The Elements of Poetry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Elements of Poetry - Essay Example Both the poets talks about their childhood experiences in a different mood. Sharon Olds Born was born in San Francisco on November 19, 1942, and she earned a BA at Stanford University and a PhD at Columbia University. Her poetry talks about life and acceptance and one of the reviewer for New York Times writes’ "Her work has a robust sensuality, a delight in the physical that is almost Whitmanesque. She has made the minutiae of a woman's everyday life as valid a subject for poetry as the grand abstract themes that have preoccupied other poets" (Olds). Robert Hayden was born on August 4, 1913 and he was a celebrated American poet and an educator. The poems â€Å"Late Poem to My Father† by Sharon Olds and â€Å"Those Winter Sundays† by Robert Hayden portrays their childhood life and takes the readers on an emotional journey. Sharon Olds’ poem â€Å"Late Poem to My Father† illustrates the effect of a childhood trauma and how it can effect adulthood. The tone of the poem is sad and it evoke the traumatic childhood of her father. The narrator gives her childhood a voice and she experienced an epiphany in which she tries to understand her father’s abusive behavior and even forgive him for all the heartache.