Summer Of The Ladybirds Poem Analysis

Summer Won’t Last Forever

In “Summer of the Ladybirds” by Vivian Smith, the poet uses assonance, figurative language, and alliteration to convey that humans hold on to what is not permanent. First, assonance is used when the poet describes the ladybirds as “creatures from the world of leaf and flower.” The usage of the “ea” sounds emphasizes and draws attention to the ladybirds being from a different world from humans, one of “leaf and flower.” The main point that this phrasing gives prominence to is that leaves and flowers are much more perishable than other products of nature, such as humans. Flowers are likely to get stepped on or expire of thirst, and leaves die and fall to earth every autumn. In addition, the average flower only survives for a year or two and cut flowers die within a few days, and the

In the final two lines of the poem, the author describes the vanishing of the ladybugs, once it finally occurs, by writing that “all the wishes that we might have had/in such abundance simply disappeared.” The two repeated sounds, “w” and “h,” are both sharp and distinct sounds. Because the sounds themselves are so sharp, they indicate to the reader that strong emotions of some kind are running high among characters in the poem. The reader concludes that these strong emotions are due to the disappearance of the ladybugs, proving their human counterparts’ attachment. In addition to displaying strong feelings, the alliteration also helps to draw attention to the last few lines and their meaning. By describing the “wishes [the humans] might have had,” the author further demonstrates that the humans had “wished” for the ladybirds to stay and regret their disappearance. In the first two lines of the poem, Vivian Smith ponders, “Can we learn wisdom watching insects now,/or just the art of quiet observation?” Maybe we can learn wisdom; maybe the insects have had it right all along, flying freely from place to place, while the humans