THE EXPLICATION OF CRUSH: BY ADA LIMON The poem dramatizes the plight of eating unripe persimmons. Poet uses eating unripe persimmons to give her audience a unique relatable snapshot of human experience. Persimmon is a highly nutritious and delicious fruit; it cannot be compared to any other fruit. To experience the sweetness of persimmons you need to eat only when completely ripe. Unripe persimmons taste very bitter, if you had the taste of unripe persimmons there is a good chance you'd think twice about trying it again. “You wouldn't want to"(6) what a waste, because ripe persimmons have exceptional depths and richness of Sweetness. Ada Limon indicates the persimmons in the poem are unripe, “you can't really eat them"(4-5) eating unripe persimmons displays of foolishness, naivety, and selfishness. Most of us display these vices when attending to life and love “impatiently" (13). We rarely wait for the right time or comment, our desperately desire for things without applying proper measures are bound to crush or end up in crushed heart. She meticulously captures and display inescapable consequences of premature and unripe love. The poem begins with the speaker comparing her body as being like a persimmons tree, displaying off the double meaning of the word "limbs"(1). The speaker lateral limbs (1) arms and …show more content…
legs are very valuable and increasing beautiful “mostly for decoration" (2). They help in movement and posture. Thus they contribute much to our daily activities similarly the speakers arm and legs like the branches of persimmons tree known as "limbs"(1) creates an impersonation of the speaker's self with the tree. Persimmon tree belong to a particular genus of trees which are beautiful and valuable. The choice of persimmons tree correctly fits the representation of the speaker. The sequence that follow " you grab/ the soft skin with your fist"(7-8) is an image that conveys a sense of sudden force and roughly seizing to something smooth. You cannot grab anything with a "fist"(7) considering the object in question is "soft". The use of the word "fist"(7) sounds strange at first but after thinking critically “fist"(7) showcases violence, destruction and not gentle. It's logic to handle "soft" objects with care and caution, but the humans act “impatiently"(13), careless without thinking of consequences for as long as is to their benefits and the end results is destruction of a beautiful thing. The fist goes against the "softness" of our feelings, moral and vulnerability. The speaker acknowledges this peculiar interaction between "soft"(7) and" fist" (7) she follows this speculative cause “if you grab/the soft skin with your fist (6-7) with its effect “it somehow feels funny"(8). The “soft skin" (7) being roughly handled belongs to human as it can belong to persimmons.
It somehow feels funny/like you've been here before and uncomfortable/too"(8-11) mostly refers to a place, an experience, a moment, than its reference to just a piece of fruit. The actual taste of persimmons is described as "like burnt sugar or guilt" 15-16) Burnt sugar is easy to process and edible whereas physiologically is complex to process and not possible to swallow. Guilt is an emotional word, its use indicates the humanity in persimmons, what is really talking about is herself, the use of ambiguities hint phrases is to capture and take her audience breath
away. “Like you'd rather/squish it between your teeth/ impatiently, before spitting"(11-13) Limon describes the procedure taken while eating unripe persimmons. One would prefer squishing the fruit between the teeth, eagerly waiting for the sweet taste in unripe persimmons if any, before spitting it quickly to avoid the bitter taste. Most people do destructive and selfish thing, putting their morality, feelings and tenderness in jeopardy before going back in line. They value the experience themselves than the tales as experience is the best teacher. After eating unripe persimmons, the "soft parts" (14) linger on the tongue like burnt sugar or guilt" ((15-16). One cannot get good description of something if it is in between others for example in between hot or cold. Most people prefer hot coffee or cold coffee and not room temperature. The unripe persimmons taste Sweet and bitter glued in one fruit, to avoid irritating the tongue longer than necessary one would spit the fruit. “Sugar" like love is very pleasurable in human life for it is Sweet and gives sensational feeling, if "burnt" (16) it is ruined and the sweet taste is unpleasurable. Too much flame burn the sweetness of sugar or love. Being in an unregulated flames of passion and desire, the tender "soft part "(14) are. Crushed and its Sweetness of love is doomed. When you ruin something sweet you are left with the “linger"ing(15) taste of "guilt" (16) in your life. In literal terms, the next part of the poem describes cutting branches, in other words pruning a tree; however, in this passage especially the figurative meaning surpurs the literal meaning. The theory behind pruning is that if some pieces of a plant are removed, dormant pieces will then be enlivened. In the poem, when “the right branch” (19) is cut, “a sort of light” (20)—desire—is awakened. When Limon states that the “light/woke up underneath” (20-21), this desire is specifically sexual. This interpretation of the desire as sexual is further fortified by the phrase that follows the awakening: “the inedible fruit/grew dark and needy” (22-23), in which the “inedible fruit” (22) is a biblical reference to the forbidden fruit that ended Adam and Eve’s innocence in the Garden of Eden. Innocence, purity, and virginity are signified by the color white, so the word “dark” (23) is no mistake: it signifies the absence of innocence, making the “need” (23) clearly sexual. Throughout this passage, Limon’s subtle nuances and overall tone convey a message of need, of desire—two emotions to which every human can relate. Limon then throws off all subtlety: “Think crucial hanging. /Think crayon orange” (24-25). Taken at face value, this statement seems to refer to a bright orange persimmon dangling from a branch; however, when we examine the words individually we are bombarded by heightened meaning. Although at first “crayon orange” (25) may seem merely to relate to the color of a persimmon, upon closer analysis the choice of the word “crayon” (25) proves vital. “Crayon” (25) has a decidedly childish connotation, reminding the audience of the unripened, premature nature of a crush. The “hanging” (24) in this phrase is never linked specifically to a persimmon, thus it can refer instead to an actual execution, to the pain and agony of death by noose. This reference makes surprising sense, because although the “crush” doesn’t involve physical pain, it is extremely emotionally wounding. Oddly, Limon goes on to characterize the agony of hanging as “crucial”(24)—strange, since no one I know includes agony on their list of necessities, and Limon’s purpose, after all, is to relate a universal experience. In actuality this contradiction follows Limon’s purpose skillfully; it is a comment on the paradox of human existence, of human emotion. The paradox is this: we, as humans, are programmed to love, to need, to desire—even if that desire ends with pain and suffering; therefore this “hanging” (24) is “crucial” (24) to the human definition. The next sentence is the learning, is the journey, is the “so what?” of Limon’s poem. “There is one low, leaning/heart-shaped globe left” (26-27) signifies that although this has been a painful, destructive process, the speaker is not entirely ravaged. Not all is lost, one piece still remains. This “one/heart-shaped globe” (26-27) is the one remaining piece of the speaker’s heart—it is the potential for new love. Although it may be “low” and “leaning” (26) at the moment, it is still there. That the speaker recognizes this signifies a change, a move to a bigger picture mentality. In her final phrase, Limon continues to shift from the selfish want of a crush to the selflessness of letting go with “dearest, can you/tell, I am trying/to love you less” (28-30). At some point, after the “squish”ing(12), after the “spitting”(13), after the “linger”ing(15), the only way to move on from a pulverized heart is to let go. Limon’s poem is about that most wounding, most unavoidable of human experiences—a crush. That type of juvenile, undeveloped, desperate love that stems from longing, from desire. That “love” that hits us hard, that hurts the most and that so profoundly influences our psyche. A love that starts out selfish, starts out thoughtless, but in time can turn over into learning, in time can become a love of letting go. Limon’s specific diction, general metaphor, skillful imagery, and unique format all contribute to the success of “Crush,” a poem wound with the thread of what it is to be human. Limon’s use of imagery in words is powerful. Her images are vital to her purpose; the images present the audience with an actual, tangible rendition of themselves, of their own emotions. Emotion so raw, a subject so tender, is tactfully approached from a symbolic point of view—thereby short circuiting the audience’s defenses. The persimmon representation allows Limon to cut out the names and faces of real life. She cuts out the biases, the exceptions, the excuses, and isolates the emotion itself, catching her audience off guard. Since Limon avoids overly specific, direct statements, but maintains a well-defined metaphor, no one is impervious to her message: everyone can relate.
The first aspect of language, which he uses is metaphor in the beginning of the poem when he is describing the dwarf sitting outside the church. He uses metaphor as he says, “The dwarf with his hands on backwards Sat, slumped like a half – filled sack On tiny twisted legs from which Sawdust might run.” The metaphor here of the dwarf sitting like a ‘half filled sack’ is describing the dwarf and how he has a deformed body. He is being compared to looking like a sack, which is slumped and half empty. This is effective as it seems as though the dwarf cannot help himself
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
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 true meaning of this poem could only be perfectly interpreted by Wilbur, himself. In "Orchard Trees, January," it seems that the interpretation previously given above is correct, although Wilbur may have some different stress points. There probably is an even deeper meaning in this poem that Wilbur could get across, but most of the time it is up to the reader to be able to pick it out and relate it to the poem.
AGG) The author of “Under The Persimmon Tree” often uses symbolism throughout the book. (BS-1) The author of UTPT uses the stars to give Najmah a superstitious belief, and give her hope and guidance to drive her towards her goals. (BS-2) The stars are used to help Nusrat accept loss, she looks to them for hope and guidance, and they have a religious meaning to her. (BS-3) The author uses changes in the stars to convey events and changes in Najmah’s life. (TS) The stars are used to portray changes in the characters lives, and the author uses them to give the characters hope, guidance, and an important meaning, as well as the ability to deal with loss
He first gets the reader to understand what he is thinking with the use of imagery. He starts out with a darker point, “my sweet tooth gleaming and the juice of guilt wetting my underarms.” This is showing that he had already committed the crime in his mind before he had actually performed the act. When the sat down to eat his pie, he gives the image of a nice summer day by thinking, “The sun wavered between the branches of a yellowish sycamore.” He shows that he is happy to be finally eating the pie that he stole. He showed his guilt when he says, “I wiped my sticky fingers on the grass and rolled my tongue over the corners of my mouth.” This is depicting an allusion to the popular phrase “There is blood on your hands”, which means that you are guilty of something. He also shows his guilt by thinking, “A squirrel nailed itself high on the trunk, where it forked into two large bark-scabbed limbs.” This is a biblical allusion to the cross on which Jesus was crucified. These images help to relay his feeling of guilt.
The second stanza immediately shows symbolism starting with the first few words. Line 10 begins with, “Once the renegade flesh was gone.” The use of the phrase, “renegade flesh” within this poem symbolizes the person who was causing the hurting. Renegade involves synonyms such as: traitor, deserter, and rebel, thus contributing to the meaning behind the phrase. Then throughout the rest of the stanza, the woman resumes talking about her time slowly going by until she begins to completely give up on
This act of symbolism is pertinent to the poem, because lust is typically strongest and most passionate in the beginning of said relationship, and predominantly plagues youth . Although, the berries color represents time, the berries themselves symbolize what the speaker is lusting after ; women. This is important because it creates a clearer idea of the Speaker's motives, and eventual decline in hope. Lastly, Heaney uses the bathtub full of berries as a symbol of the Speaker's desires being met, or fulfilled, “ But when the bath was filled we found a fur, A rat-gray fungus, glutting on our cache” (lines 17-19, Heaney). As the poem progresses from this point, the speaker starts to negatively describe his once prized berries, describing them as sour and rotten. The speaker uses the
The speaker uses “legs” and “towers” to show her reader the opening of her child’s new beginning in life. The speaker then includes “new World was passing” to include how her child was going to be creating new identities in her by her birth and development. Thus, as part of a human being into a world there will be new creations of identities so this is where her child will be developing her/himself as opposed being in the speaker’s fetus. Here the speaker brings up an interesting symbolic figure by the use of “passing” since it relates back to the earlier part of the poem in relationship to time. In lines one and seven the speaker speaks of the time being of her child’s pregnancy process which illustrates the “passing” in line seventeen to demonstrate all the identities she will come upon as the her child moves forth into the world as she continues to distinguish this possibility of her own
the ripe fruit being left to waste. In line eleven she writes, “past the cellar door the creek ran and
On the surface the poem seems to be a meditation on past events and actions, a contemplative reflection about what has gone on before. Research into the poem informs us that the poem is written with a sense of irony
This is a figure of speech which takes on animals, ideas, abstractions and inanimate objects with human form, character or sensibilities. It is representing imaginary creatures or things as having human personalities, intelligence and emotions. In the poem ‘ALL THAT TIME’, in stanza one the poet has given the trees the human character of embracing each other and leaning on each other. The poet also describes one of the trees upright one which is also a human characteristic.
Not only the words, but the figures of speech and other such elements are important to analyzing the poem. Alliteration is seen throughout the entire poem, as in lines one through four, and seven through eight. The alliteration in one through four (whisky, waltzing, was) flows nicely, contrasting to the negativity of the first stanza, while seven through eight (countenance, could) sound unpleasing to the ear, emphasizing the mother’s disapproval. The imagery of the father beating time on the child’s head with his palm sounds harmful, as well as the image of the father’s bruised hands holding the child’s wrists. It portrays the dad as having an ultimate power over the child, instead of holding his hands, he grabs his wrists.
(AGG) Have you ever wondered what it is like to live without a home in a dangerous and vile place. Well that is what it is like to live in some refugee camps. (BS-1) The refugee camps are overcrowded and they affect the character in the book. (BS-2) The camps are dangerous to live in and to get, and this is shown in the book. (BS-3)The camps have people from all over not just from one area. (TS) Life in the refugee camps is cramped dangerous and most of all they have refugees from all over the place this is shown in the article and in the book Under The Persimmon Tree, and She uses them to create conflict for the character.
This change in mental state accounts for the change in language from the unflattering descriptions early on to the more loving and affectionate feelings expressed later in the poem. This continued consumption of alcohol results in the speaker 's proclamation of love -- a state defined as "rare" because it will most likely be gone in the morning. It is clear in the poem that the speaker 's complex maze of attraction and derision is cyclic, transforming the unattractive innkeeper to the prized jewel of his eye on a weekly or perhaps daily basis. Through the clever use of negative descriptions and false comparisons, the author confides to paper what is effectively a bipolar relationship with the woman he both loathes and