Heritage

Well. I forgot to blog this past weekend. This is going to be a very busy second semester, I can tell. Sorry i'm so late Mrs. White! Here's my blog for 1-9-11:

I'm writing this blog about the poem Heritage by James Still. First of all, let me just go over some background knowledge on Mr. Still himself. He was an amazing man. Mr. Still was born in 1906 in Lafayette, Alabama into a rather large, Appalachian, family. He was a man who, instead of being wrapped up in himself, cared about world causes and issues. He served in World War II as well as making it through graduate school. Still traveled to many countries around the world and studied the many different cultures it had to offer. Still cared very deeply about culture and heritage, it was a topic that was very near to his heart which explains a lot about his poem Heritage.

In the poem Heritage, Still mentions several times that he is unable to leave his place of birth. As if he were born in a small tribe in the mountains, at least that's what I pictured. It's funny because in reading this poem, I got a sense like even though he referred to this place as "prisoning" he didn't want to leave. His roots and past is in the place he says he cannot escape. I saw the reason for him not being able to leave as being figurative. He can leave whenever he wants, but he can't leave his heritage. His heritage is too important to him to leave behind.

I really like this poem, it is cool.