Ted Kooser A Major American Poet - 1397 Words

Ted Kooser was born in Ames, Iowa, an area within the great plains of America. He credits his influences to both his mother and his father. His father worked as a store manager while his mother stayed home to raise him and his sister. During an interview he was asked how his parents influenced his poetry, he replied, My Father was a storekeeper, loved the public, and was a marvelous storyteller. I remember a women once said to me that shed rather hear my dad describe a person than see the person herself. (Meats, 335). One can tell from reading Koosers poetry that his father influenced him greatly. Ted Kooser also attained a strong work ethic from his father, which in his formative years allowed him to prosper and become the poet he is†¦show more content†¦With the publication of Sure Signs in 1980, Ted Kooser wrote Carrie, a poem about the morality of humanity and how life is cycle. Like most of his work, he used firsthand experience to forge his thoughts, this time his Aunt s life. The poem is only eleven lines long but its meaning it universal. Even though its a short poem, Kooser found a way to enrich it with figurative language, from similes to metaphors. With the lines, as her rag, like a thunderhead, (3), to and an elbow that creaked and popped / like a branch in a storm. (8-9), Kooser portrays to the listener of the environment his Aunt lived, which is an area hes accustomed to, the great plains. In the poem Kooser writes, seventy years with a ball / of compulsion closed in her fist, (6-7), meaning that in life you grow in age, and that theres no stopping it. Eventually, life will end with death, as seen in the lines, Now dust / is her hands and dust her heart. (9-10) meaning that once you die youll become dust. The last line of the poem, Theres never an end to it. (11) solidifies the poem with its meaning that theres a circle of life and it never ends. Later on in his life with the publication of Delights and Shadows, Ted Kooser writes a poem on what would be his fathers ninety-seventhShow MoreRelated Abandonment and Struggle on a Farm1327 Words   |  6 PagesSimplicity, especially in poetry, can be an often underrated and overlooked method of conveying a meaningful and extended message. Ted Kooser, an American poet and writer, is well known for his ‘simplistic’ style of writing and has been described as using an â€Å"[H]onest, accessible verse†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Ted Kooser: The Poetry Foundation). Kooser was born in Iowa and now resides in Nebraska. Both Iowa and Nebraska are situated in the Midwestern United States, an area noted for its rural landscape and population