Summary Of Blackberry Eating By Galway Kinnell

In his poem “Blackberry Eating,” Galway Kinnell evocatively describes his “late September” adventures into blackberry patches- a seemingly innocent subject. However, as revealed through his use of musical devices including alternately percussive and soft alliteration, song-like repetition, and sensuous language, Kinnell slyly and subtly explores the pleasures of giving into desire.

Throughout this poem, Kinnell alternates his use of percussively harsh and sinuously soft alliteration to create a throbbing, writhing rhythm that evokes the desire he dwells on. Kinnell relies on words beginning with hard “bs” to serve as the jazz-like beat of the poem; from as early as line two, Kinnell discusses the “black blackberries” that he savors, and in

Most obvious is Kinnell’s frequent use of the word “black.” He associates the word with both innocence and the forbidden; when he reflects on the simple act of blackberry eating, it is the former, but when he discusses the “black art of blackberry making,” it is firmly the latter. Kinnell implies the inevitability of losing innocence through this juxtaposition; even in the “innocent” act of blackberry-eating, there is lust, there is black magic. Another telling repetition is Kinnell’s reiteration of the word “icy” in the 2nd and 2nd-to-last lines of the poem. 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