Matt+B's+favourite+poems

Once upon a time Not so long ago Tommy used to work on the docks Union's been on strike He's down on his luck...it's tough, so tough Gina works the diner all day Working for her man, she brings home her pay For love - for love
 * Living on a Prayer- Bon Jovi **

She says: We've got to hold on to what we've got It doesn't make a difference If we make it or not We've got each other and that's a lot For love - we'll give it a shot

Ohh We're half way there Woah Livin' on a prayer Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear Woah Livin' on a prayer

Tommy's got his six string in hock Now he's holding in what he used To make it talk - so tough, it's tough Gina dreams of running away When she cries in the night Tommy whispers: Baby it's okay, someday

We've got to hold on to what we've got 'Cause it doesn't make a difference If we make it or not We've got each other and that's a lot For love - we'll give it a shot

Ohh We're half way there Woah Livin' on a prayer Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear Woah Livin' on a prayer Livin' on a prayer

We've got to hold on ready or not You live for the fight when that’s all that you've got

Ohh We're half way there Woah Livin' on a prayer Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear Woah Livin' on a prayer (Repeat to fade)

This song is about to ordinary people who are trying to get through the hard ships of life with just the love of each other. The lyrics of the song shows us that they are just to average upper lower class people “Tommy used to work on the docks”, “Gina works the dinner all day” and “He's down on his luck...it's tough, so tough” It show that both of these people are having a struggle to get through life with there limited income through the chorus “We've got each other and that's a lot.”
 * Reflection **

The poem is a rock song; by no stretch of the imagination is it a soft sorrowful song. This makes me not feel sorry for the two people, but happy because they are able to over come the challenges that they faced in life. This song is a more “pumped up” then a sorrowful song.

The song also shows how this young couple wanted so much from life but gained so little, because they always had to work, to gain money. This is shown in the third and fourth verse “Tommy got his six string in hock, Now he's holding in what he used To make it talk - so tough, it's tough, Gina dreams of running away, When she cries in the night, Tommy whispers: Baby it's okay, someday.” This part of the song tells the audience what this young couple expected from life (what they wanted); but what they missed out on just so they are able be with each other.

She that but little patience knew, From childhood on, had now so much A grey gull lost its fear and flew Down to her cell and there alit, And there endured her fingers' touch And from her fingers ate its bit. Did she in touching that lone wing Recall the years before her mind Became a bitter, an abstract thing, Her thought some popular enmity: Blind and leader of the blind Drinking the foul ditch where they lie? When long ago I saw her ride Under Ben Bulben to the meet, The beauty of her country-side With all youth's lonely wildness stirred, She seemed to have grown clean and sweet Like any rock-bred, sea-borne bird: Sea-borne, or balanced in the air When first it sprang out of the nest Upon some lofty rock to stare Upon the cloudy canopy, While under its storm-beaten breast Cried out the hollows of the sea. **Meaning or point-** the point of the poem is to try and show the reader how they are all prisoners to politics and how they can no longer be free until they escape there own thoughts and the manipulation of the government and open their mind to the real world. The author does this through the use of symbolism the lady at the start is supposed to symbolise the prisoner, but once she opens her mind and escapes the lies she is now free. This is shown through the language and the title helps us make these connections. “Blind and leader of the blind” “Drinking the foul ditch where they lie?” **Interesting images-** Though out the poem there are many interesting images that are being conveyed, the images of birds is constantly being conveyed through the whole poem “Did she in touching that lone wing” “sea-borne bird” and “Sea-borne, or balanced in the air.” This image is always being conveyed through the poem either through the feeling of flying or through direct speech. **What is literally happening in the poem? -** In the poem in the first stanza a grey gull fly’s into the cell of a prisoner. In the second stanza they are explaining the thoughts that are going thought the prisoners mind. In the third stanza the persona is talking about how he used to remember the prisoner (bird) going across the country side “Ben Bulben.” In the fourth stanza they are talking about how the bird was born. **What I like about the poem? –** The poem is very clever in which it uses the imagery of a bird to express its deeper meaning and this attracted me to the poem.
 * On a Political Prisoner**
 * Reflection  **