The Great Scarf of Birds Updike the author of The Great Scarf of Birds ends the Poem by stating that his heart was lifted by the great scarf. The poems organization, dictation and figurative language throughout the poem is very peculiar. His word choice makes the reader feel happiness, joy, and even peace but once you get to the middle of the poem he changes his tone to show sadness. 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 …show more content…
He also uses an example from the Bible to describe a certain moment. He used the story of Lot where his wife turned around to look back at what she was leaving behind, he turned back to view once again the great amount of birds. The speaker connects all of his random images into the much bigger thought through the use of diction. Diction helps prepare the reader to understand that the speaker is having a moment where a past event is also being remembered. Hence the last words on the last stanza “Long had it been since my heart had been lifted as it was by the lifting scarf.” (Updike) the vibrant event explained through the poem helped the speaker remember that he had other moments in his life where his heart has been lifted just like that one event his describing. As a way to end his last stanza, the speaker creates an image that surpasses his experiences. When the flock rises, the speaker identifies it as a lady’s gray silk scarf, which the woman has at first chosen, then rejected. As the woman carelessly tosses the scarf toward the chair the casual billow fades from view, like the birds. The last image connects nature with a last object in the poet's
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 opening stanza sets the tone for the entire poem. Updike uses symbolism to portray the sad, disappointing life Flick ...
The informal language and intimacy of the poem are two techniques the poet uses to convey his message to his audience. He speaks openly and simply, as if he is talking to a close friend. The language is full of slang, two-word sentences, and rambling thoughts; all of which are aspects of conversations between two people who know each other well. The fact that none of the lines ryhme adds to the idea of an ordinary conversation, because most people do not speak in verse. The tone of the poem is rambling and gives the impression that the speaker is thinking and jumping from one thought to the next very quickly. His outside actions of touching the wall and looking at all the names are causing him to react internally. He is remembering the past and is attempting to suppress the emotions that are rising within him.
To briefly summarize this poem, I believe that the poem could be separated into three parts: The first part is composed in the first and second letters, which stress on the negative emotions towards the miserable pains, illnesses that the parents are baring, and also their hatred of the birds. The second part, I believe will be the third and fourth letters, which talks about the birds’ fights and the visiting lady from the church. And the last part, starts from the fifth letters to the rest of them, which mainly describe the harmonious life between the parents and those birds.
The tile of the poem “Bird” is simple and leads the reader smoothly into the body of the poem, which is contained in a single stanza of twenty lines. Laux immediately begins to describe a red-breasted bird trying to break into her home. She writes, “She tests a low branch, violet blossoms/swaying beside her” and it is interesting to note that Laux refers to the bird as being female (Laux 212). This is the first clue that the bird is a symbol for someone, or a group of people (women). The use of a bird in poetry often signifies freedom, and Laux’s use of the female bird implies female freedom and independence. She follows with an interesting image of the bird’s “beak and breast/held back, claws raking at the pan” and this conjures a mental picture of a bird who is flying not head first into a window, but almost holding herself back even as she flies forward (Laux 212). This makes the bird seem stubborn, and follows with the theme of the independent female.
By utilizing vivid details and intense imagery, she allows the readers to feel her emotions and visualize the abstract imagery that she put forth when describing the birds. Throughout her passage, Dillard incorporates very adept literary techniques to create a trance-like feeling, such as when recounting the flight patterns of the birds with, “The flight extended like a fluttering banner, an unfurled oriflamme, in either direction as far as I could see.” As she continues, she immerses the readers with the actions of the birds, in such a manner that makes it seem as if she was a bird herself, flying majestically with the flock. She stated that “Each individual bird bobbed and knitted up and down in the flight at apparent random, for no known reason except that that’s how starlings fly, yet all remained perfectly spaced.” By stating that, “The flocks each tapered at either end from a round middle, like an eye”, Dillard is able to provide additional explicit imagery and details that give the readers emotional insight rather than mere facts of what happened. Furthermore, as she describes the sounds she hears with, “Over my head, I hear a sound of beaten air like a million shook rugs, a muffled whuff. Into the woods they sifted without shifting a twig, right through the crowns of trees, intricate and rushing, like wind”, she provides so much intricate detail in a way that the
The main way the poem gets its point across is with imagery. Swinburne starts his poem with imagery saying, “I saw my soul at rest upon a day / As a bird sleeping in the nest of night,” (Lines 1-2). Right away he uses Imagery and a simile to paint a
John Updike’s poem “The Great Scarf of Birds” expresses the varying emotions the narrator experiences as he witnesses certain events from nature. His narration of the birds throughout the poem acts as numerous forms of imagery and symbolism concerning him and his life, and this becomes a recollection of the varying emotional stances he comes to terms with that he has experienced in his life. These changes are so gradually and powerfully expressed because of a fluent use of diction and figurative language, specifically symbolism and simile, and aided by organization.
At the beginning of the poem he sets the setting and mood of the story, the image that's on the front page helps identified and imagine what the bird looks like and the Raven's characteristics, I could notice that the Raven is a black bird, crow look-like and the symbolize the poem gives it is not as a good bird.
Some things in nature are truly majestic mysteries to the human mind. The beautiful and puzzling movement patterns of various types of animals is only one example of the wonders that belong to nature. While enduring the hassle of everyday life, many people forget how nature is full of miraculous yet familiar events, creatures, and even ideas. Award winning author and remarkable short story writer John Updike instills a sensation of wonder and enchantment while depicting a magical occasion of his encounter with nature through his ingenious use of lax yet meticulous structure, colorful word choice, and imaginative figurative language in his narrative poem “The Great Scarf of Birds”
The final line "and gathering swallows twitter in the skies" gives the reader a definite sense of ending (the swallows are preparing to migrate for the winter season). At this point, the poem seems to comes to a rest, and this final line creates an effective sense of closure.
The speaker from the first stanza is the observer, someone who pays closer attention to the entire piece of work, noticing all the details and able to understand the painting as a fluid story and not a snapshot. He is a man with fishing experience. He knows violent the seas and the power nature holds, strong and unforgiving to any individual. The second speaker in the poem is the observer, his voice is heard in the second stanza. He describes the individual looking at the painting as an innocent bystander embracing the art in a museum. The man views the painting, not fully immersing oneself in the complete story of the painting. Instead, he just looks on as a spectator, not fully appreciating the intensity of what he is looking at. Breaking the poem into two stanzas not only allows Finkel to voice two speakers, but also allows him to alternate the tone. The tone of the first stanza with the observer is dark, the speaker describes the events in the painting with a terror, making the painting more realistic with hints of personal experiences. The second stanza is divided into two parts: the first is calm, the onlooker is innocent, gazing at the still image on the canvas, describing the painting at face-value. The latter half of the stanza brings the painting to life. Similar to the first stanza, it transitions back into darkness, a contrast of what the observer views on the
As the first poem in the book it sums up the primary focus of the works in its exploration of loss, grieving, and recovery. The questions posed about the nature of God become recurring themes in the following sections, especially One and Four. The symbolism includes the image of earthly possessions sprawled out like gangly dolls, a reference possibly meant to bring about a sense of nostalgia which this poem does quite well. The final lines cement the message that this is about loss and life, the idea that once something is lost, it can no longer belong to anyone anymore brings a sense...
...ut illuminating speaking from the start of evolution, to the dawn if civilization, ultimately to the founding of America and the New World. All these discussions lead the writers till today, the bright and golden morning the writer’s eventual destination. The loss of a dreadful, terrible, deplorable past brings us to this bright new glorious morning. The travel to time to nowadays much relates the poem to American history and the current society. The bright new day, the tree planted by the river, the deeply rooted plants in a garden of society, the solid rock where mankind stands now all pins down to the what the poet is trying to express. The stanzas graphically elaborate on the rock, river, and tree. The stanzas have no definite rhythm and no certain pattern. I think that the three main features-tree, rock, river-may affect everyone in some aspects of life.
John Clare’s “The Mouse’s Nest” introduces the setting of the story in the first line, “the hay.” All of the 14 lines have ten syllables; some lines are in iambic pentameter, which contains an unaccented followed by an accented stress. This consistency of the rhyme indicates the steady life of the rural life Clare presents. The “a” sound of the simple words “grass” and “hay” seems to be similar in meaning, which reflects the simplicity of life in this rural environment. The observer’s point of view seems to be close when he sees the ball of grass. But in line 2, he “passed and went away,” indicating a shift in perspective as if there is nothing going on. The assonance of “as” and “passed” highlights the observer’s ignorance, as if his focus is not on the grass ball anymore.