Both Sides Now Both Sides Now - by Joni Mitchell. This is a poem about a girl who has once had good experiences with love but now sees men and love as things that just get in the way. The last lines in the second and third stanzas explain this: "But clouds got in my way." and "I really don't know clouds at all." She is comparing clouds and men. My initial reaction to this …showed first 75 words of 445 total…

…showed last 75 words of 445 total…it was. My reactions to the poem are that I find it very sad and negative. The speaker is basically down on everything. I don't know if I agree with the speaker or not because I've never looked at clouds, love, or life from all sides. Overall, I liked how Mitchell used one big metaphor on the poem. Also, I can see her point about everything having two sides. Nothing is perfect. ______________________________________________________________________________ Arlee Olson October 29, 1999