Yair Gritzman Week 10 - “The Eight-Mile Bike Ride”, by Philip Schultz
In “The Eight-Mile Bike Ride”, by Philip Schultz, Schultz reminisces about his Sunday bike rides with a long-time friend named John Cheever, who has passed away. Schultz recalls the rides as peaceful and goes into details about some events during their rides that he remembers vividly.
He begins the poem by pointing the reader towards him and his friend, during their bike rides, as they “cranked those bikes up hills until our legs ached & our faces glowed with the burning”. He repeats the word “our” multiple times to show that these rides were quality bonding time for him and John. He then details the wind blowing in their faces, which gives their bike rides a feeling of tranquility and simplicity. These rides seem to be a break from the stresses of New York City, where Schultz is living. After explaining John’s excitement for downhill parts of their rides, he recalls the time that John fell off his bike “head over handlebars [and]...somersaulted & gashed [his] head so deeply [that] blood left a trail 8 miles long.” The imagery of this scene gives the reader sympathy for John’s injury, and we start to feel an emotional connection to him. At this point in the poem, the tone shifts and it becomes evident that this is more of a eulogy than a recollection of happy times. Once Schultz makes it clear that John is dead, he recalls a time when they were biking in the dark and saw bright lights coming from windows. They looked at the stars and John mentioned how lonely it must be in the sky. After John’s death, he realized that the “lights keep getting brighter”, which shows that John will always be remembered by Schultz even though he is no longer with him.
I liked this poem because it detailed a relaxing Sunday bike route, which I could relate to from past experiences with my dad. I had trouble understanding the ending, however, and the meaning of light in the poem. Also, I noticed that the seasons continued changing, which I think was meant to show how times change, but I am still unsure about that.
What did you think about the poem? Did you notice any recurring themes? Do you have any relaxing activities that you could reminisce about forever?
Hi Yair! I enjoyed reading you analysis of this poem. Whenever I ride my bike, I also notice the simple things like the sound and feeling of the wind. I can also relate to the first part of the poem. Something I also noticed was that he wrote the blood left a trail 8 miles long, which the blood obviously didn't continue that much, but it shows how much of an effect the death had on the author.
ReplyDeleteHey Yair!
ReplyDeleteWhat I really enjoyed about this poem was the descriptive language when depicting Schultz on his bike ride. I thought I was able to really put myself in his shoes and imagine being on the bike ride with him. I thought it was very interesting that you caught how the seasons were changing- I did not notice that. Finally, my relaxing activities that I could reminisce on forever would be playing soccer, playing the piano, and spending time with my family, especially during the summer-time.
Hi Yair. I liked your analysis of the poem. I do have some relaxing activities like in the poem like playing chess where I can just relax while my mind is at work. I also play tennis which is pretty relaxing in a way because I just put everything I have onto the court emotionally and physically, so it is a good way to decompress.
ReplyDeleteHey Yair. I thought this poem was very nice and relaxing. I can relate to your experience about your relaxing Sunday bike routine with your dad because I enjoy joining my mom on her long walks on the weekends!!
ReplyDeleteHey Yair. I really liked this poem, as I thought it had a very deep and meaningful overarching theme of rememberance and tribute.Reading your analysis I almost got sad, which shows how effective both you and the author are at getting your point across. The whole idea of the poem being a tribute to his friend that he lost is very nice and sentimental, and it makes me remember some activities I used to do with my friends in Chile before leaving, such as our weekly soccer games among others.
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