Poem Analysis Of Alzheimer's By Kelly Cherry

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Alzheimer’s
In the poem “Alzheimer’s” by Kelly Cherry, the author puts a lot of emphasis on the tone of the poem. This aspect of the poem seems to be very important considering that it changes as the poem continues until the end. The change in tone is very clear from the beginning to the last few words.
“Alzheimer’s” is a poem about a man with Alzheimer’s who is coming home from the hospital. The tone in the first few lines initially are very harsh towards the old man with the speaker saying “He stands at the door crazy old man back from the hospital, his mind rattling like the suitcase, swinging from his hand that contains shaving cream, a piggy bank, a book he sometimes pretends to read…”(541). Although the tone sounds insensitive, this could also be the bitterness the speaker feels towards the old man and the …show more content…

“…This is his house. He remembers it as his…” (542). The man seems be remembering certain things like his specific details of his house and the car that he used to drive. “…remembers the walkway he built between the front room and the garage, the rhododendron he planted in the back, the car he used to drive…”(542). At this point in poem, the tone is becoming one of despair and sadness as the man is in some way revisiting the parts of his past that he remembers. Despite having Alzheimer’s he still remembers that he loved music and how the music made him feel and he remembers how his younger self was. “He remembers himself, a younger man, in a tweed hat, a man who loved music” (542). However, the speaker is saying that there is no longer any time to enjoy music because most of his time is focused on trying to remember important things and living with his disease which is shown when the speaker says “…no time for music, the peculiar screeching of strings, the luxurious fiddling with emotion. Other things have become more

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