Summary Of July Man By Margaret Avison

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Picture a drunken old man in the park observing the world as it goes by. He’s not causing a disturbance; he is simply sitting and “weeping” as he watches “the hurting motes of time.” Why is the old man crying? Why is time in pain? It is because the old man finds the recent changes in society to be a hindrance for it. These changes have made life unoriginal, loud, and superficial. In Margaret Avison’s poem “July Man” she writes a social commentary on how life is lived by current generations through her use metaphor, imagery and diction. The incessant repetition of the buzzing sound a bee makes annoys many people. Avison compares people to this sound “buzzing populace” because people are always talking or moving even when it should be silent. Avison wants people to take the time to be quiet and/or still so that they can appreciate their surroundings without being distracted by others things. …show more content…

Avison puts the reader into the poem by making he/she sit in front of a park fountain. It is usually quite relieving to sit in a local park and watch the park fountain spew water from its spout and watch it crash down against the still water in the fountain’s bowl. The sound of crashing water clears the mind into a state of reflection and ease “In the sound of the fountain you rest.” However, a “rushing river of cars” creates “a heart-stopping blurt” that interrupts this state of reflection and ease, causing the reader to be one with the rushing society. In this image, Avison points out that society is not able to take the time to reflect and relax because it is always in a state of rapid motion, there are very little breaks. Avison wants society to take a break and notice the little things in life that can actually mean a

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