Sunday, January 23, 2011

Poem Analysis Nummer zwei!!!

A work of Artifice
By: Marge Piercy
poem number 263

The bonsai tree
in the attractive pot
could have grown eighty feet tall
on the side of a mountain
till split by lightning.
But a gardener
carefully pruned it.
It is nine inches high.
Every day as he
whittles back the branches
the gardener croons,
It is your nature
to be small and cozy,
domestic and weak;
how lucky, little tree,
to have a pot to grow in.
With living creatures
one must begin very early
to dwarf their growth:
the bound feet,
the crippled brain,
the hair in curlers,
the hands you
love to touch.

Structure of the poem
The structure and set up of the poem itself is very important to the meaning of the poem. all the lines have been kept short to represent the small limbs of the bonsai tree and, in turn, the oppression of women so become the best they can be. Also diction is important to the poem's meaning, Piercy is comparing women to the Bonsai tree and by saying that the bonsai tree grows in an "attractive pot" instead of just a regular pot shows the idea that women should be beautiful and attractive. Also the word choice for the tree "Domestic and weak" (14) shows that women have to stay home and not be strong, both physically and mentally.

Allusion
Also the whole poem alludes to how women were viewed before they had equal rights. The Bonsai tree alludes to women and the gardener to men. It is a poem about how women were kept from growing to their full potential and how men made sure of that. Women were told that it was their job to be domestic and weak, and they were lucky to have a home to grow in. The bound feet alludes to women's inability to do anything they want to do, for example to have a job. "The crippled brain" (22) alludes to women not being able to go to school or get the same education. Also the "attractive pot" (2) and "hair in curlers" shows that women were supposed to be pretty trophy wives who stay home and clean and wait for their husbands to get home.

Reflection

I did like this poem because I felt like it portrayed the unfairness that women were treated with, and it was not harshly blaming men for the inequality that women were treated with, not all men thought of women that way. Also  I noticed that towards the middle of the poem it started to become more obvious that Piercy was not just writing about a Bonsai tree and its Gardener, but was talking about women's rights. Towards the middle she started to write things like "domestic and weak" (14) and then she started to say things like "Bound feet", and "Crippled brain", when she switched from writing about a tree to writing about women's rights I could really feel the emotion and the struggle behind the words. I think that is what I liked most about this poem. It connected me with the past.

Poem Analysis Numero Uno!!!

Siren Song
By: Margaret Atwood
poem number 201. 

This is the one song everyone
would like to learn: the song
that is irresistible:

the song that forces men
to leap overboard in squadrons
even though they see the beached skulls

the song nobody knows
because anyone who has heard it
is dead, and the others can't remember.

Shall I tell you the secret
and if I do, will you get me
out of this bird suit?

I don't enjoy it here
squatting on this island
looking picturesque and mythical

with these two feathery maniacs,
I don't enjoy singing
this trio, fatal and valuable.

I will tell the secret to you,
to you, only you.
Come closer. This song

is a cry for help: Help me!
Only you, only you can,
you are unique

at last. Alas
It is a boring song
but it works every time.


Allusion
One of the literary devices in this poem is the allusion to the three sirens in Greek Mythology that were called Seirenes. The Sirens were given the body of birds, this is what Atwood refers to when the speaker says "bird suit" and "feathery maniacs". The sirens would sing songs to entice sailors to come closer to the island they lived on, then the sirens would drown their victims. The knowledge of this story helps to create an image of three creatures that lure passing sailors into their web with song. You know the Siren's intentions as soon as you read the title, but Atwood's twist makes the speaker seem as though she is unhappy and needs help. The speaker lures the passing sailor into her trap by making him feel unique and special by saying that he is the only one that can save her. The speaker gains the sailor's trust by enticing him with secret, forbidden knowledge of the Siren's song, but in the end the secret song was the one she has sung to him. 

Repetition
Another literary device in this poem is the repetition of the words only you. It gives the sense of the speakers urgency and desperation to be freed from the island, even if these feelings are fake. Actually many pieces of this poem are repeated to create the emotions of desperation and urgency which help the Siren's song become more believable. For example the words "I don't" are repeated,  " I don't enjoy it here" (13), and "I don't enjoy singing" (17), this helps the Siren seem innocent and it helps to hide the fact that she is the predator and the sailor the prey.

Reflection

I picked this poem because it reminded me of a song about someone lying to the singer like a Siren lies to the Sailors. After reading this poem I realized that there was similarity between the two, but I also thought of Margaret Atwood's novel The Handmaid's Tale and its feminist qualities. So after reading the poem again and a few moments of thought I realized that this poem could also be about feminism. The Siren could be portrayed as a "Damsel in distress" that men, the sailor, think need help getting out of their "bird suit". When actually the "Damsel in distress" is capable of handling the problem on her own, shown through the fact that her task was accomplished by the end of the poem. Also the line "looking picturesque and mythical" (15) makes me think that Atwood was saying that women are not some object to look at, they have brains and are just as smart and clever as men. I cannot tie the rest of the poem to this theme so I believe they are more qualities of the poem that can be interpreted this way instead of the whole poem.