Analysis of The Waterbowl by Michael S. Harper
I have selected the poem titled "The Waterbowl" by Michael S. Harper from his collection Dear John, Dear Coltrane. Part of the reason why I have selected this poem is for its simplicity. Simplicity is a quality that I truly value in poem. I feel that poetry is left much more to the unsaid and the senses which the words of the poem trigger. In "The Waterbowl," the simplicity of the poem can be seen through the elementary vocabulary used in each short line. The line breaks also add on to the whole simplicity effect by creating short lines with one main idea for every two lines, "…her eyes had turned the color of okra…there is no love in those eyes…" This break down allows the reader to easily process the information. In addition, more weight is given to each image and detail because of the emphasis that the line break creates and gives.
One aspect that I really like about this poem is the use of concrete details to create an image. Since I find it hard to do this in my own poetry, I felt that "The Waterbowl" was a good poem to look at since it uses this literary tool to make the poem work. Harper offers concrete details such as "her eyes turned the color of okra," "I took her pock-boned jaws," "a mussel clamped into darkness," and "two matchsticks in a bowl of water." All these details are concrete and are able to create an image for the reader. The paradoxical or ironic thing is that Harper uses these concrete images to lead the reader to an abstract image of "there is no love in those eyes, only loss, pregnant with intelligent shame."
Lastly, another aspect of "The Waterbowl" is the use of metaphors. The most interesting part of the use of metaphors is to be able to draw similarities between two things that do not seem to have anything in common. For example, Harper compares eyes to waterbowls. Who would have thought of a pair of eyes as a container of water? However, this comparison works because eyes are containers of tears and that is what the poem is describing. Harper then takes this metaphor further by adding in the matchsticks, "…her eyes two matchsticks in a bowl of water," which he compared to a pair of eyes so tightly shut, "like a mussel clamped into darkness," that they are reduced to a mere slit which resemble matchsticks.
The line “I feel not wet so much as painted and glittered” forms a contrasting image to that of the swamp because the consonance of the author’s word choice, “painted” and “glittered,” provide a more positive connotation. The author’s word choice plays a major role in this polarized imagery as well as the connection between speaker and swamp. By using the word “painted,” it is as if the swamp becomes the artist, and the speaker becomes the canvas, meaning that through the struggles of the swamp, the speaker has been shaped into the person she is “after all these years.” Oliver also uses a metaphor, comparing the speaker to “a poor dry stick given one more chance by the whims of swamp water,” which relates to the growth and strength that the swamp’s and ultimately life’s struggles have evoked from the
Poetry is often created by an author’s need to escape the logical, as well as expressing feelings and other expressions in a tight, condensed manner. Hundreds of poets have impacted society throughout history through phenomenal poetry that, even with dark tones can be emotionally moving.
In the beginning of the poem Oliver uses language that makes the swamp feel eerie and slightly otherworldly. Everything in the swamp is “…pathless, seamless…”, as well as being described as “…endless wet thick cosmos, the center of everything…” which provides a sense of the swamp being separate from the rest of the world. By using descriptive words she shows how she gets lost in the swamp and feels “…painted, and glittered…” because of the mires. This ties into how the speaker sees themselves as “[A] poor dry stick…” which is part of the swamp and subject to its whims. Throughout the poem the speaker talks as if they are part of the swamp and this is slightly more blatant towards the end when they speak
long sentences, describing the swamp as a calm, never-ending setting. If the poem were to instil
The wooden bucket enriches the flavor of water, and connects you to nature through taste. Hence, Darl has found a better way to satisfy his needs. William Faulkner overwhelms his audience with the visual perceptions that the characters experience, making the reader feel utterly attached to nature and using imagery how a human out of despair can make accusations. "If I jump off the porch I will be where the fish was, and it all cut up into a not-fish now. I can hear the bed and her face and them and I can feel the floor shaking when he walks on it that came and did it....
In today’s modern view, poetry has become more than just paragraphs that rhyme at the end of each sentence. If the reader has an open mind and the ability to read in between the lines, they discover more than they have bargained for. Some poems might have stories of suffering or abuse, while others contain happy times and great joy. Regardless of what the poems contains, all poems display an expression. That very moment when the writer begins his mental journey with that pen and paper is where all feelings are let out. As poetry is continues to be written, the reader begins to see patterns within each poem. On the other hand, poems have nothing at all in common with one another. A good example of this is in two poems by a famous writer by the name of Langston Hughes. A well-known writer that still gets credit today for pomes like “ Theme for English B” and “Let American be American Again.”
Therefore, Oliver’s incorporation of imagery, setting, and mood to control the perspective of her own poem, as well as to further build the contrast she establishes through the speaker, serves a critical role in creating the lesson of the work. Oliver’s poem essentially gives the poet an ultimatum; either he can go to the “cave behind all that / jubilation” (10-11) produced by a waterfall to “drip with despair” (14) without disturbing the world with his misery, or, instead, he can mimic the thrush who sings its poetry from a “green branch” (15) on which the “passing foil of the water” (16) gently brushes its feathers. The contrast between these two images is quite pronounced, and the intention of such description is to persuade the audience by setting their mood towards the two poets to match that of the speaker. The most apparent difference between these two depictions is the gracelessness of the first versus the gracefulness of the second. Within the poem’s content, the setting has been skillfully intertwined with both imagery and mood to create an understanding of the two poets, whose surroundings characterize them. The poet stands alone in a cave “to cry aloud for [his] / mistakes” while the thrush shares its beautiful and lovely music with the world (1-2). As such, the overall function of these three elements within the poem is to portray the
The poem opens upon comparisons, with lines 3 through 8 reading, “Ripe apples were caught like red fish in the nets/ of their branches. The maples/ were colored like apples,/part orange and red, part green./ The elms, already transparent trees,/ seemed swaying vases full of sky.” The narrator’s surroundings in this poem illustrate him; and the similes suggest that he is not himself, and instead he acts like others. Just as the maples are colored like apples, he
There are a couple of similes the author uses in the poem to stress the helplessness she felt in childhood. In the lines, “The tears/ running down like mud” (11,12), the reader may notice the words sliding down the page in lines 12-14 like mud and tears that flowed in childhood days. The speaker compares a...
One of the most prevalent of the literary tools used in this poem is the simile. Repeatedly throughout the poem Bishop uses the simile to give the reader a clearer picture of the situation at hand. The simile is an ideal literary tool to use when the author is trying to convey a sensory description of an object or idea. When describing the fish?s physical appearance in lines 9-15 she compares the fish?s skin to ?ancient wallpaper?; this immediately gives the reader an impression of the age and outward appearance of the fish. Later in the poem when in lines 61-62 she describes the pieces of broken fishing line hanging from the fish?s mouth as ?medals with their ribbons / frayed and wavering? she is using a simile to give the impression of pride and honor. This comes at a point when ...
the poem. The closing paragraph of the poem is very powerful in how it expresses
Poetry requires more than just a verse. It must appeal to your mind and generate emotion. It should be constructed in a way that appears so simple, yet is intricate in every detail. Dylan Thomas's poem, Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night is a brilliant poem that appears so simple, yet upon looking closer it's complexity can be seen.
in the first line of this stanza when she says “ I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide” i believe whats she is trying to explain is that she feels powerful just like the ocean and she can surfaces the earth feeling capable of defeating all her difficulties. Her use of metaphor was expressed very effectively because it allows us to understand her pain and it also allows us to acknowledge why she is writing this poem. She does not want someones words to break us and wants us to understand that we are in charge of our own happiness.
The title of the poem is very significant. The title penetratingly outlines how precious they view the water to be. He does this by titling the poem ''Blessing''. Water is something which most people take for granted, so by making this the title he emphasizes the value they place upon the water. The poet highlights how much value they place upon the water in the fourth stanza when the pipe bursts by using word choice. ''As their blessings sing'' is the quote from the poem and the effect of this is that it gives you a sense of harmony. The words sum up a peaceful ending for the last two stanzas where the mood of the poem changes from desperation to the contrast of greatfulness. The poet has chosen the phrase ''blessings sing'' as when put together it has conitations of bountful amounts of happiness which accuratly shows their joy and relief they would of felt in that moment of time. I think the poet has used this quote to symbolise the end of a struggle which turned into a celebration and the word ''sing'' to create the passion for the villagers in that moment.
For example, it sparked the idea, or memory of how much I love nature and the outdoors, and the great sense of peace it brings to me. In an instant, it showed me how far had drifted from that mind set. I think that this poem has the capability of bringing attention to viewers of how far away all of us have drifted from nature. I think of last week when I visited Sioux Falls for the first time, I was truly shocked as I looked around and saw a large number of people so focused on their various versions of technology that they didn’t see Gods beauty passing by. I think it this piece presents a challenging new idea that the simpler times are truly gone. I believe that it has become uncommon for people to seek out the sense of peace from nature that the author describes in this poem in today’s era. It is truly incredible to me how we can tread along in the mundaneness of life, and then suddenly an old thought is drug from the dark recesses of our minds and becomes new