Satire In A. R. Ammons's Poem, Coward

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I chose this story by using the index in the back. First I looked through the topics and found comedy and satire I always enjoy a good laugh so I decided to choose a poem from this topic. The poem “Coward” by A.R Ammons popped out to me so I decided to check it out. As some may know this is a very short poem. I did not know this before choosing it I read the first line and assumed it would carry on to the next page but it didn’t. I had to make sure I a page was not missing from my book. As I said the poem is extremely short. It simply states “Bravery runs in my family.” To the untrained eye this poem would come off just as it sounds. At first glance A. R. Ammons leads you to believe that bravery is a trait that everyone is this family has. While looking for any symbolism a reader can see that there is some allegory in this poem. Allegory is a piece of literature that reveals a hidden meaning. The hidden meaning in this poem is that it is a play on words. …show more content…

This really makes a person think though. If everyone is brave why is the name of the poem “Coward”? This in fact is the allegory. When the reader looks for a deeper meaning they can see that bravery runs in a literal sense. This is terms of tone and style can also be known as verbal irony or sarcasm. To me I feel that an allegory or any play on words will be found as ironic. Kind of like allegory irony is when someone says something but means the opposite. Like if I were playing catch with my friends and miss the ball and catch it with my face. Of course one of my friends is going to make a comment along the lines of “Nice Hands!” he in fact is making fun of me and means that I am terrible at playing catch. In this poem Ammons refers to the family as brave where in fact he means the opposite making it

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