Poems Concentrated Ed:8

Daffodils –William Wordsworth

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o’er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they

Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;

A poet could not be but gay,

In such a jocund company!

I gazed and gazed but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

It’s Edition 8! So, I’m giving you something to celebrate it. The poem you’ve just read!

What’s special about it, you ask? I don’t know. How about you? No? That’s point. Something’s special only if you think about it right? Think that it’s special, and you’re done! :-D

Also, I’m sorry I can’t get you one of Rayhaan’s poem this time, I haven’t be able to contact him, mostly because he’ll be returning to school this week and because his computer’s been playing up. Next time?

Anyway, moving on. The poem. This blog. Yeah, that’s what you came here for.

The reason I decided to put this up here today is to remind you, if you’ve ever done literature or some poetry related subjects, you’ve been made to do this poem at one point or another. Why? I’m pretty sure this poem is one the best examples of implicit analysis in poem, and probably the simplest for beginner students. I’m pretty sure teachers thought so too. I pretty much hate this poem, for that silly reason. It was probably the first poem I ever did in Lit and ever analysed on ‘so said’ academic scale. So I hate it.

I’m going to keep this week’s edition short. I’ll (try to) keep to the point. This poem shows off the poets feelings under a thin layer of words, and it also gives beginners an impression of Romance poetry. In the same way, it shows how meaning can be hidden in words in a simple form. Sure it’s not the world’s best example of how this happens, but this poem is special in the form that it’s by Wordsworth, and as shown by the BBC poll, is one of the most popular poems in the UK. Even though I hate, I do respect this poem. It’s a very valuable part of British literature.

Apparently, the poem was written after Wordworth came across a ‘long belt’ of daffodils in Lake District, UK. It might be a very popular poem now, but when it first came out in his book, a poem complication (not sure if that’s word), called Poems in Two Volumes, his critics didn’t seem to like it. You might want to check out more on the Wikipedia article.

Now for the summary from the Website ‘shmoop’ (links below), and the end of this edition!

The speaker was walking around through the hills and valleys, but he felt all lonely and mopey. Suddenly, as he passed a lake, he noticed a big group of yellow daffodils waving in the breeze. This wasn't just some scattered patch of daffodils. We’re talking thousands and thousands around this particular bay. And all these flowers were dancing.

Yes, the daffodils danced, and so did the waves of the lake. But the daffodils danced better. The speaker’s loneliness was replaced by joy, but he didn't even realize what a gift he has received until later. Now, whenever he’s feeling kind of blah, he just thinks of the daffodils, and his heart is happily dancing. (http://www.shmoop.com/wandered-lonely-cloud-daffodils/summary.html)

If you enjoyed this, do make sure to follow our blog! There’s a button somewhere around this article that read ‘Follow’, click that to be on top of the latest updates to Interest Concentrated!

Thanks for reading!

You might enjoy our series of Poems Concentrated:

Edition 1: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/p/poems-concentrated.html

Edition 2: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/p/poems-concentrated-ed-2.html

Edition 3: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/poems-concentrated-ed3.html

Edition 4: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/poems-concentrated-ed4.html

Edition 5: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/poetry-concentrated-ed5.html

Edition6: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/poems-concentrated-ed-6.html

Check my stories:

Crash, a short story: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/crash-short-story.html

1:49, a horror story: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/0149-pm.html

Engrossing, A twisted short tale of irony:  http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/engrossing.html

Sorry, another Baked in Irony story: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/sorry.html

Check out Rayhaan's stories:

Flipside 1: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/the-closed-door.html

Flipside 2: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/flipside-2.html

Flipside 3: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/flipside-3.html

MirrorMan: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.com/2015/08/mirrorman.html

Or just check out everything in the order they came out in by clicking this:

www.interestconcentrated.blogspot.com

Sorry...

Hello readers! Welcome to this weeks #Flipside replacement story! It's more of my dipped, fried and baked series!

Before you pass this point make sure you read this, my first dipped, fired and baked in irony story: Engrossing (Click the word).

 Hopefully you are finding them ironic enough. I do apologise if they aren't to your taste.  Then again, there's the irony in that it isn't ironic enough right? I'm so ironic. See what I did there? :-D

Anyway, hopefully, I'll be able to get the next Saturday back to normal with an original Flipside by Rayhaan. You'll have to put up with my stories till then. Ha ha. Ha.

I must thank you all again for viewing this and sharing it among your friends! I've been mindblown by a huge surge in views over the last few posts, and honestly, I can't explain how happy I am. Thank You, Thank You! (Ps: I've passed 2560 views already) :-)

Anyway, you must here for the story, and so, read on!

Sorry…

“Sorry sir, the lifts down for maintenance.  You’ll have to make it by foot or you’ll have to wait another 40 minutes.”

“Oh c’mon!” I groaned as I looked at my friends.

“Never mind. Let’s walk it. We’ll pass the time telling each other stories, time will pass quickly!” one of my friends said cheerily. I’d bought two of my friends along to show them my new apartment block. But as my luck always is the apartment was on the highest floor, the 30^th and the lift had to be broken.

“Okay, then, if you’re up for it, let’s go!” I said and started the daunting climb up the stairs. Mark, the friend who’d suggested the story telling-while-climbing, started telling his story, a horror story, and you have to give it to him, it kept us engrossed for a whole 12 floors of climbing up.

By the time he’d finished, my other friend also had a story he’d heard in University about some  life story of a man, and so with him reciting that, we slowly but surely made our way to our destination, my apartment on the thirtieth floor!

Luckily for us, there was a small alcove where we could sit down and rest our weary feet. So it was sitting down we finished his story and panted off the sweat of climbing.

“…. And yeah, so he finally got what he wanted right?” finished Oscar, looking at me. He frowned when he saw the look on my face “Why? What’s wrong?” he asked.

“It’s my turn isn’t it? It’s a horror story. Short one though,” I said quickly to their quickly changing expressions, “I've forgotten my keys in the car….”

Thank's For Reading!

You might enjoy our series of Poems Concentrated:

Edition 1: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/p/poems-concentrated.html

Edition 2: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/p/poems-concentrated-ed-2.html

Edition 3: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/poems-concentrated-ed3.html

Edition 4: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/poems-concentrated-ed4.html

Edition 5: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/poetry-concentrated-ed5.html

Edition6: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/poems-concentrated-ed-6.html

Check out Rayhaan's other stories:

Flipside 1: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/the-closed-door.html

Flipside 2: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/flipside-2.html

Flipside 3: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/flipside-3.html

MirrorMan: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.com/2015/08/mirrorman.html

Check my stories:

Crash, a short story: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/crash-short-story.html

1:49, a horror story: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/0149-pm.html

Engrossing. a twisted short tale of irony:  http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/engrossing.html

Or just check out everything in the order they came out in by clicking this:

www.interestconcentrated.blogspot.com

Poems Concentrated Ed 7

Sonnet 18, Shakespeare

Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And Summer’s lease hath all too short a date:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And oft’ is his gold complexion dimm’d;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d:

But thy eternal Summer shall not fade

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;

Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou growest:

So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

It’s a Shakespeare! You didn’t think I could make a series called Poems Concentrated without having a Shakespeare in too, did you? Well, I couldn’t. He’s basically the creator or modern English, and the world’s greatest playwright, and more or less the person who popularised poetry and cinema. Not that I like him much. How he makes people suffer with that creation. His plays, his poems, his life (ooh, that part is not very… um… civil?), how modern literature makes us study them. But I guess it’s like tax. It’s painfully to give, it makes you suffer sometimes, but in the end, it’s all for your good (they say). But face, who wouldn’t like to show off their knowledge to someone and make them suffer listening to you. I don’t about you, but I definitely would. Now, where were we? Oh, yeah, moving on.

So, you might have noticed this is a ‘sonnet’. What’s a sonnet? If you didn’t know (I didn’t. Am I certified to do this poems section? No, not technically. But I like doing it, and I am learning), let me differentiate between a poem and sonnet. A sonnet is a poem. But it’s a very precise type of poem. A sonnet comprises of 14 rhyming lines of the same length. It splits up into three more different types, Italian sonnet, English sonnet and Spenserian sonnet. In an English sonnet, three groups of four lines with cross-rhyme pattern (abab, cdcd, efef) are followed by a final couplet (rhymed gg). An Italian sonnet is slightly different, and I’m not going explain all that. I got my info from http://www.differencebetween.info/difference-between-poem-and-sonnet, head over there if you want to know more.

(Also, fun fact, the term sonnet derives from the Italian word sonetto and means "little song".)

Sonnet 18 is an English style sonnet. The art of writing sonnet originates from Italy, but it was Shakespeare who popularised it again.  He mostly created the English sonnet genre (gee, I wish I had that freedom. Muck up making a proper sonnet, but then realise that I can just rename it and make it a new genre). It’s a love poem, and it’s just one of the 154 sonnets Shakespeare wrote in his lifetime (remember that number, 154, if you study Lit. It’s an important number).  It is also one of his most famous.

If you analyse it, as always, it’s full of hidden gems, as is the way with Shakespeare poems. You’ll find scholars going hand to hand trying explain what they think the hidden meaning is. That’s what I love about Shakespeare. There is always something hidden under the words, and everyone goes crazy trying to find them, and sometimes when I read their theories, I wonder if Shakespeare himself actually meant that to happen! Just a tiny mistake he made writing it, a slip of the brain,  and 500 years later, it’s more important that starvation in Africa.

Oh dear. I’m going far away from the topic than I’d like. Let’s move back onto the poem. Rather sonnet. What do you think of it? Personally, I, without wanting to sound like an idiot, like some of Rayhaan’s poems better. That’s just me. On my thoughts of the poem though. There is this almost sarcastic tone of love in it. He compares her to a summer day. How calm, how temperate she is. But consider this. Shakespeare lived in Britain. I live in Britain. I’ve known days where the morning starts off so beautifully, so calmly, and you get out the bikes to cycling, and bang, it’s cloudy and going to rain. That’s the British weather is. It’s far from calm and temperate. You see what these scholars argue about? Everything is different depending on what your point of view is. Of course he then goes on to talk about how bad the summer day is, and how much better she is, but again, point of view. It’s different.

You probably don’t know what I was elaborating. It’s all in the summary. But I’m also about to reach a 1000 words. So that mean it’s time to finish up this edition of Poems Concentrated. But don’t worry. I’m going to leave you some sites to check out if you want more to read about this poem and all that’s related.

Here’s the summary from great website Shmoop (link given below):

The speaker begins by asking whether he should or will compare "thee" to a summer day. He says that his beloved is lovelier and more even-tempered. He then runs off a list of reasons why summer isn’t all that great: winds shake the buds that emerged in Spring, summer ends too quickly, and the sun can get too hot or be obscured by clouds.

He goes on, saying that everything beautiful eventually fades by chance or by nature’s inevitable changes. Coming back to the beloved, though, he argues that his or her summer (or happy, beautiful years) won’t go away, nor will his or her beauty fade away. Moreover, death will never be able to take the beloved, since the beloved exists in eternal lines (meaning poetry). The speaker concludes that as long as humans exist and can see (so as to read), the poem he’s writing will live on, allowing the beloved to keep living as well. http://www.shmoop.com/sonnet-18/summary.html

And here’s some sites you can check out:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonnet_18

http://www.shmoop.com/sonnet-18/#

https://goo.gl/kZOgO4

If you enjoy our articles, be the first to know about them! Click the 'Follow' button under this blog. Or somewhere around this page. Maybe to the side. I'm not sure. But do us a favour by clicking it! You'll be doing yourself a favour too! ;-)

And finally, thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed it!

You might enjoy our series of Poems Concentrated:

Edition 1: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/p/poems-concentrated.html

Edition 2: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/p/poems-concentrated-ed-2.html

Edition 3: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/poems-concentrated-ed3.html

Edition 4: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/poems-concentrated-ed4.html

Edition 5: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/poetry-concentrated-ed5.html

Edition 6: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/poems-concentrated-ed-6.html

Check out Rayhaan's stories:

Flipside 1: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/the-closed-door.html
Flipside 2: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/flipside-2.html

Flipside 3: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/flipside-3.html

Check my stories:

Crash, a short story: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/crash-short-story.html

1:49, a horror story: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/0149-pm.html

Engrossing. a twisted short tale of irony:  http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/engrossing.html

Or just check out everything in the order they came out in by clicking this:

www.interestconcentrated.blogspot.com

2000 views!!

Wow!
2000 views! We finally hit 2000 views! In the matter of the small space of approximately three months, we hit 2000 views!
I couldn't have done it without you!
Thank you so much for visiting, reading and sharing our posts an helping Interest Concentrated reach the 2000 views milestone!
I also take this moment to thank our contributors, main co-author Rayhaan and games reviewer Dinera. Especially Rayhaan. His amazing stories and poems are what keep this blog running.  His latest story, Part One of MirrorMan, has been especially popular.
Thank you fellow Co-Authors!
I hope you keep on reading our articles, and keep sharing our articles!
Let's drink to another 1000! And let's hope that comes even quicker!
And finally,
Thank you everyone!

Oh, by the way, if you enjoy our articles, be the first to know about them! Click the 'Follow' button under this blog. Or somewhere around this page. Maybe to the side. I'm not sure. But do us a favour by clicking it! You'll be doing yourself a favour too! ;-)

You might enjoy our series of Poems Concentrated:

Edition 1: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/p/poems-concentrated.html

Edition 2: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/p/poems-concentrated-ed-2.html

Edition 3: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/poems-concentrated-ed3.html

Edition 4: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/poems-concentrated-ed4.html

Edition 5: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/poetry-concentrated-ed5.html

Check out Rayhaan's other stories:

Flipside 1: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/the-closed-door.html
Flipside 2: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/flipside-2.html

Flipside 3: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/flipside-3.html

Check my stories:

Crash, a short story: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/crash-short-story.html

1:49, a horror story: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/0149-pm.html

Engrossing. a twisted short tale of irony:  http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/engrossing.html

Or just check out everything in the order they came out in by clicking this:

www.interestconcentrated.blogspot.com

MirrorMan

No-new flipsides this week! Sorry! But I think this will be more interesting! Read on!


Below is a new story Rayhaan's been working on called MirrorMan. It's criminal story based on a criminal type called 'Mirrormen', criminals a façade of good reputation who work under cover for bigger criminal gangs. The story is focused on one man who used to be one of the greats. Below is Rayhaan's pre-release description of the background of the main character:

For years police and investigation departments have solved crimes with ease thanks to the carelessness of the average felon. At the turn of the decade, however, a new trend began in America.

Criminals who were never convicted for their crimes began hiring talented and skilled individuals to replicate their heists, which paid the individual and their contractor handsomely. These talented individuals were known as Mirrormen.

Mirrormen were found in all walks of life, ranging from doctors, to magicians, mentalists, and martial artists. They would often be assembled into a team, enabling them to combine their skills to pull of the ”perfect” heist for their contractor. Only the most qualified of these people would commit these crimes, making them virtually impossible to track, identify, or arrest. However, there was one Mirrorman who was feared by the criminal underworld. He comitted crimes so complex and flawless that he began to build a reputation as the perfect criminal, simultaneously increasing his value. Corrupt politicians and business men would pay hundreds of thousands for him to do their dirty work.

After building a legacy, the feared” Mirrorman of California” exposed his contractors to the police and escaped with his fortune to the Maldives where he lived a quite life under the alias Aiden Rook with his family. His paradise was soon threatened when the right hand man of a former contractor, Wayne Christchurch, attempted to assassinate him. He burned down the Mirrorman’s resort home at sea and disfigured him in a duel. As the home burnt and fell into the sea, so did the Mirrorman’s wife and children. Miraculously, however, The Mirrorman survived but was unidentifiable due to his disfigurement.  For weeks he was unconscious in hospital, but once he woke up he was traumatized from the memory of failing to save his family .Devastated, he escapes the hospital and attempts suicide from a bridge, where he is confronted by Government Agent Sarah Morgan, who convinces him into staying alive so he can bring his family’s killer to justice. Agent Morgan then takes him back to California where he is convinced to reveal his true identity and the details of his previous life as a criminal. He is then given a choice, whether to be taken for trial and eventual imprisonment, or to allow the Department to drop charges if he agrees to use his observant skills and insight of the criminal mind in aiding them to solve cases. The Mirrorman agrees to work with them, and from there onwards begins to carry out his own dark agenda.

Hope you like the sound of it. Rayhaan has now completed the first chapter/scene of it, and you can read it below. You'll notice it's written in the manner of a screenplay, because (quoting him) 'After weeks of thinking,I have decided to write it in the manner of a screenplay,considering the dramatic,comedic,and criminal overtones.Should anyone want to adapt it for television one day,it will be ready.'  If there's a director or screenwriter in need of good story, well, someone will be over the moon if you decide that this is going to be good for your film/drama (as long as you ask him first!)

Before you read this, please please do leave feedback, Rayhaan asked me personally, and it was on that condition he gave me this to publish! 

Here's what he said: Anyway read it with an open mind and don't expect anything,its completely new in every sense of the word.

Put it on the blog if you like and send it around a few other writers you know.I'd like feedback.

Enjoy the Story!

Scene One:

Scene opens with a shot of a man standing in line at a supermarket with a bag of groceries in his hand. His name is Morgan. His face is bandaged and people are staring at him. They don’t think he can see them through all the bandages, and they go on staring. The woman behind him in line pulls her child away from him. He turns around, somehow noticing. Morgan speaks, sarcasm riddled in his words.

Morgan: What? It's just cancer. Its not like its contagious.

The woman stares at Morgan, shocked. He chuckles…

Morgan: Gets them every time.

He’s losing patience, and decides to cut the line. One by one, he nudges past the people ahead of him and calls out to the cashier.

Morgan: Javier! I presume you have Esteban’s package?

Javier: No sir…Someone came for it earlier…

Morgan: What? Well did you give it to him?

Javier: Yes. By the way that’ll be 12.99

Morgan stares at the young man. He grabs his grocery bag and heads for the door without paying

Morgan: Dammit Javier. Your parents were right. You really need that brain surgery.

Javier: Sir…Your groceries..

Morgan exits the supermarket and meets with his colleague, Sarah Murdoch ; A young woman working for the FBI, with Morgan.

Sarah: Did you get the tea?

Morgan: Forget the tea. We’re too late. And no, I did not.

The two of them get into his car and he begins to drive restlessly

Sarah: I thought your client told you the shipment was coming in at 10.00 am sharp.

Morgan: Apparently, someone told him I’m working for the Feds now. Must have changed timings. Call Simmons and Mason, tell them we’ll need all the backup we can get.

Sarah makes the calls as Morgan parks at their destination. The duo walk on the street frantically heading to the port, only to find the body of the man they were trying to save.

Sarah: They got here before we did

Morgan: I think you’re going to have to call more than just backup

To be continued....

Thanks for reading!

For more amazing content check out the rest of our story here: www.interestconcentrated.blogspot.com

Little update: Thank you so much guys for the views! It's much much appreciated. I've  already forwarded your eargerness to Rayhaan, and I promise you I'm going to get the second part out of very very soon! 
One more thing, and don't think that I'm not being grateful, I am, very, but please, leave a comment or two on about what you think of the story. That's why Rayhaan wanted this published. He wants to know your reaction. Why not grant him that favour, eh? :-) 
Thanks guys!

Poems Concentrated Ed: 6

Poems Concentrated Ed6

I’ve strayed from format to say this, this week’s poem is a bit special. I’m not going to mention why. Read on.

The Golden Curtain

When the rains have ceased,

And my friends are gone,

I’ll venture to the coast for certain,

In waiting for the Golden Curtain,

Until the dim of dawn.

Do not ask me why I do this,

For you already know my pain

You were the reason it worsened

Now, my only resort is the Curtain

Upon the horizon that keeps me sane.

The breeze helps me forget the pain,

And as I sit atop the coastal rocks.

I forget every other person

As I catch sight of the Curtain

Approaching near the docks.

Finally I’ve embraced your choice

And as I smell salvation in the air

I dive into its surface;

Into the Golden Curtain

Knowing my paradise is there.

Read once more, just to absorb it. You might find something you missed or failed to understand.

Such an enchanting poem! Almost like a Hardy in terms of the topic; broken heartedness, love, remorse etc… It’s a beautiful work. You feel the emotion making its way into the words. The Golden Curtain, what do you think it is? It’ll be revealed in the summary, but keep a guess in your bank, for now. I don’t what more to say, it’s all somewhat of an un-acknowledged understanding. That’s a good sign. Its things like that that made famous poets stand out. There has to be something that everyone sees, understands in a poem, and for different people its different things. So, I can’t really go on about what I understood there, that you understand. Maybe you understood the broken-heartedness personally, I only see and make that connection because I’ve been taught to do it. I sort of understand. Like when Samsung failed to make the Note 5 a better phone. That remorse of the lack of SD card and IR port. Even though I’m never going to buy it, you sort of feel sad that someone you supported gave up on you. Is that the same thing?  Yeah, I’m weird.

Oh, okay. I’ve been putting it off. Here’s the summary:

The Golden Curtain is a letter written to the poet’s lover.

The poet speaks directly to the woman in his letter, and blames her for his current mental state. He is so depressed; in fact, he is prepared to drown himself in the ocean. He compares his watery grave, a large wave, to a golden curtain. This is because of the reflection of bright sunlight on it, making it look golden, and it’s large, draped appearance.

The Golden Curtain is a haunting reminder of the effects of a broken heart on a person, and how tragic they can be.

So, what did you feel about the poem? Did you like it? I loved it. It’s a special poem. Do you have a poem like that somewhere? Do you think you can write something like that? I’d love to feature it here! Send it in with a short summary to spitfirerob@gmail.com!

In the beginning, I said something special about this. Have you guessed what it is? I’m not telling! Leave your guess down below!

So, that’s the end of this edition of Poetry Concentrated! I hope you like what we do! Time for the formalities:

If you enjoyed this, make sure to check out the previous 5 editions of Poems Concentrated:

Edition 1: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/p/poems-concentrated.html

Edition 2: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/p/poems-concentrated-ed-2.html

Edition 3: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/poems-concentrated-ed3.html

Edition 4: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/poems-concentrated-ed4.html

Edition 5: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/poetry-concentrated-ed5.html

Please be sure to share and +1 this!

Thanks for reading!

Engrossing!

This week, Rayhaan didn't send in his Flipside, but I anticipated that, and that's why I'm treating you to one of my stories. It's dipped, fried and baked in irony and the unexpected, so it might not be what you expect (duh). Below are two versions of it, one in present tense, one in past. I couldn't decide what was better so I chucked em both here. Enjoy! Remember to share and +1!

Past Tense

Engrossing

Where were brakes when you need them? He could hear the screams of his friends on his boat. Thud. Thud. The choppy water was making the boat jump. As he looks up from the controls he sees it coming. His eyes close. The screams and sight melt away into blackness.

He opened his eyes. The quietness of the hospital enveloped him. Next to him was a doctor typing into a machine. He had tubes connected to him. No pain. The doctor looked at him, acknowledging his consciousness with a smile. His sight and hearing melted away into grey oblivion again.

The curves of the racetrack wove away in front of him, but he would never corner them. The wheel exploding behind him was only a soft thud to him. His senses had already stopped working. The car lifted over the ground. Was it slow motion? He sees the world revolve around him, turning upside down and back again. The car was flipping over, flying into space. He saw the other car coming. The saw the black piece of rubber accelerate away from the exploding wheel. He saw it going forward in time as it was about to hit the other drivers helmet. He closed his eyes. Orange. Heat. Black.

“You come up here and finish your homework right now!”

I groaned and paused the film. The voice of my mother ripped me out of away from the engrossing film and back to reality.

Present Tense

Engrossing

Where are the brakes when you need them? He can hear the screams of his friends on his boat. Thud. Thud. The choppy water makes the boat jump. As he looks up from the controls he sees it coming. His eyes close. The screams and sight melt away into blackness.

He opens his eyes. The quietness of the hospital envelopes him. Next to him, a doctor types into a machine. He has tubes connected to him. No pain. The doctor looks at him, acknowledging his consciousness with a smile. His sight and hearing melts away into grey oblivion again.

The curves of the racetrack wind away in front of him, but he would never corner them. The wheel exploding behind him was only a soft thud to him. His senses had already stopped working. The car lifts. Was it slow motion? He sees the world revolve around him, turning upside down and back again. The car was flipping over, flying into space. He sees the other car coming. He sees the black piece of rubber accelerate away from the exploding wheel. He sees it going forward in time as it is about to hit the other driver’s helmet. He closes his eyes. Orange. Heat. Black.

“You come up here and finish your homework right now!”

I groaned and paused the film. The voice of my mother ripped me out of away from the engrossing film and back to reality.

I have another one for another time. Or I made start mass producing them and churn out one every week, now that I can write it on my phone!

Poetry Concentrated Ed:5

The Happiest Day- The Happiest Hour

The happiest day- the happiest hour

My sear'd and blighted heart hath known,
The highest hope of pride and power,
I feel hath flown.

Of power! said I? yes! such I ween;
But they have vanish'd long, alas!
The visions of my youth have been-
But let them pass.

And, pride, what have I now with thee?
Another brow may even inherit
The venom thou hast pour'd on me
Be still, my spirit!

The happiest day- the happiest hour
Mine eyes shall see- have ever seen,
The brightest glance of pride and power,
I feel- have been:

But were that hope of pride and power
Now offer'd with the pain
Even then I felt- that brightest hour
I would not live again:

For on its wing was dark alloy,
And, as it flutter'd- fell
An essence- powerful to destroy
A soul that knew it well

---Edgar Allen Poe----                                                                                           

Make sure to read it twice. I know it’s a bit long, but try to understand the poem before you move on.

Welcome to the fifth edition of Poetry Concentrated, and I hope you enjoyed that poem by Poe. It’s a difference isn’t it? I’ve been posting too many Hardys’ so I thought I’d give you something else. This poem is one of Poe’s most famous, and although I’m not personally a big fan of Poe, the story behind this poem is pure emotion. It’s full of wonder, fear and that feeling of “what will happen to me?”.  I’m looking for a word, but I can’t seem to remember it. That’s why I just put the feeling direct in quotations. It’s a feeling we all get at some stage of our lives, that wonder of looking up and thinking ‘what’s next?’

I think that’s what makes this poem special; it’s relatable. To Poe, as you’ll see later, it represented the turning point in his life, from where on he went to become the person he did, the renounced poet and author. Later is now, and here’s the summary of the poem by an amazing website, Weebly.

The poem was written in 1827, the same year Poe dropped out of school and had his first poems printed. This poem is about Poe following his passion and realizing that it will not be easy. Poe’s foster father John Allan did not know what made him become a writer because the profession was not looked highly upon. When Poe dropped out of school to peruse his dream of writing it meant that John Allan would no longer support him financially. This poem reflects Poe’s realization that the road he has chosen will not be an easy or comfortable one. Poe is saying that the emotional fall one takes after their happiest moment outweighs the overall happiness. The happiest moment Poe felt was the moment when his pride and power were at their highest. Poe is warning us that as Pride and Power fly higher and higher the imminent fall grows larger. And like anything else that falls from a great height, a crater is left, making the fall longer than the flight and harder to recover from. (Click here to go the full summary: http://edgarallanpoethehappiestdaytheha.weebly.com/poem-analysis.html)

Even I can’t imagine the love of poetry Poe had. To drop out school, to give up financial aid, to pursue a career in writing Poetry? Even today, being a poet isn’t enough to live upon, you must have something backing it up, so imagine what suffering he must have gone through to support it. Here’s an extract from the Wikipedia article:

Born in Boston, Poe was the second child of two actors. His father abandoned the family in 1810, and his mother died the following year. Thus orphaned, the child was taken in by John and Frances Allan, of Richmond, Virginia. Although they never formally adopted him, Poe was with them well into young adulthood. Tension developed later as John Allan and Edgar repeatedly clashed over debts, including those incurred by gambling, and the cost of secondary education for the young man. Poe attended the University of Virginia for one semester but left due to lack of money. Poe quarrelled with Allan over the funds for his education and enlisted in the Army in 1827 under an assumed name. It was at this time his publishing career began, albeit humbly, with an anonymous collection of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827), credited only to "a Bostonian". With the death of Frances Allan in 1829, Poe and Allan reached a temporary rapprochement. Later failing as an officer's cadet at West Point and declaring a firm wish to be a poet and writer, Poe parted ways with John Allan.

You can click here to go the full Wiki article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Allan_Poe

If you have a passion, pursue it, and even if you don’t reach success financially, you’ll love what you do, and that can’t be said for many other people who have succeeded financially. And in today’s society, to do what you love is easy, with so many types of media open to people with a passion, be it filming, photography, music, art or writing.

Today’s Poetry Concentrated was a bit out of the ordinary wasn’t it? It was bigger than usual, more information packed, and had a different poet too.  Don’t worry, hopefully the following editions won’t be this big, but they’ll be slimed down. I’m going to work on slimming down my articles, keeping it simple and focused on Poetry.

Quick question: Would you like me to keep these more personal, like in this and previous articles, with the occasional question and smile, or make it professional, like a newspaper? I’d prefer it personal, because that’s the way I write, but if you prefer it otherwise I’m ready for that too.

So, that’s the end of this edition of Poetry Concentrated! I hope you like what we do! Time for the formalities:

If you enjoyed this, make sure to check out the previous 3 editions of Poems Concentrated:

Edition 1: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/p/poems-concentrated.html

Edition 2: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/p/poems-concentrated-ed-2.html

Edition 3: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/poems-concentrated-ed3.html

Edition 4: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/poems-concentrated-ed4.html

Please be sure to share and +1 this and comment on this!

Remember, if you are an aspiring poet or even an established one, please do send in your poems with a short summary to spitfirerob@gmail.com, because we’d love to feature them!

Thanks for reading!

Flipside 3

There are many rare and amazing creatures that can be found in the jungles of Africa, but there is no creature more intriguing than man. In Mozambique there was once a reserve, where tourists would spend great amounts of time and money. They would stay at the hotel just outside the reserve which was eerily close to its jungle greenery. However, in the greenery, there lurked something that was not interested in sharing the jungle with foreigners. It was the Wild Man of Mozambique

For years, he taunted and terrified those who stayed at the hotel; he would jeer at them from the windows, and moan through the ventilation ducts, and eventually he caught the attention of the hotel’s management staff.

 “We must do something before we lose all our guests”, muttered Lee Edwards, who was owner of the hotel. 

“No,” said Adisa, “He has the wrath of the gods at his disposal, and we must not anger him”. Adisa was a traditional African man. He grew up in Mozambique, and he had heard every story of the Wild Man that had ever been told and he often muttered their messages, his bright eyes wide with fear, “Some say his skin is crafted from godly leather” or “The jungle belongs to him!”.

Edwards and the rest of the staff smirked as they walked out of the staff room, with dark plans breeding in their minds. Edwards contacted Adderson Hendricks, an experienced hunter in the hopes of hunting down the Wild Man and bringing him into custody.

“It is not possible,” said the hunter. “The Man is untouchable. He moves like the great Constrictors of the jungle. He strikes like the dreaded Ape. If you catch him, the jungle will not be in balance, and great horror shall befall you”.

Disappointed, Edwards contacted the authorities to capture the Wild Man. Days passed and after the deaths of three men, the man was captured. He could not speak a word of English, and had the gaze of a deadly falcon. There was no color in his eyes, and on his face were tattoos of a dialect that, according to Adisa, had long been forgotten. The Wild Man was kept in a pit, and he was monitored by Jed, a security guard at the reserve. The Man tried every day to escape from his prison, and every time he fell from the slopes of the pit, he looked at the sun shining through the top of the pit and cried out strange names, only to realize that nobody was coming for help, at which he would begin to sob bitterly. Meanwhile, business at the hotel flourished with the Wild Man gone, and Edwards was richer than ever. Edward’s happiness was soon interrupted when Adisa burst into his office, and claimed that their prisoner had escaped. The two men ran into the back of the hotel, where they saw the Wild Man staring at them from the top of the pit. Luckily, they had a thick sheet of glass protecting them from the man, but sadly, Jed didn’t.

As his body was kicked aside, the Wild Man came charging at the door in the glass. Terrified, Adisa broke open the door and tried to fight the Wild Man. It was in vain, as the Wild Man was too powerful and he overpowered Adisa. Soon, out of a flurry of limbs, fell the limp body of Adisa. Horrified, Edwards picked up a crow bar and began to beat the killer. He cried out in pain, but Edwards didn’t stop. He couldn't lose any more guests, and he couldn’t lose more money. Suddenly, as the Wild Man lay motionless on the floor, Edwards looked up in horror at the surveillance camera that just caught him beating up the man with a crowbar. He just hoped nobody saw it. Sadly, everybody in the hotel lounge just witnessed it, and he saw them, family by family, running out his hotel. Edwards tried to leave the room he had killed the Wild Man in but he couldn’t. The door was jammed.

Then he heard footsteps. As he turned around, he saw the pale wispy figures of Jed, Adisa and the Wild Man; as they had died, bloody, dirty and dead, staring straight at him. Ghosts. In, a flash, the realization came to Edwards. Three men were dead because of him; If not for his hunt for the Wild Man, they would be alive now. And now, they were going to do to him what he did to them. Terrified of what he was seeing, Edwards picked the crowbar and began to violent break the door. He had to escape. They were coming after him. And then with one heavy blow, the momentum of the crowbar built up and caused it to swing back in reverse. As it smashed the life out of the hotel owner, his last thought was of how the jungle had finally got its revenge. In an attempt to make his hotel a success, he failed. Failed in way he never ought to have. He had killed 3 men. 2 men who were almost his friends. The other, a man who could have been educated. He had disturbed the balance of the jungle.

The death of the Wild Man of Mozambique was not in vain though, for his captors had been destroyed.

By Rayhaan Mubarak

Hey there! I hope you enjoyed that! Do you like this format? Throw the story up first, no beating about the bush. Then all this stuff by me. More professional too, I think. Well, that was another amazing, amazing story by Rayhaan. I was enchanted by it.  It has this essence of Roald Dahl, that sense of extreme humour, far from possible in our ordinary lives, but never-the-less possible in this mad world we live in. I'm a huge fan of Roald Dahl. His stories are like Van-Gogh's paintings. So... expressive and emotion filled but with that sense of... insanity... in every stroke.  I took to it.  I hope you did too. Oh, by the way, you've probably noticed by now how late I've kept this story. I do apologise. Not Rayhaan's fault. He was just a day late. And that was because of the stupid internet. Anyway, I've decided to re-arrange the times of publishing regarding Flipside and Poetry Concentrated. Given below:

Flipside: Every Saturday

Poetry Concentrated: Every Wednesday.

Also, I've renamed Poems Concentrated to Poetry Concentrated if you've noticed, because it's easier. 

So here's a week of Interest Concentrated, the part that'll be sure to come out every week, and I'm sure the other different stuff will come at different days of the week:

Monday: Nothing Confirmed 

Tuesday: Nothing Confirmed

Wednesday: Poetry Concentrated

Thursday: The Team 35

Friday: Game Reviews by Dinera

Saturday: Flipside

Sunday: Nothing Confirmed

So, finally, I have you all to thank . Thank you for reading our posts, and do make sure to +1, share and leave a comment below! Also, there's a button right below this article which says 'Follow'. If you like our articles, do click it, because then you can get informed every-time we publish a new post, so you can come back every-time! And as always, if you have any story or poem or review you've written just lying there o send it in to spitfirerob@gmail.com! 

Maybe you would like to write for us? I'm looking for someone to take on the Technology Section. There you can write anything ranging from phone reviews to  latest tech news to your opinions on the tech world news. For example, what do you think about the new Note 5 and S6 Edge? What kind of effect do you think it will have on the market? Would you buy it? Why or why not? Or maybe what you think of all the technology in today's TVs? All of that and more you can cover on our blog!! If you think you know something about tech, please email me at the address given above!

If you think there's something we aren't covering on our blog and you can cover it for us, you too are extremely welcome to do so, like my friend Dinera, whose helping us fill in the Gaming Section of blog. Just email me! And it's not necessarily a big job! Just one article a week or one  every two weeks do fine for all the job openings I've listed above! You can also submit one and be over, if you think you aren't up to it, it's your choice.

Consider them, you might end up liking them!

As always, Thanks for reading!

Did you enjoy this? Then check out Flipside 1 and 2, if you haven't already!
Flipside 1:http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/the-closed-door.html
Flipside 2: http://interestconcentrated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/flipside-2.html

Review: DeadRising 2

Hey guys, this is Dinera here, on my review of "DeadRising 2".

DeadRising 2 is an awesome game if you're a gamer with low gaming power in your PC or Laptop. The graphics are unexpectedly good, even if it uses a low amount of Graphics Processors and RAM. Even if you go back to the desktop, there won't be any lag or any sort of background processes crashing. You don't need any high end requirements to play this game. Playing this game on my Laptop which is a moderate Laptop of a RAM of 4 GB and nVidia 750 M with a processor of an i5, I had no problems running this game on Ultra Graphics, so running this game on a daily PC of an i3 of even Dual Core, there won't be much of an issue playing it

The Gameplay is not bad, the location is in a mall in the USA. The time is about 10 years after the game of DeadRising 1. Zombies have been captured and they are being used as a source of entertainment in a newly built city. Riders ride bikes with chainsaws fitted to the handles and they ride them into hordes of zombies while spectators watch and cheer. One rider is there with his daughter after the Match and then the Zombies escape from the hold. The rider makes it to the Safe Vault in the police station, and then the rider along with his daughter try to escape with the army and to remove any obstacles trying to prevent them escaping.

In the game, you get a lot of weapons you find everywhere, guns aren't the primary weapon in this game.... That's what makes the game special, even if you find a gun (A Glock hand pistol) you get about 20 bullets per gun. There might be circumstances where you get a sub-machine gun, but its rare and happens deep into the game. The weapons are everyday items like vacuum cleaners or even....  Wait for it... Teddy Bears which you need. The items can be crafted together with another item. Therefore making it a combo weapon. This is how you kill zombies and just a small spoiler, even some humans have to be killed because they have snapped because of the Apocalypse. More and more items can be found throughout the game and there are special maintenance rooms where you craft combo items. There are food items which you can use to rejuvenate your health. A small item like an apple increases your health by two bars, but a vodka drink increases your health fully. You need to find an injection called Zombrex to give it to your daughter because she was bitten earlier. There are many missions to complete to get through a day.

The downside of this game is that it's story is just like the other "Dead" games made by the same Game Developer's. (Dead Island, etc). That's all the downsides of this game.

This game is available on Torrents for 4 GB or is available at your nearest game store for cracked games... Who buys the original games unless you in the US or UK?

Well guys, this has been this week's review of DeadRising 2, and keep reading for next week's game, Batman: Arkham Asylum.