Analysis Of Frank O Hara s On The Lonely Odyssey Of Life

The vivid projection of emotional plight as a metaphorical means to convey the lonely odyssey of life is reflected in Frank O’Hara’s â€Å"How to Get There† and Sylvia Plath’s â€Å"Elm† as both poets weave personal experiences into provocative language. O’Hara’s immediate experience in â€Å"How to Get There† revolves around that familiar moment of acknowledgement of loneliness as a precursor to independence. Through O’Hara’s use of enjambment, one can extrapolate the speaker’s uncertainty of living in a world where struggling and agonizing individually initiates the feelings of fear. This innate feeling of fear enshrouds the speaker in unfamiliarity, yet this exposure to reality contributes to independence and experience. For example, mutualism found within relationships can deter individuals from seeking experience beyond their comfort level (this can affect how they manage struggles stemming from unfamil iarity). Once exposed to unfamiliarity, the understanding of what is known or what should be known becomes a struggle in itself. For Sylvia Plath in â€Å"Elm†, the fear of delving into the unknown and being exposed to fierce pain, is palpably frightening yet essential to the human condition. Plath’s use of natural imagery illustrating the inevitable pain experienced in love strikes a chord in the audience, giving us a nostalgic feeling of loneliness and betrayal. The projection of emotional turbulence deeply resonates within those who have felt love and lost it. In essence, O’Hara and Plath