Universidade Estadual de Goiás - Un.U.

Inhumas
Licenciatura Letras Português e Inglês - 8º período
Disciplina: Inglês VIII
Doscente: Valdilene
Discente: Gabriel Henrique Meira Goulart
August 31st, 2023.
Poem Analysis
On this assignment, I will look at a poem my classmate, Marcos Francisco Silva, wrote.
When asked to explain what he wrote about, he was quite shy and reluctant to answer. He is a
man of very few words. Since, the beginning of our University journey, I have taken classes with
Silva. He has always been a person to keep things to himself, another thing I know about him is
that he is a religious person, and I am not saying this to be critical. I believe he is actually a good
Christian, and I am not making fun of it. I stopped believing in God all together at some point in
my life, but I still find the ideia to be comforting, but sadly I grew out of it, I am mentioning this
here because Silva talked about his faith in his poem. This is his poem that I will be analysing
today:
1 my life is a word of surprise,
2 this moment is a life good
3 in the outher moment is not so good,
4 but I know that in and all will right,
5 because my fe help me in all moment
6 that I will think not right.
As we see, the language in Silva's poem is simple and straightforward, mirroring his
known personality as someone who is reserved. The poem also doesn't conform to a rhyme
scheme or rhythm, contributing to its conventional tone. This casual structure aligns with Silva's
personality, reflecting his tendency to keep things simple and direct. Since, I am supposed to
analyse and be critical in away that might help him. I would like to start by complementing him
on his use of metaphors on line 1, the phrase: "my life is a word of surprise", creates an
interesting metaphor, likening life to a single word that holds surprises. This metaphor
immediately captures the reader's attention and invites them to think about its deeper meaning.
The use of "surprise" suggests an acceptance of the unpredictability and nature of life.
Another thing important to notice in Silva's poem is the lack of a title, it doesn't have one,
this might seem like a small detail, but it is a significant one based on what I have gathered from
being around the author. This might be deliberate or it might be unintentional. However, the
absence of a title does invite the readers to approach the poem with a more open mind, letting
the content guide their understanding without any preconceived notions.
Knowing that Silva's poem was inspired by the poem "Alone" by Edgar Allan Poe. It adds
an intriguing intertextual dimension to my analysis. Silva's poem takes on a new layer of
significance, given that his word choices on line 3 is more sensitive and deliberate. It deviates
from Poe's when instead of using a straightforward "bad", Silva prefers to use "not so good".
This deviation showcases Silva's sensitivity to the nuances of emotions and his desire to reflect
a broader emotional spectrum. While both poets express their feelings of solitude, Silva's word
choices might indicate his intention to infuse his poem with more shades of hope and resilience.
While Poe's poem uses vivid and haunting imagery, evoking a sense of darkness and despair. In
contrast, Silva's Poem employs a simpler language and focuses on the idea of surprises and
hope, his tone seems more optimistic compared to the Poe's darker tone. Aware of Silva's
personal living situation, alone in a different state, it resonates with the theme of solitude
expresses in both poems. However, his interpretation diverges from the emotions expressed in
Poe's "Alone" by infusing his poem with a sense of hope and reliance on faith, line 5. This
suggests that while Silva's circumstances might involve solitude, his perspective allows him to
find positiviness and hope through challenging moments with his faith. This spiritual perspective
contrasts with Poe's original poem, offering the reader an alternative point of view on how to
navigate feelings of isolation and emotional turmoil.
To make the poem more grammatically correct and refined while trying to maintain its
essence, I will discuss it line by line:
Line 1: "my life is a word of surprise," - I would tell the author to consider thinking about
capitalization, take out the preposition "of", and insert a comma between "word and surprise "
for better readability: "My life is a word, surprise!"
Line 2: "this moment is a life good" - here, the author should also consider capitalization
and adding the preposition "in" to start his sentence, I would also advise him to consider taking
out the indefinite article "a" since we only use it with a singular count noun and we can not count
life : "In this moment life is good".
Line 3: "in the outher moment is not so good," - the author should consider capitalization,
and the use of the definite article "the" because it is used before a noun that is known to the
reader. I would also tell him to check the standard spelling of the word "other", and pluralize the
word "moment": "In other moments, life is not so good"
Line 4: "but I know that in and all will right," - on this part, I would advise the author to
revised the use of the particle "that"; even though, it is being used as a conjunction and it can
also be used as a determiner, a demonstrative pronoun, a relative pronoun and as a
conjunction. In this case, we can easily substitute it by using a comma. I woud also tell him to
add the prepositional phrase "in all the moments" after the verb know, it will act as an adverb
providing additional information and clearity to the reader about the time and circumstances. The
use of the definite article "the" in the prepositional phrase indicates the readers about "the good"
and "not so good moments" so when we refer to "all the moments" the reader is aware what the
moments are. The author can also think about the use of the personal pronoun "I" in the other
sentence, to determine who is going to be all right, keeping the verb will but with the "I" pronoun,
and rewriting "will right" to "will be alright". "But I know in all the moments, I will be alright"
Line 5: "because my fe help me in all moment" - on this part, I believe this sentence is
asking for the present perfect tense, since his faith is the subject of the sentence and it has
helped him during hard moments, and knowing the author it still helps him to this day. I would
argue the present perfect tense would bring more meaning to the poem. I would also consider
putting a graphic accent on the word "fé", and since his faith is the main subject of the sentence
there needs to be quick review of subject and verb agreement: "Because my fé has helped me in
all the moments".
Line 6: "that I will think not right. "- this sentence is not a complete sentence, it seems
fragmented, so to fix it I would advise the author to remove the particle "that" and start the
sentence with the subject "I" change the verb "think" to the past tense "thought" add the noun
"things" instead of using the word moments, and also add the verb to be in the past to bring
more meaning to the rest of the adverbial phrase "not right": "I thought things were not right".
If the author agrees with my correction and follows the instruction that I've set here for
him, his poem would look like this:
My life is a word, surprise!
 In this moment life is good.
In other moments, life is not so good.
But I know in all the moments, I will be alright.
Because my fé has helped me in all the moments,
I thought things were not right.