JE07 Hounding

            When the world hounds me, it means that when most things around me seem to go against my will. The title “World, in hounding me” clearly shows that the author was disturbed by the material possessions around her. The author’s idea was different from my point of view. I think material possessions in life are also important. Having knowledge in mind is important and it is what no one can take away from you. The theme of this poem is about evaluating the values between knowledge in mind and material possessions.

The author conveyed the idea that the real treasure is found in mind – which is the information we absorbed. The sentence “Costliness and wealth bring me no pleasure; the only happiness I care to find derives from setting treasure in my mind, and not from mind that’s set on winning treasure,” directly shows the theme of the poem. I agree that a person’s thinking and knowledge is more valuable than material possessions. However, I think material possessions are an important part of life as well. If material possessions can make a person happier and live a better quality of life, wouldn’t that be wonderful? If I have to write a similar poem, my theme would probably be more unconventional, such as “how material possessions make life more substantial.” I think I would be asked to write a poem like this in the near future because obviously Mr. McCool would want us to do that.