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I Am in Need of Music
                                           by Elizabeth Bishop 

1.  Meaning- The meaning of this poem is "There is a magic made by melody." Basically music is the drive to some people and their daily function. Music is more than just a hobby, more like beautiful joy that warms you up.

 2.  Antecedent Scenario-I believe that before the author took on to the task of writing this poem there was a moment she took to step back and look at life. There is a line referring to a religious aspect when she talks about the water being poured over her head as well as a line about death and so forth. Music seemed to be a relief from the anxieties of life she expressed.

3.  A Division into Structural Parts-  This poem is a sonnet broken into two stanzas. The first has a more of a sad tone of reflection to it. Talking about music as related to anxiety and death. However the second stanza is more about the good music does to the author. The beauty of music and the peace it brings to her heart.
4.  The Climax- I would consider the climax in this poem to be

“A song to fall like water on my head,
And over quivering limbs, dream flushed to glow!”

These two lines before the second stanza set the tone to end the poem in a very mellow and beautiful way. These lines seem to have a spiritual symbolism to baptism and when you are baptized are cleaned of your sins and made to renew yourself. This is basically what music is now doing for the author when going into the second half of the poem.
5.  The Other Parts- As I have mentioned before the tone completely changes to pure music and melody focus in the second stanza. Due to the change from the climax and the melancholy feeling simmers into pure lush and fantasy.

6.  Find the Skeleton- The tone changes in the second stanza because of the flush she has just had from music and how her mood becomes completely lifted with the melody of a song taking over her.

7.  Games the Poet Plays with the Content- This poem is definitely a love poem(with music as opposed to a person) Also a realization poem where the main speaker realizes that all they need to music to melt away into good feelings.

8.  Tone- Very uplifting towards the end especially being a musician it really hits deep. The beginning feels a little more depressing because of the talk of death but the last two lines of the first stanza make me smile and want to sing the rest of the poem. Which I didn’t but those are the feelings evoked. 9.  Agency- The main agent of this poem is the author Elizabeth Bishop. She doesn’t change the subject of the poem but as the feelings change the tone changes and the meaning of the poem isn’t revealed until the end.
10.  Roads Not Taken- I think the way that the poem is written makes it very unique and inviting to read. The anxiety that she feels in the first stanza hooks you the poem and all the alliteration used in the story make is a poem you just want to keep reading. I wouldn’t change a thing because I feel that it is very unique the way it is written now and if it is changed in any way the meaning of the poem would be thrown off. That is just my point of view because it is a very precise poem as to tone changes and vocabulary.

11.  Speech Act- The speech act of this poem is her love for music. Although there is no straight forward line that declares her love the whole poem has that drive. The drive that music means a lot to her and her feelings.

 12.  Outer and Structural Forms- The last two lines of the first stanza are the break for this poem and the tone. This is a sonnet so it has 14 lines in two stanzas but does not follow any type of rhyming structure really.

·         Sentences- There is eight lines in the first stanza and six in the second stanza. If I were to break this poem in a different way however there would be six lines in the beginning and the last two lines of the first stanza would be transition lines. Then in the end there would be 6 lines to finish it off.

·         Person- This is definitely in first person because the narrator is talking about the feeling that is over taking them

• Agency- Agency is not only the author but the feeling of the music taking over.
• Tense- The tense of this poem is all in the present, giving the feeling of realistic imagery that it is happening while you read the story.
• Images or Sensual Words- There is a lot of alliteration in this poem so this leads up to a lot of imagery. The image of this feeling taking over this person’s body makes it seem that music is actually something more than an invisible matter.
•  13.  Imagination- This whole poem attracts me because the imagery is very beautiful. It is very detailed and just feels warm towards the end. I believe the main reason is because of the connection I can make to this poem and the feelings music has evoked in me.