“Snow Banks North of the House” by Robert Bly is a very sad poem. It is a poem about grief and sorrow, yet he shows little emotion while telling of these sad situations. I think that in this poem Bly is trying to say that sad things happen in life to everyone and that you should forget about it and just keep going on through life.

Snow banks North of the House
Those great sweeps of snow that stop suddenly six
feet from the house ...
Thoughts that go so far.
The boy gets out of high school and reads no more
books;
the son stops calling home.
The mother puts down her rolling pin and makes no
more bread.
And the wife looks at her husband one night at a
party, and loves him no more.
The energy leaves the wine, and the minister falls
leaving the church.
It will not come closer
the one inside moves back, and the hands touch
nothing, and are safe.
The father grieves for his son, and will not leave the
room where the coffin stands.
He turns away from his wife, and she sleeps alone.
And the sea lifts and falls all night, the moon goes on
through the unattached heavens alone.
The toe of the shoe pivots
in the dust ...
And the man in the black coat turns, and goes back
down the hill.
No one knows why he came, or why he turned away,
and did not climb the hill

By Robert Bly

            “When The Master is Untied” by Robert Bly is a very unique poem. It gives the reader an insight into the life and emotions of Robert Bly. I think that in the poem he is trying to say that once you open your mind to new things it will expand your knowledge and make you a wiser person.

  When the Master is Untied

" As soon as the master is untied, the bird soars."
     That is what a great teacher once said.
    "In the sad heat of noon the pheasant chicks
     Spread their new wings in the moon dust."
     Oh my darling, we have experienced this.
     Does it matter whether we are sad or happy?
     Our laughter goes back to the roots of trees
      An old sadness returns in the sorrowing dust.
 

By Robert Bly
 

CALL AND ANSWER

Tell me why it is we don't lift our voices these days
and cry over what is happening. Have you noticed
the plans are made for Iraq and the ice cap is melting?
I say to myself "Go on, cry. What's the sense
of being an adult and having no voice? Cry out!
See who will answer! This is Call and Answer!"
We will have to call especially loud to reach
our angels, who are hard of hearing; they are hiding
In the jugs of silence filled during our wars.
Have we agreed to so many wars that we can't
escape from silence? If we don't lift our voices, we allow
Others (who are ourselves) to rob the house.
How come we've listened to the great criers-Neruda,
Akhmatova, Thoreau, and Frederick Douglass-and now
we're silent as sparrows in the little bushes? Where are we in the week? Is it Thursday yet?

Analysis of “Call and Answer” by Robert Bly 

“Call and Answer” by Robert Bly demonstrates his passion for writing about what he believes in and encouraging others to speak out against government actions that they disagree with. In the poem Bly encourages others to stand up for what they believe in, even if others may disagree. He wants people to exercise their right of freedom of speech and speak out on what they feel is important. This mind set is shown in the following quote from the poem. “What ‘s the sense/ of being an adult and having no voice? Cry out! /See who will answer!” In that quote Bly is trying to say what is the point of living in America and using your right to speak out against what is wrong. Bly illustrates that instead of doing what ever the government tells us to do we must think for ourselves. “Call and Answer” was sparked by Bly’s strong stance against the US presence in Vietnam.  Bly uses the metaphor of comparing the action of the US government ignoring its people to the angels who are hiding in their jugs of silence. I think that Bly views the government as people who society has made so important that they have become angel like figures, much higher than the regular human. When Bly refers to “hiding in jugs of silence” he is showing that the government excludes them selves from the people and slowly becomes more of a monarchy than a democracy. Bly wants everyone to speak out against this problem, and not to settle for what the government has become in his view.