Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Week 3-To a Crumbling House
I really liked the message of this poem. It seemed to hold a refreshingly positive idea compared to the other poems we have been reading. After reading it through a few times, I understood the purpose of the poem to be a tribute to this beaten up house. The title also helped support the idea of a tribute as Rathburn titled it, "To a Crumbling House", rather than "The Crumbling House". The group that is describing this house is showing affection to each blemish that the house holds, and then using that appreciation in a broader spectrum by saying that life as a whole is full of "beautiful failures". Therefore the family that has loved this house is thanking the house for leading them to realize that all flaws in life hold beauty. What stood out to me the most about this poem was the diction that the author used in order to establish her tone. The words that she chose to develop a very "home-y" picture in the reader's mind often contained the "s" sound, which I thought was very interesting. The first stanza held phrases like "ceiling sags" and "floors slope", and the second stanza continued this sound with phrases such as, "shaky grace". I believe that the "s" sound heavily contributed to Rathburn's illustration of a loved home by incorporating a soft, and flowing sound to the piece.
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I like your interpretation a little better than mine. It's a far more hopeful with a more positive message. I couldn't help but focus more on the darker themes of the poem, with the positive messages being overpowered by the helplessness of the house.
ReplyDeletethe "s" sound is in "beautiful failures" too--it's an neat move to link these alliterations together to think further about the meaning of the poem.
ReplyDeleteNoticing the title is a good observation, I didn’t even consider the fact that it says “To a” instead of “The”. That definitely shows how this is an ode to the house. It is very touching how she shows the people loving the house’s flaws and beginning to love life’s flaws as well after learning that lesson. That’s a good connection and I think that may be exactly what the author was going for. Another thing I did not notice was the use of the “s” sound, but that is gentle and adds to the calmness and sweet tone the poem picks up towards the end.
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