I love F.R. Scott's poem "All the Spikes But the Last". I think that it is really neat how he was responding to E.J. Pratt's poem "Towards the Last Spike". In Scott's poem i find it interesting to see how he is addressing Pratt’s about not acknowledging the Chinese workers. Something that really struck me in Pratt’s poem is "This power lay in the custody of men/From down-and-outers needing roofs, whose hands/Were molded by their fits whose skins could feel/At home incorporate with dolomite/To men with the marshal instincts in them/deriving their authority from wallets" (Pratt 57-62). This passage from the poem basically addressing those with money, not the thousands of Chinese workers who died during the process of building the CPR. Scott responded with “Where are all the coolies in your poem, Ned/Where are the thousands from China who swung their picks with bare hands at forty below” (Scott 1-3). Scotts poem addresses the way in which the Chinese laborers were treated, and how Pratt did not take the time to acknowledge their work and hardships. I really liked both of these poems, especially Scotts because of his response and the way in which it was written to acknolegdge all the chinese workers.

I really enjoyed E.J. Pratt's poem, "The Truant." It grabbed me in the beginning because of all of the dialogue used. I have no read a lot of poems in which dialogue is used and it was different. I feel like it gave the poem and characters more depth and reality. It was story-like and at the same time showed great imagery as the story moves on; it flows and moves. I also, for some reason, are drawn to poems that rhyme, maybe because in my mind they flow better. I liked the line, "and set a mirror up before yours face to show you what you really were - a rain of dull Lucretian atoms crowding space, a series of concentric waves which any fool might make by dropping stones within a pool (Pratt 154-158)." It made me laugh a little bit with the last part. I didn't think I was going to like it because its techonological theme, but I ended up enjoying it.
I also really enjoyed Pratt's "Towards the Last Spike." I won't go into that since we talked about it in class.
To be honest, I was not a fan of F.R. Scott's work, but if I had to pick one, I would choose "Lakeshore" because it has the most romantic language of his poems in my opinion. Overall, I feel that Pratt's poetry held more to it than Scott's, not really sure why, maybe their difference in language or imagery, but I prefer Pratt over Scott.

E.J. Pratt's piece "Silences" is very intriguing to me. I'm not quite sure the background of the conflict, or what is in fact happening between the two people within the second part of the poem. At first, I thought it would be a poem about comparing the underwater habitat to that above Earth; underwater things and atmosphere being simpler, quieter, less stressful. However, turning the page, the poem turned as well. After line 21, the poem sounded like a whole new one. The two contrasting portions of the piece (in my mind) don't compliment eachother. Analyzing it with the class may change my mind.

When he talked about watching two pairs of eyes, one pair gray and the other pair black, I decided he was probably imagining himself on the waterfront or even on the water, and two sharks (?) were in his vision (this is rare, but its realistic enough). The phrase "No words were spoken" gives me more evidence that he is talking about sea animals. Maybe seals. Or sharks. You name it. I think he was giving animals of some sort a dialogue and a fake life. Were the animals representative of a relationship he had at the time?

I have mixed feelings about this piece. I often think of poetry as something that should simply be a joy to read. Many poets make you dig for what their message and/or meaning is. Other poets give it to you in the palm of their hand. Pratt seems to be on the fence.

Word choice such as "fury", "silent drama" and "growls" all suggest that Pratt is mad about something; his feelings are being released somehow in this poem... yet a contradiction is in the title itself: "Silences".

I have many of the same questions about the poem "Silences" by Pratt. Although I am confused about the complete and true meaning of the poem, it catches my attention because of how it is written in 2 distinctive sections. Honestly, I would enjoy the poem much more if it ended after line 20, and just used the nature theme. However, that would greatly simplify the poem.

I had more trouble reading so of the other poems (such as W.L.M.K. by Scott) because I am not knowledgeable about many of the references made by the authors.

I also liked F.R. Scott's "All the Spikes But the Last" and the response poem "Toward the Last Spike" by E.J. Pratt. It was interesting to read these two different views of Canadian industralization and Pratt's critical response to Scott's own take of the growing industralization during this time.

I really enjoyed "Towards The Last Spike" by E.J. Pratt. I really just liked the idea of a group of people building this canadian railroad and making it work out. Work out in sense for industrialization and the economy at the time. The poem was about rallying around something and believing in something that is greater than yourself-the railroad and the dream of the future. I felt that this poem was an eye-opener for what was to come in the world from an industrialization standpoint.

It was amazing to me how effortlessly Pratt was able to immortalize the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railroad as a symbol for unification, and not only for the country physically but also for the common Canadian man as well. The lines, “The east west cousinship, a nations rise, Hail of identity, a world expanding, if not the universe: the feel of it in the air,” were especially awe inspiring as this passage evokes visions of much more than an endless steel structure. Pratt’s depiction of the builders and engineers (though more positive) in some ways reminds me of the builders and engineers in Ondaatje’s In the Skin of a Lion as it seems both were sacrificing themselves for the needs of the community (or nation).

I need to analyse E.J. Pratt's From Stone to Steel and I am having trouble with meaning/ purpose for wirting it. Any help?