Tired Sex Poem Analysis

The use of imagery is very commonly used in fictional literary work, especially poems. Imagery according to Crowder Collage Introduction to Literature’s glossary, “The collective set of images in a poem or other literary work,” (1991). The definition of imagery is rather vague by itself. It is very enlightening on the other hand when the term image is defined, “A word or series of words that refers to any sensory experience (usually sight, although also sound smell, touch or taste). An image is a direct or literal recreation of physical experience and adds immediacy to literary language,” (Gioia 1991).The imagery in Chana Bloch’s “Tired Sex” is a wonderfully helpful in communicating the poem’s general theme. Lines one through four have a common imagery. The first two

In the first line, the reader gets the impression of two or more people trying to make a spark, given the title a sexual spark (Gioia 798). Now, the second line gives the image of an older couple which has been together a very long time. The third line adds to the meaning of the first two lines. It also gives a possible reason for the lack of fire in the elderly couple's passions, “damp Sulphur /” (Gioia 798). The phrase "damp sulphur" brings to mind erectile dysfunction (ED). Just as a wet match cannot make fire, a man cannot make sexual “fire” or passion while suffering from ED. There is also the image comparison of a wet, limp match and ED. The fourth line, “on sodden cardboard /” gives a similar image to line three (Gioia798). Sodden, as defined by the Oxford Dictionaries is,