a more meaningful way was when I said, “A court engulfed in Zeus’s lightning no, just a kid
playing with fire.” I wanted that line to portray Achilles’ feelings for Agamemnon by comparing
Agamemnon’s actions with a childs. I say this because I believe Agamemnon was acting like a
spoiled child that got his favorite toy taken away, not the leader of a military battalion. I also
mention, “A false idol deemed real” to show how Agamemnon was chosen by Zeus, but he does
not act like a hero or chosen one, but a false idol and not meant for the position, in my opinion.
I believe that this poem was the best way for these reactions to be shown, since a poem gives me
multiple formats to choose from and different figurative language to elaborate on some reactions.