One of the characteristics that differentiates poetry from other literary groups is the way in which it uses the melodic potential of language. Poets don't just play with the variations of words, they play with the sounds of words, and taking advantage of the fact that hearing something expressed can be as pleasant as thinking about it. The poet - in this sense, is sometimes seen as a musician, creating rhyming and rhythmic music with words, and sometimes playing their sounds to complement what they mean. In other words, when it seems that the sounds and senses of a poem reinforce its meaning in some way, the effects are usually striking. Accordingly, this essay will focus on several poems that I find intriguing, discussing meanings and sounds to formulate my own interpretations. A brutal and very powerful direct poem is Robert Hayden's poem "Those Winter Sundays" (Hayden, 551). In this poem, the writer uses concrete details and sensory descriptions to create a literal image that readers can create with ingenuity. For example, at the beginning of “These Winter Sunders,” the speaker reflects on the coldness of his childhood. He remembers the “cold” in a way that is both simple and figurative. At first, he focuses on Sundays on how his father used to wake up early to light the fire before going through the rest of the house. However, the poem is actually about how the speaker laments the fact that growing up, he never truly understood the meaning of his father's actions – how they were the way he communicated his love for family, for l 'speaker. specific, concrete words in the poem also show how the speaker ultimately comes to appreciate the way the father gave himself to ke...... middle of paper ...... has little or no of choice in this matter because your path in life is already created. In this case, I'm a yuppie because I grew up as a yuppie in the suburban demographic of South Orange County, California. Works Cited Hayden, Robert. “Those winter Sundays.” Bedford's compact introduction to literature. Ed. Michael Mayer. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. 551. PrintFarries, Helen. “Magic of Love.” Bedford's compact introduction to literature. Ed. Michael Mayer. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. 581. PrintSlavitt, David. "Titanic." Bedford's compact introduction to literature. Ed. Michael Mayer. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. 620. PrintSimpson, Louis. “In the suburbs.” Bedford's compact introduction to literature. Ed. Michael Mayer. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2012. 626. Print