Yusef Komunyakaa’s poem “Blackberries” was published in 1992. This poem is about a ten-year-old boy and his job picking and selling blackberries. The young boy who is not named is the narrator of the poem. The nameless boy narrates his life as it occurs in a rural and poor community. Although, the poem is about blackberries there are much deeper meanings running through the poem.
As though he were blameworthy for something concealed in his past. The repeating loss of youth honesty is a returning topic in the poem "Blackberries". In the third stanza Komunyakaa states, "an hour later, beside city limits road I balanced a gleaming can in each hand, limboded between worlds repeating one dollar" (line 16-17). The boy has returned from gathering berries in the woodland, and the setting is now in a city. He was constrained in life to remain in favor of the streets holding buckets of blackberries, trying to sell them for a dollar to individuals who had cash and simple lives.
When he was young he would admire the hush, organization and stillness of the orchards. “I remember lines of bare still tree… sense of warmth when my thoughts wander back,” (Ford 1,2). Charles Ford’s affection for the orchards of his youth are still remembered when he thinks back to the days of his youth when and where he would be able to let loose. “A perfect hush and reverence amongst the solid trunks that spanned these fields.” (Ford 5).
Like a raindrop can foretell a storm, any object, action, or event can have a deeper meaning. A Separate Peace tells the story of boys at a boarding school under the backdrop of World War Two. John Knowles, the author, uses descriptive language to give power to the troubles that Gene, Phineas, and their classmates/friends go through, whether it be the effects of war, identity struggles, or friendship. The main conflict, Gene’s love/hate relationship with Phineas, ends with Phineas’s accidental death and Gene’s newfound mature awareness. John Knowles uses symbolism in many instances to strengthen his storytelling.
An Analysis On Billy Collins’ “On Turning Ten” “On Turning Ten” consists of many forms of poetic devices and figurative language, such as hyperboles, metaphors, euphony, cacophony, and mood to present the more bitter aspects of the bittersweet experience of growing up. The entire poem uses hyperbolic language to stress the sadness of the speaker. Collins uses a plethora of metaphors that show the juxtaposition of his childlike wonder he held when he was younger, versus the cold, bitter outlook he holds in present day. The writer uses a contrast of euphony and cacophony throughout the poem to highlight the change in the speaker’s life. All of these devices create various deep moods of despondent nostalgia for the reader.
His use of “icy” to describe the blackberries implies their resistance to his passions, their frigidity in the face of his fire. In the beginning of the poem, the blackberries are “overripe, icy;” by the end, after Kinnell’s through with them, they are “silent, startled, and icy.” Their coldness is alarming as it suggests Kinnell has imposed his desire over them against their will; this implication makes the poem vastly darker. Kinnell’s final significant use of repetition is in his use of the words “ripe” and “overripe” in lines 2 and 7. While “ripe” suggests a desire ready to be actualized, “overripe” suggests desire delayed too long; in light of the significance of Kinnell’s use of “icy,” “overripe” implies desire delayed to a dangerous
Galway Kinnell’s “Blackberry Eating” is an excellent example of how sound enhances poetry. Kinnell’s outstanding use of repeated alliterations gives the poem a different feel than many other poems. The constant use of soft sounds, interrupted quickly by a few hard sounds develops the feeling that Kinnell wanted me to feel. The repetitive use of certain words slows the reader down to allow them to cherish the poem, and the blackberries longer. The alliterations of this poem greatly increase its overall effect.
In a simile, she compares gardening to “boxing… The wins versus the losses” (Hudes 16). Through this comparison, Hudes conveys Ginny’s deep desire for a sense of control and success in her life. This desire is fed by the memory of her father, who was only bearable when he was gardening. Specifically, the assertion of this desire for control is evident as she recalls that her father “was a mean bastard…” but “became a saint if you put a flower in his hand” (Hudes 15). From those experiences of dealing with her father, a psychological analogy between nature and peace was instilled in Ginny’s mind at a young age, and is what she relies on as an adult to handle her emotional trauma.
For example, he describes its gloominess as a “fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat,” which demonstrates a dismal feel in an ironic fashion through the contrasting imagery associated with growth and freshness. This tone is further expressed by the “ashes grow[ing] like wheat into ridges… and grotesque gardens,” which adds to the dreariness of
This theme I felt matched Roethke’s poem “My Papa’s Waltz” sense of his adolescent mind clouding what may have been actually occurring. I continued this theme when I wrote, “It dashed behind a vegetation veil; I ran after it with great persistence”. I used of the phrase “vegetation veil” to produce a jungle type image in the reader’s head, I did this to continue the nostalgic viewpoint, and to add more imagery to the poem. In the final stanza, I chase the faux deer around a corner, and I find a raging waterfall.
The poet establishes an interactant relationship with the vegetal beings through his address of “My aspens dear,” with the metaphor of ‘airy cages’ assisting with the imagery of sunlight dancing through the leaves. Additionally, the long alliterative sentence: “That dandled a sandalled shadow that swam or sank on meadow and river and wind-wandering weed-winding bank” conjures the impression of one relishing the untamed beauty of nature whilst idling by the river. The soft sibilance of ‘shadow that swam or sank’ offers some mellifluous qualities leading readers to imagine the reflections in the water. Hence, Hopkin effectively demonstrates nature at its most benevolent, and thus its destruction as
In the poem “The Vine” by Robert Herrick, Herrick battles with his waking moments in contrast to his dream that involves his sexual domination over a woman named, Lucia. The use of hyperbolic metaphors, suggestive tones, and the powerful imagery of his comparisons, show an important sense of himself as a sexually dominant man. Throughout the poem, Herrick showcases his metamorphosis as a sexual human being through him conquering his impotence and taking control of his dominant sexuality. Herrick’s diction shows the relationship with words such as captivity, slavery, and quite often, the twisting of greenery versus its violent need to escape.
In contrast, the poem published in Songs of Experience portrays a chimney sweeper who blames the people he feels are most accountable for the endless work hours he and several other children experience on a daily basis. This child has a different outlook compared to the first poem and blames the Church along with the government for all the misery forced upon the laborers (Freedman). The speaker discusses the negative impact of authority by using words that are harsh and straight-forward, which further exemplifies Blake’s overall feelings towards the corruption of power. At first, he describes how both of his parents have “gone up to church to pray” (4), which reveals a feeling of guilt and regret because they left their son to suffer for the sake of their family.
In the short story “The Flowers”, Alice Walker sufficiently prepares the reader for the texts surprise ending while also displaying the gradual loss of Myop’s innocence. The author uses literary devices like imagery, setting, and diction to convey her overall theme of coming of age because of the awareness of society's behavior. At the beguining of the story the author makes use of proper and necessary diction to create a euphoric and blissful aura. The character Myop “skipped lightly” while walker describes the harvests and how is causes “excited little tremors to run up her jaws.”. This is an introduction of the childlike innocence present in the main character.
First the poem starts out not too serious. The gardener seems to just be annoyed with the woodchucks eating his food. “They brought down the marigolds as a matter of course/ and then took over the vegetable patch/ nipping the broccoli shoots, beheading the carrots” (10-12). Here the gardener is justifying his reason for his annoyance with them but then in the next stanza he says “The food from our mouths”(13). The reader gets a sense of more anger within the gardener.
