The Most Vital Thing in Life

As our poetry unit is winding down, I cannot resist the temptation to post one last poem dissection. This week I want to discuss a poem that has not only impacted me profoundly, but I passed this on to Dr. Ison and he too became instantly enamored with “The Most Vital Thing in Life”. This poem is an allusion to Matthew 5:38-48 and especially Matthew 5:38-42. In this section of His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks about loving your enemies and turning the cheek when others talk poorly about you. This is such a great virtue to have in your back pocket. As I have experience in the past weeks, when people attack you or people you are close to, it is extremely easy to react to what they said with an objective of vengeance. The entire first stanza (this poem is written in such a way that it is almost impossible to quote a line or two) talks about when you “feel like saying something that you know you will regret” that it is time to clear your mind and create a “mental peace”. The first stanza also talks about how easy it is to keep your cool when your mind is at ease. The second stanza is something that is dealt with by people constantly, being maliciously accused of something that you have not done. This poem tells us that we should remain mum on this issue. “You must learn to keep strict silence though you know you’re in the right.” The poem concludes with “the most vital thing in life”. “If you are poised and tranquil when all around is strife, be assured that you have mastered the most vital thing in life.” If we remain calm and take the time to clear our heads we will have more positive outcomes despite negative situations. Perhaps that is a lesson we can all use.

AP Literature Blog - Life Lessons through Poetry

This week we have moved into the vast realm of poetry. While we have read a great number of poems, there are a few that I would like to dive further into. Unfortunately, you will have to bear with me as I do not always get the right interpretation of a poem.

The first poem is “35/10” by Sharon Olds. For me, this poem is about the passing of the torch from one generation to the next. The mother, who is 35, is brushing her ten year olds’ hair while commenting on her aging, but also the blossoming beauty for her maturing daughter. This is the cycle of mankind. We all have to grow old, but it is also our responsibility to ensure that our posterity can prosper in the future. For me, this poem is all about making sure that we leave the world a little better than we found. This is the central purpose of my life so this poem really hit home for me.

Secondly, I also enjoyed “Harlem” by Langston Hughes. “Dreams” is one of my favorite poems (it is right up there with “Ulysses” by Tennyson). For me this poem reiterates the necessity to follow your dreams no matter what happens in life. Hughes asks the reader what happens to “dreams deferred”. He then goes on to provide five negative metaphors that are not positive to human life. Hughes ends with my favorite three lines of the poem, “Maybe it just sags/like a heavy load. / Or does it explode?” To me this is the true essence of what happens to dreams deferred. The weight of the dream continues to sag and eat at you. And eventually, you quite simply explode. If you do not go after your true dreams in life, then you can never be truly happy. Hughes hit the human psyche as it pertains to “Dreams” and more importantly, “Dreams Deferred”.