“Smell!” The poem “Smell!” by William Carlos Williams is a well written poem that was a great entertainment for me. William Carlos Williams describes with great words one of his five senses. The author was judging his nose for smelling the good and bad odors. Moreover, this reminds me of the important role my nose play in in my life. The author reminds us of how our nose smell good odor by saying “and now it is the souring flowers of the bedraggled.” (par.5); the odor of flowers are most of the time good odors and make us feel good. When I feel bad sometimes, I find a flower and smell that flower because it does make me feel good and make me forget about my problem for a moment. Although, the author mostly questioned why our nose have to …show more content…
Whether the smell is horrible and nasty, our nose will still tell us. “Can you not be decent” (par.10); this passage in the poem explain to us that our nose smell everything because of the way they were made. It’ not about having manners or being disrespectful it’s just natural that our noses smell stuffs and sometimes put us in unwanted situations. When I begin to read this poem, I wonder why the author will only talk about his nose, but after reading the whole poem, I understood that this poem can represent many other aspects in our life such as gossip. Moreover, people gossip all the time and no matter the situation or the setting, they will continue gossiping. Gossips have being ruining people’s reputation, but gossip has not and will not lose his role in this society. In short, gossip becomes part of the human nature. Moreover, I can see this poem related to my life because although I don’t like gossip, I think I do gossip from time to time. In conclusion, reading the poem “Smell!” by William Carlos Williams made me realized that the way my nose function can be compare to many other aspects in my life. The author tells us about the good and bad odors our nose smell. I also find this poem to be really inspirational because we can all draw many different conclusions out of this
In The Sense of Wonder, Carson, and her nephew are exploring the different landscapes of Maine. Carson tells us senses are important while exploring nature saying, “ Sense other than sight can prove avenues of delight and discovery, storing up for us memories and impressions” (Carson, 83). She first explains the way a smell can help us while exploring nature saying,” For the sense of smell, almost more than any other, has the power to recall memories and it is a pity that we use it so little” (Carson, 83). Smell just like any other sense is important, but the smell does remind us of memories lost before. The smell of grandma 's house or fresh baked cookies can remind us of many memories. The second sense Carson emphasizes is hearing. She explains, “ Hearing can be a source of even more exquisite pleasure, but I require conscious cultivation” (Carson, 84). Hearing, epically while exploring in nature, can be beautiful. The crack of leaves while you walk or the sound of birds ringing in your ear can be music through your ears. In The Sense of Wonder, Carson urges us to use all of our sense, use emotions and abandon teaching while exploring nature.
Williams uses dry and subtle words such as “car”, “coffee”, or even plain “water” to create this powerful and foreboding poem which is interpreted pessimistically after getting past the tedious words. Its implicit meaning can be hard to grasp because it is deeply embedded into the poem and also implies the opposite of what we are taught as humans; we grow up with plans, goals, desires too, and Williams opens the reader’s eyes to explain the pointlessness of it all. Williams writes this poem knowing he will contradict everything people learn to do starting from a young age. In spite of this, it may inspire readers to stop worrying about the small things and focus on the grand scheme, maybe get them “wanting to love beyond this meat and bone,” despite its adverse meaning (21). Ultimately, the author subduedly goes against the ideal rules of life and allows the reader to interpret it however they want- either explicitly understand that it is normal for humans to want thing, not want things, and be wanted, or implicitly understand that there is no point in investing in our desires, for when we die, our goals- both the finished and unfinished- will not matter in the
In the first lines of "What's That Smell in the Kitchen?" the author makes her point that women are burning dinners all over America. This gives us a general idea of what the poem will be about, yet it makes us want to read on to see why this would be happening; in other words, it triggers our curiosity. The author goes on to describe foods that are common to certain cities in the United States, bringing about a very gustatory and olfactory image in the mind of the reader. Following this, the author uses repetition to emphasize her introductory statement yet again, and adds an additional phrase, ". . . women are burning/food they're supposed to bring with calico/smile on platters glittering like wax." This statement is somewhat ironic, because it conveys an image of a very "false" woman, something like a mechanical doll or robot, or even like the flawless "model mom" figure of June Cleaver of the television series "Leave it to Beaver." Not only do we picture a woman in an apron with an artificial smile but Piercy alludes...
Throughout the novels Perfume and Chronicles of a Death Foretold the authors tends to use many literary devices in order to really bring life to the work and keep the reader intrigued. Exaggeration is very apparent in both novels and almost seems excessive, but vivid at the same time. In Perfume Suskind refers to “stench” many times and based on the imagery used in the novel the context gives the word “stench” almost a positive meaning at times. For Example, when Grenouille murders the girl, the way he describes her “sweaty armpits, oily hair, and fishy genitals”, makes the sensation seem like an actual perfume to his nose. The author also uses scent to characterize in the novel. Grenouille who had to apparent sent seemed equal to one with
During the poem the speaker does not address his readers. The readers are simply overhearing a man assessing the society in which he lives as he daydreams about what is could be and yet what it is not. It is evident that his goal is to get the readers to look down upon this society which is so caught up in daily routine; prohibiting anyone from having freedom of imagination. This detachment that is created between the speaker and his readers incorporated with the boring monotone at the very beginning of the poem gives the readers a negative impression of the society before they begin to analyze the actual words of the poem.
...words, appearances, emotions, or will. The persuasive power of an odor cannot be fended off, it enters into us like breath into our lungs, it fills us up, imbues us totally. There is no remedy for it“ [p.82]. Do you think it is true? Why would any odor have such power? In what ways does Grenouille use this power to his advantage?
Through the course of this poem the speaker discovers many things. Some discoveries made are physical while others are mental and emotional. On a physical level the speaker discovers a book, a new author and the power
When Divakaruni moved to the United States, tried to abandon the smells of her childhood in favor of acculturation. She realized this is a mistake when she has a child of her own. She eventually comes to appreciate the smells’ abilities to comfort, give joy, and motivate. One smell in particular she told about is how the smell of iodine reminded her that “love sometimes hurts while it’s doing its job.” In rearing her own offspring, she intentionally tried to replicate the “smell technique” with her own twist in hopes that her children reap similar benefits. One example is how she filled the house with the aroma of spices and sang American and Indian tunes with her
“Billy Collins' “Introduction to Poetry” isn’t an ars poetica poem about writing poetry, but about reading poetry. The speaker is a teacher who tells his students that they should experience a poem, rather than dissect it. The f...
From laundry detergent to perfume, room sprays to breath mints, everything now has a chemically produced scent to disguise the natural; modern culture has declared the embarrassment linked with body odor. On a night out or at a first date, men and women are both spritzing cologne and perfume and popping in chewing gum in an effort to smell pleasant and non-verbally communicate a message to the other. They are attempting to present themselves in a way they believe will appeal to the other and enhance the relationship. However, this very act proves that odors have the capability to affect our mood, perception, and
What is the smell that permeates the office building? This essay will argue that the smell in the office is a physical manifestation of the attitudes and emotions of its inhabitants. The reactions of different characters to the smell in the office building will be examined from cognitive and anthropological viewpoints. For the purpose of this essay “cognitive” will refer to the emotional associations that the characters make with the physical smell and the function of memory in its relation to smell. From the “anthropological” aspect, this essay will focus on the cultural representations of scent appraisal within the narrative. The reader learns about many of the static characters by their reported reactions to the smell: their persistent complaints are contrasted by Singlebury and his alleged understanding of its origin. In this way, the smell in the office building acts as a foil for the Manager, Singlebury and their colleagues. The smell lurks antagonistically throughout the story, growing stronger, highlighting crucial ...
Scent within the novel Perfume by Patrick Suskind has been regarded as a supernatural element that transcends the physical realm and into the spiritual. In 18th Century France, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born with the supernatural ability to smell, while lacking his own individual odour. The power of scent is revealed to have manipulative qualities that shape the way an individual perceives someone based off odour. Suskind uses the characters of Grenouille and Madame Gaillard to convey the effect that scent has on the emotional spirituality of humans as both have a disability with their olfactory sense. Grenouille utilises the power of scent to create his own perfume which emphasizes scent possessing qualities beyond the natural world.
This change in mental state accounts for the change in language from the unflattering descriptions early on to the more loving and affectionate feelings expressed later in the poem. This continued consumption of alcohol results in the speaker 's proclamation of love -- a state defined as "rare" because it will most likely be gone in the morning. It is clear in the poem that the speaker 's complex maze of attraction and derision is cyclic, transforming the unattractive innkeeper to the prized jewel of his eye on a weekly or perhaps daily basis. Through the clever use of negative descriptions and false comparisons, the author confides to paper what is effectively a bipolar relationship with the woman he both loathes and
...ty of the daffodils. The powerful effect that they have on his mind and body snap him out of depression and cause him to experience such a strong and powerful joy. This poem shows the powerful affect nature can have on the emotions of a person.
inforefuge.com. (n.d.). Recuperado el 5 de oct de 2011, de The Science of Smell: http://www.inforefuge.com/science-of-smell-conclusion