Blackberry Eating By Galway Kinnell Summary

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The narrator in “Blackberry Eating” has an intense love for two things: blackberries and words. In the poem, Galway Kinnell attempts to convey the similarities between words and blackberry eating through the use of sound devices such as alliteration, onomatopoeia, and rhythm. Alliteration can be found throughout the poem. “I love to go out in late September among the fat, overripe, icy, black blackberries to eat blackberries for breakfast.” “...and as I stand among them lifting the stalks to my mouth...” “...many-lettered, one-syllabled lumps, which I squeeze, squinch open...” In these sentences, various consonant sounds are repeated (bl, st, sq). What is noticeable about this alliteration is that when you pronounce the words, your tongue has to shift a lot to make the beginning consonant sounds. Herein lies the comparison between words and blackberries. Blackberries roll around your mouth much like words do, forcing your tongue to pucker with their delightful yet sour tinge of taste. The writer is showing that blackberries are more similar to words than you think. …show more content…

“...many-lettered, one-syllabled lumps, which I squeeze, squinch open, and splurge well...” The author mimics the process of blackberry eating with words like “squinch” and “splurge” which attempt to give the reader an idea of the sounds of blackberry eating. By giving a reader an insight into the sounds of blackberry eating, they are able to feel the blackberries rolling around their mouth. This is also accomplished by the complex consonant sounds the beginning of the words (sq and spl). Much like the words used for alliteration, these consonant sounds force the tongue to move around and feel the “splurge” a blackberry would make in the

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