Goody Blake and Harry Gill

Although we have only read a few poems so far this semester, "Goody Blake and Harry Gill" has been my favorite thus far. First off, it is a true story and the events of the story still happens in modern times. So it is something that I can relate to. Also, the poem has a rhyming scheme that is easy to pick up because of the rhyming scheme. I am not sure what the name of the rhyming scheme is but for every four lines, the first and third rhyme with each other and the second and fourth rhyme with each other. Because of the rhyming scheme, it makes reading the poem easier and also exciting.

The poem does a good job of drawing the reader's attention with its use of words and how it is written. The poem does a good job of describing the characters on the bottom of page 59. One can see that Harry had rosy cheeks and a voice of three, which I think means he had a deep voice. Goody Blake was old and poor and very thin because of this. When it was cold, Goody Blake's bones would shake. Also, on page 61 near the bottom their is the use of dashes in the lines. This is when Harry hears a noise and knows it is Goody. The use of the dashes in the lines makes it stand out because their is a sense of excitement in the lines. It helps to build the suspense of the action.

One of the main reasons that I like the poem is because of the message behind it. Here we have a rich guy who is warm during the frigid months of winter. Then there is a poor old lady who struggles staying warm during the same time. She steals sticks from this guys hedge just so she can survive. He is against this and tries to catch her in the act and scorn her. But because he is the one unwilling to help out a lady stay warm, he is cursed for the rest of his life by being cold forever. There is a righteous element about this poem because the rich is not helping out the poor. It is similar to the parable from the bible about the beggar. Overall, I like the message the poem is trying to tell us: help out those who are less fortunate than us.