Tuesday, September 2, 2014
"The Snow Man", "The Tempest", and "The Marvel" reading response
The imagery in "The Snow Man" really captured me, as it painted a winter scene through the eyes of the snowman. The poet highlights the beauty of winter through the descriptions "the frost and the boughs" and "distant glitter." However, the poet's diction later on in the poem depicts a much different scene; namely, one of barren land and loneliness, as the he describes, "Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is". The speaker seems wistful. Furthermore, I really enjoyed "The Marvel" by Keith Douglas. Douglas' imagery conjures intense images, particularly when he mentions "the burning eye." His other descriptions also help paint vivid images, such as "sharp enquiring blade", "unusual sun's heat", and "gluttonous tides". I also enjoyed "The Tempest." As I read it, I couldn't help but feel as if the speaker has this immense dread of what is to come. It seems that the speaker knows something is inevitable and time passes slowly waiting for it happen.
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How then do you read the "I" as the last word of the poem? How does that connect to the sense of dread you see?
ReplyDeleteI read the "I" from the last line of the poem to be the same as the speaker in the first stanza. Namely, in the first stanza the speaker feels so downtrodden and oppressed that the third person is used to refer to herself. The knife 'not boding well' will really indicated this to me. However, the second stanza shows almost a newly invented speaker; she is excited to experience the many pleasures of life, such as the "mohair sofa" and "last cigarette." The poem ends with "I" because the speaker feels liberated, enabling her to find her identity and voice.
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