Chopin, Roethke, and Mark Doty Essay

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Walking with his owner, he considers the absurdity of the human mind, sinking in the past "thinking of what you can never bring back" (8) or thinking about tomorrow. It is only a few seconds before our speaker is distracted by his "work / to unsnare time's warp" (10-1) and pull his owner from it back into the here and now. We do not need to wonder if the dog believes humanity is wasting time thinking about the past. He is convinced the best way to live it is to live in completely in the moment. The superior creature, man, does not have a handle on this notion quite yet. Sometimes we need other creatures of the universe to show us the way because we become too involved in all it means to be human. Too involved, it seems, that we miss much of the joy that lies before us. Nothing escapes this creature's attention and he could not be happier than where he is. There is no worry over where else he could be or even where he thinks he should be. There is no time for that because there are things to accomplish right here and now that will be gone all too soon.

These pieces of work emphasize, in one way or another, the importance of appreciating the here and the now. This is something we forget to do in a world loaded with messages coming at us from every angle. Things move fast in this society and while it may make us feel like we are doing more, we may only be burying ourselves with more stuff than doing any good. Many teachers and philosophers encourage us to live in the moment because the past and the future are elusive.

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While everyone will admit this is true, the fact remains we spend a great deal of time thinking of either what we are going to do. Doty's poem is straightforward because dogs do not do this. In fact, no animals do it. They are content to live in the present moment and we should all be so cognizant of out surroundings. In "Root Cellar," life goes on whether we are aware of it or not, which may seem like an odd thing to say but it happens every day. All kinds of life grow, emerge from the depths, and die without us every knowing about it. Here we see how very small we are in the big picture. We must look like the ants scurrying about in a giant picture that captures all activities captured within a slice of time. Humanity is just a small part of the bigger whole as these two poets explain. Time, life and joy are also important concepts in Chopin's "The Story of an Hour." Louise thought she had the rest of her long life ahead of her. However, life is full of proverbial surprises. Each writer understands this concept and puts it forth in a way for readers to grasp. We hear these types of things every day from life coaches to our parents but sometimes it takes a compelling story or a different perspective for the message to resonate. These writers have succeeded in creating literature that causes us to think and remember the importance of time as well as its fleeting nature.

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