Explication of Identity by Julio Noboa Polanco In society, it is imperative that an individual holds on to their uniqueness. Unfortunately, many individuals feel so pressured by the woes of life that they end up conforming to an image that is deemed as acceptable, which is what Polanco is explaining in his poem “Identity”. The poem Identity is about a person who would like to be a weed that is free rather than a sheltered flower. Instead of simply stating his thoughts, the speaker of the poem creatively presents similes, personification and imagery to display why he would rather be a weed. The poem instantly begins with a simile comparing other people with flowers. Similes are then used to add meaning to the rest of the poem. The speaker of the poem compares the “ideal” way of being to being free and unique. The speaker explains why he would rather be a weed than a flower, while using similes to be more descriptive and create a better understanding of his choice. He starts by saying …show more content…
“Let them be as flowers, /always watered, fed, guarded, and admired, /but harnessed to a pot of dirt.” (Lines 1-3) .This tells us that the speaker does not want to be like other people. He says “let them” which implies that he does not want to be a part. We see the author simile “I’d rather be a tall, ugly weed clinging on cliffs like an eagle” (lines 4-5).This simile adds a lot of meanings to the poem because the author is saying that he would rather do something that nobody else would do than follow everyone else. The poet presents abstract and literal details to explain how objects are given human traits. His words bring life and meaning to the poem. The author skillfully presents personification by creating an imaginative effect on the poem making it seem more interesting in addition to a certain mood and tone. The poet describes his passion for wanting to be a weed in lines 7 and 8 it reads that “to feel exposed to the madness/ of the vast, eternal sky.” Here the speaker personifies the word “sky”, saying that it is mad, vast, and eternal. This makes the poem deeper because the speaker further breaks down the reason why he would like to be a weed. Once more, the author uses personification in lines 10-14: “to be swayed by the breezes of an ancient sea/carrying my soul, my seed beyond the mountains/ of time /or into the abyss of the bizarre”. In these lines, the poet personifies the sea, his soul, and time. In doing this, he makes the poem more intense and thought provoking (due to his strong use of vocabulary). Throughout the poem, the poet presents an illuminating diction to help the reader to create a (n) image/visual of how the scene looks.
The speaker presents imagery to recreate the scene as if he or she is there. In lines 7-9, the author presents imagery “to have broken through the surface of stone/to live, to feel exposed to the madness/of the vast, eternal sky.” The author is saying that once you have broken away from everyone else to create your own person, it is a feeling like no other. There may be obstacles along the way, but at the end, it will all be worth it. Since imagery is, so strong it is used once again throughout the poem in lines 19-20: “I’d rather smell of musty, green stench/than of sweet, fragrant lilac. The author adds this to tell us he wants to be extremely different from everyone else. He is saying that he would rather be himself and smell bad, than smell good like everyone else. He feels that the audience should be themselves and not care what other people
think. In conclusion, the author presents similes, personification, and imagery to display why he would rather be a weed. I feel that the poem did wonderfully comparing a sheltered plant to a free weed and using poetic devices to captivate the reader. The poem also made me reflect on the way society acts, because some individuals always want to fit in and conform to what society calls normal. After reading this poem, I realized that everyone should be/stay true to himself or herself. I have also learned to live above the influence.
It shows that similes have to be compared universally so everyone can understand. This poem is a really funny read and I
At the beginning of the poem, the speaker starts by telling the reader the place, time and activity he is doing, stating that he saw something that he will always remember. His description of his view is explained through simile for example “Ripe apples were caught like red fish in the nets of their branches” (Updike), captivating the reader’s attention
There are multiple examples of visual imagery in this poem. An example of a simile is “curled like a possum within the hollow trunk”. The effect this has is the way it creates an image for the reader to see how the man is sleeping. An example of personification is, “yet both belonged to the bush, and now are one”. The result this has is how it creates an emotion for the reader to feel
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
The speaker begins the poem an ethereal tone masking the violent nature of her subject matter. The poem is set in the Elysian Fields, a paradise where the souls of the heroic and virtuous were sent (cite). Through her use of the words “dreamed”, “sweet women”, “blossoms” and
I think that the poet is trying to contain his feelings by not expressing them freely. The opening stanza begins with the metaphor "The hospital smell combs my nostrils. " This suggests that the poet is sensing that there is a strong, disinfectant smell. The metaphor is unusual but very effective. It almost suggests the poet is feeling a bit of pain and sets the mood for the rest of the poem.
The speaker uses figurative language to compare a girl that he loves to the happiness of nature, and to state that he will make a special relationship end happily. Simile is a type of figurative language that compares two things using the words “like” or “as.” A simile in line five has a very powerful meaning: “Like everything that’s green, girl, I ne...
This poem describes the worry of decision-making and the rewards of forging your own path. The subject of the poem is faced with a decision of taking the "safe" route that others have taken before or breaking new ground. He finds that making original and independent choices makes life rewarding. One poetic device is imagery described in the lines, “long I stood/ And looked down one as far as I could/ To where it bent in the undergrowth;” (lines 3-5). The imagery is used to describe his sight of the not literal two paths that he could choose. One form of figurative language used is Metaphors. This poem is attractive because is its very inspirational to me at a time where I am making a lot of important
Image is everything. We can make even the most disturbing scene seem poetic by just adding a few birds, trees, or a river. Poetry is one of the mediums that use this mask. In Singapore by Mary Oliver, imagery plays a very important role. She writes a poem about a poor woman she saw in an airport in Singapore washing an ashtray in the toilet, seem like the woman was encompassing a beautiful scene in nature. A poem is always a beautiful thing, so she wrote a poem about this woman making her a metaphor to the serene image of nature. Although the poem seems to be a beautiful inspiration, it really is a way of her rationalizing her disturbed perception of the woman to nature in the poem. She also uses a very interruptive style of writing by jumping from what she is physically seeing, to what her mind's eye is creating.
Individuals often have a strong desire to pursue their aspirations and desires due to their ambitious, determined innate nature. However, through these numerous achievements they have successfully fulfilled, other people’s perception of the individual will vastly differ depending on their relationship with him/her. In the poem “Prodigal”, Bob Hicok suggests that when individuals have successfully accomplished their ambitions, others will perceive the individual’s changed identity in vastly different ways depending on their relationship with the individual. An individual’s ambitious nature will also significantly impact themselves due to their ever-changing perception of themselves, which will greatly affect their own perceptions and decisions
"The Yellow Violet" vividly expresses the nature of life in a very simple way. Bryant takes the cycle of a yellow violet and uses it to describe the humanistic world around him. It is very clever, too, that when he does this, he uses personification. A "modest flower" (2674) pops out from the dark, damp leaves below and "[makes] the woods of April bright" (2675). While the rest of the forests and fields go on with their life cycle this tiny flower does itsí best to make things pretty and happy. The persona describes this sight as an "early smile" (2675) and that is what kept a smile on his own face. Even the various blooms and colors that surface in May are not as joyful because when the violet blooms, it is the first color you see after a long winter of gray. This modesty of the meek flower is compared to that of a person. It's usually the poorer, less known people in the world that are the ones who really cheer you up. They will never let you down. As the persona in the poem points out, "So they, who climb to wealth, forget" (2675). This is the most important line of the entire poem. It is basically saying that those who are wrapped up in material things are just th...wrapped up. They are not dependable. Thus, the yellow violet is the modest person, which are far and few, who you can always count on to stand by you in the end and brighten up your day. This is the illustration of the nature of life.
In the first stanza, the poet seems to be offering a conventional romanticized view of Nature:
In “I wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” William Wordsworth accomplishes his ideal of nature by using personification, alliteration, and simile within his poem to convey to the reader how nature’s beauty uplifts his spirits and takes him away from his boring daily routine. Wordsworth relates himself in solidarity to that of a cloud wandering alone, “I wandered lonely as a cloud” (line 1). Comparing the cloud and himself to that of a lonely human in low spirits of isolation, simultaneously the author compares the daffodils he comes across as he “floats on high o’er vales and hills” (line 2) to that of a crowd of people dancing (lines 3-6 and again in 12). Watching and admiring the dancing daffodils as he floats on by relating them to various beauties of
The entire poem is about the interaction between nature and man. Wordsworth is clearly not happy about the things that man has done to the world. He describes Nature in detail in the second and third stanzas when he personifies the periwinkle and the flowers. He is thinking about the bad things that man has done to nature and he wants the reader to sit back and think about the fact that there used to be something so beautiful and alive, and because of man's ignorance and impatience, there is not a lot left. He also wants him to go sit in his own grove and actually see what is living and breathing and whether or not he enjoys it. Wordsworth makes it seem appealing to want to go and do this through his descriptions and thoughts, so that you get a feeling of what is there and what is being lost. He makes the reader want to go and see if those things, the budding twigs, the hopping birds, and the trailing periwinkle, really do exist and if they really are as alive as he says.
I can picture him seeing life and feeling it in every flower, ant, and piece of grass that crosses his path. The emotion he feels is strongly suggested in this line "To me the meanest flower that blows can give / Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears." Not only is this showing the kind of fulfillment he receives from nature, but also the power that nature possesses in his mind.... ... middle of paper ... ...