Saying+Yes

Saying, "yes," according to Muriel Rukeyser is "like a tap dance Or a new pink dress," it can even be described as, "A shit-naive feeling." Saying yes there is always an element of the unknown, of the uncertainty of the future. This is what Rukeyser is trying to point out to us. My group read this poem aloud in class and all add our own style and flare to it. My favorite lines of the poem that seem to hit me the most are: "It's stupid and lovely To rush into Yes." and "Open your eyes, Dream but don't guess. Your biggest surprise Comes after Yes." We cannot be afraid to take risks, we must be willing to make a leap of faith, take that chance that might make or break us. You'll never know unless you know, right? Dreaming big has always been instilled in my mind since I was a child. And, well, guessing can get you into trouble it's true. Ever heard the expression, //Do you want to hear God laugh? Just tell him your plans.// I believe that this is true. We all make decisions every day, either by answering yes or no and what it all means is different for everyone of us. There's something so beautifully simple about this poem that I can't quite seem to find the words to describe it adequately. Any thoughts?

Oh, and one more thing. Why is the word yes always capitalized in the poem? Is it for emphasis? I think everytime the word is used, it's used in a different manner, with a different inflection not only in tone of voice but also in meaning. It's capiltalized, because when someone saying it, it's like an important even. This plays on the idea that simple yeses (or nos) everyday mark a moment in our life. 1205407740

Brother Tom assigned this poem to my partner and me in class yesterday. At first, we had no idea what the poem meant, but after reading it a few times we realized that it was probably talking about the feelings of saying yes. While some avoid yes by saying thing like "never" or "unless" others rush into the word. Although rushing into yes is both "stupid and lovely" the biggest "surpirse comes after yes". It seems that Rukeyser is illustrating that "yes" can be the answer to almost any question. No matter what one says, either it be "good morning" or "Godbless" they can always replace it with yes. I'm not exactly sure how people are supposed to do this, but it seems like that is what she is saying. 1205434518

This poem is all about making a decision. The poet realizes that we all have difficulties making decisions and that in general, people are afraid to jump into things. But the thing is that we will never be happy or fulfilled unless we take that step into the unknown. I think that she capitalized the yeses for emphasis. It's about encouraging people to be optimistic, to keep the door open, to go after what they want. It's about getting rid of the limits and thinking with the heart. But it's not always right to say yes. I think that's why she includes the line "your biggest surprise comes after yes" is because she realizes that people never know what they're getting into even if they think they know all the facts. It's a risk, but it's worth it. 1205443112

Ok, so first off I do think that the yes is capitalized for emphasis and i think that would be because that it what the poem is about. Yes is the main topic and in the poem Rukeyser is giving yes so much power that it should be emphasized. I liked this poem because sometimes we do not realize the power of yes and a lot of us nowadays will jump to say no and not give things a chance. I think the poem is telling us to go ahead and try saying yes, because if we don't we are missing something great and we could end up being surprised by it. That line about being surprised I did not think was a warning, but more of an encouragement. I do not think of surprises as negative, but more of an incentive to try new things. It think that may of been how she was using it too--more of a happy thing and a reward.1205443774

I think that a large part of it is that saying yes can be foolish, and beautiful at the same time. It's like blind faith, some people admire it and the ability of people to be so sure of themselves, while others think that they are stupid for not questioning things. Saying yes is often a leap of blind faith because when we say yes to people we really don't know what the future holds, and it is beautiful that we can put such faith into people, but stupid that we jump in without being sure. 1205446613

I'm not so sure that this poet is actually advocating saying yes all the time. We can't simply jump into things that we don't know anything about. I agree with Rukeyser that that is foolish. I'm not saying that we all shouldn't go for our dreams, but there has to be some source of logic, some voice in the back of your head that says, "Allright, now is this really what I want? And how reasonable is it that I am going to succeed?" I don't necessarily think that definite success is necessary to say yes to something. Some of the greatest failures are also the greatest learning experiences. But there are some times when we say "yes" to something that is completely out of our league, so to say. In that case, are we just setting ourselves up for failure? I really enjoyed the beginning of this poem. After hearing Rukeyser's mentions of "tap dance" and "pink new dress," I thought that it was going to be an incredibly cutesy poem. But when she mentioned "a shit-naive feeling," I started to question that. I think that was the purpose of that line. She didn't want us to think that the whole poem was going to be too cute. This line roughed it up. I also think it's interesting, because tap dance and pink new dresses remind me of little girls. Little girls are usually fairly naive--could this be another connection to that line? 1205448181

I don't know about everyone else, but I really liked this poem. Maybe it was just the way my class's group did it, but it was hilarious, not to mention full of meaning in every stanza. I think I also liked it so much because it broke away from the three stanza poems which Br. Tom had placed emphasis on. But then we came to the question "how does the stanza decision serve the needs of the poem?" To apply that question to this poem seems like wandering off in the wrong direction because we had been talking about the strict three stanzas and how they each represented one part of a triplet. Rukeyeser totally outdoes herself through this poem. When I first heard it, it sounded like a poem full of optimism and admiration for the power of a single "yes" but it also left room for us to think. I love the way Rukeyser organized the entire piece because it not only relates to everyone, but I think at some point, we could all apply this poem to ourselves. Whether we're one of the people that say "good morning," go local, complain, or like failure, we can all relate in some way. I think that is one of the harder qualities for poets to express through their poems. 1205449712

I really like the poem, too - I was in your group Age! Okay, so the part: "Dream but don't guess." Does this mean that you shouldn't try to predict what will occur before it actually does? There's a quote, "Sometimes it's best to go with whatever happens, happens," (unknown author) and I really like the message. Is that kind of what this poem is saying? Some things are just out of our control so we should not stress about every little thing. If we are living out the plan God made for us, why are we so worried about heading down the wrong path? Do we have any control? There are so many different ways to say yes, and Rukeyser does a good job in emphasizing that. Maybe that has to do with why they are capitalized...the causes and effects can be very different, but the answer is always the same. 1205450336

I can’t believe my group from period G has yet to post about our rendition of this poem. My group included Mike Karich, Kelly Cook and I. Our first idea about this poem was that it is cute and enthusiastic (Yes!). We knew that we should put the emphasis on the last line in every stanza which included the word yes, so we decided that Mike’s voice would stand out. I guess this was not the best idea, because when we performed, Mike’s deep-deep voice actually de-emphasized the word yes. This was much to our surprise. I didn’t really figure that it is difficult to make a low voice sound very enthusiastic. On a good note, Kelly and I spoke in high pitched, very girly, very enthusiastic voices. Learning from our mistake, it probably would have been best to have Mike read the first three lines and then Kelly and I switching the last line of each stanza. O well—there’s always next time?1205452305

I know I just posted about this poem, but I really feel the need to expand on the quote that Age pointed out. In the third stanza, “It’s stupid and lovely to rush into Yes.” I find this to be incredibly true. It is stupid to rush into yes without thinking about all the factors and coming to a logical, well explored decision. You don’t want to end up just saying yes because it felt right and then find out later that it definitely won’t work out. Let’s say a guy asks out and I say yes right away because I simply trusted my instincts, and then I find out later that he is not the guy I thought he was. That he makes my life miserable. Ladies---it happens right? (: Then what? Well, you might wish you would have been smarter and thought it through before simply shouting yes. But, wouldn’t it be lovely if it worked out? And should fear make a person miss out on the possibility for true love—I should hope not. One of my favorite sayings is, “Dance like no one is watching, sing like no one can hear you, and love like you’ve never been hurt.” Even though I love the whole saying, the last phrase is my focus right now. Life is short, so why should we over analyze beginning a relationship. Isn’t that what you do once your in it? Alright, don’t be completely stupid—using the mind a little is not such a bad idea, but the important point is that we trust our emotions and never hesitate to love when your heart is saying YES! 1205454202

I also really liked this poem. It captured all the elements that saying yes really implies. Some people always say yes, they can never say no. For some people, it's all about the unknown. Certainly, it is a 'shit-naive' feeling for don't we all say yes with the hope that that is the right answer. Saying yes can be easier than saying no, but it comes with that hope that everything will turn out right in the end. I don't think that the poet was trying to say that saying yes is necessarily a bad thing, but that it comes with consequences, like every other decision we make. Like she writes, "It's stupid and lovely to rush into Yes." We can never predict the future, we must "dream but not guess," but I don't feel like she is discouraging from saying yes. For all the negatives that come with it, if we never say yes, we will never experience anything new. We will never venture out of our comfortable surroundings and see what surprises await us. 1205459695

Though this poem looked the easiest to read, I had to spend some time thinking about it before I really began to understand it. I found it to be an encouraging poem--encouraging us to take risks. Sure, you can get hurt if you go for something, but if you don't ever try, you will never find the happiness that might await. This poem was pretty meaningful to me, because I have always wished that I was brave enough just to jump in and try new things--I was the kid who quit gymnastics because I got afraid just looking at the balance beam, and now I wish I had been brave enough just to try different hobbies. I'm pretty sure I never would have made it as a gymnast, but who knows? Maybe I have some natural talent that I just never explored! Therefore, the "shit-niave feeling" is the risk that you take when you say yes, but the pink dress is the happiness that you can find only by saying yes. 1205460508

I enjoyed this poem because I felt like it was one of the few poems that we have read that I could easily relate to. I often read a poem and ask myself, "How does this apply to me?' This is often a challenging question to answer. Because there are so many ways that people use the word "yes" everyone can find something that they can relate to, especially teenagers. The idea that we always have to say yes. I know that I feel like I am always trying to please someone; I can't tell them no because I don't want to disappoint them. There are many pressures to please your parents, teachers and peers. I can also relate to the feeling of being afraid to say "yes." Yes means commitment and trying something new.

Rukeyser even states that "Yes" means something different to each person. We each react differently. She writes, "It's just like life, One thing to you One to you wife." We all have different attitudes, outlooks, and goals in life. 1205462407

At first, in the first and second lines, I thought that this poem was going to be all lovey-dovey, cutsie-putsie. And then, she throws in the phrase "shit-naive." When Patrick and I heard this, we both immediately looked at eachother and were a little shocked. haha, but we continued listening. my favorite part of the poem, i think anyway, is the last couple lines: "your biggest surprise comes after Yes." I truly believe this. I mean, after you make the commitment, the initial step, the rest of what is to come is a complete mystery and that is what she is warning against: the uncertainty. 1205462850

As Molly just said, we were shocked at the third line when she threw in the line "shit-naive" for a few reasons. I'm pretty sure it is not that it's a swear word, I think the shock was there because it came after a little pink dress and a tap dance. I can picture any little girl in both of these, and then we reach that shit-naive feeling. I asked about it in class and Br. Tom said that he believe it was in there to add some roughage to the poem, which it certaintly. It takes the poem from a twleve year old girl, to a senior in high school. It really amazed me how just this one line can add so much depth, age, and maturity to the poem. I think that without the shit-naive feeling, the reader would be stuck in twelve year old girl land for the rest of the poem, and the reader certaintly does not deserve to be there. 1205464073

In period H, I enjoyed the reading of this poem. There were two narrators. One would read the bulk of the poem while the other would say the yeses(is that a word?). I thought the poem was a sort of call and response when it was performed in this manner. It seemed like someone was making statements and somoene else was agreeing to them. It turned into a conversation. All of that really boils down to saying yes. When one says yes, they are agreeing to something that could be the most miniscule thing or a life changing thing; but that agreement is still there. Saying yes isn't something that should just be thrown away in any situation. If you say yes, you have to think about what you are agreeing to and what could happen. I think that is what the author is trying to say: that one shouldn't be wasteful when using the word yes. There are so many things in life you could say yes to, but each one of them is different and has different outcomes. No matter what the outcome, you have to think through it before telling someone yes.1205464639

Even though I just posted, I also am going to post again because I didn't get to the rest of the poem. I also really enjoyed this poem mostly because of its message and because it was different. The first thing Br. Tom pointed out was that it wasn't a three stanze poem, and this one definitely could not be just a three stanze. I also liked the message. There wasn't hidden meaning, there weren't metaphors to uncover, there weren't difficult words that threw me off, and it was a very uplifting message. I liked it. Many other posts have noted the significance of this ideology and I agree. It is important to say yes sometimes, and especially it being senior year I am trying more and more to just live life on the edge. Take risks. Live life to the fullest. And just as the poem says, what comes after the yes is the surprise, but also what makes it so intriguing. 1205464993

I didn't really understand the poem: well, I understood its basic meaning, but I'm sure there are deeper meanings that are going completely over my head. I still, however, loved this poem. The "yes's" gave this poem such a strong rhythm, a strong beat, that it almost sounded like one of those poems that is read with the reader wearing a beret and dark shades with another similarly dressed beatnik playing the bongos in the background. I did get the feeling that there were two narrators to this poem: one who was saying the yes's and another who was saying everything else--something that the people who read it in our class picked up on quite well when they read the poem. I also loved the "shit-naive" bit getting thrown in. It really disrupted, in my mind, the impending realization that this was going to be a girly, boring poem. I do not enjoy many poems that I read, but this was one of the few that really tickled me. Even after reading these other posts, I still don't really know what the deeper meaning of the poem is, but for me that is a negligible fact. The most important thing in poetry--for me--is not the meaning, but the rhythm and syntax, and this one has such a strong and unique sense of both of those aspects that I cannot not like it! 1205502523