The poem Subterfuge by Vassar Miller is about a father who feels somewhat overwhelmed by his special needs daughter so he buys her a typewriter to help distract her throughout the day. The speaker describes the situation as if the daughter is always in the way of her dad to the point where it is considered his daughter’s life is a burden for him. However, the father doesn’t act or do anything to prove his frustration with his daughter’s disability. The poem starts off with her father walking in from gathering wood then begins to describe the daughter and her enjoyment with typing on the typewriter. The poem then explains the terrible favor life has done for the father and exposes the idea of running away from his life. The first sentence however …show more content…
leads you to believe that the father had left sometime in the kids’ childhood because the girl said, “I remember my father, slight.” The poem’s subject based on this observation would best be stated as, a distraction from life can put your whole mind at ease and can help you forget about all the stresses in this world. Subterfuge is chock full of figures of speech, connotative meanings, and sentences that are rhythmically sound. Which helps make the poem extremely compelling. The first sentence to this poem displays an image that pops out of the page as the author says, “staggering in with his Underwood, bearing it in his arms like an awkward bouquet.” This sentence just puts a perfect visual in the reader’s head and allows an association with the nerves from prom night from a boy who is awkwardly standing with a bouquet of roses for his date. This metaphor is a perfect example of the use of imagery and figure of speech used in the poem. Another metaphorical image used in the poem can be seen when the author said, “Pecks at the keys with a sparrow’s preoccupation.” The daughter is so amused and distracted from her new toy as she presses the keys in a pecking fashion that resembles the consistent movement and desire from a sparrow trying to capture his meal. The girl remains distracted from this contraption throughout the poem as her father works and gathers wood. The father’s annoyance is only described by the speaker who so happens to be the father’s other child. This other child who is also the speaker goes on to explain how the girl, “does her childhood backward as children do, her fun a delaying action against what she knows.” This means that the girl seems to not be experiencing her childhood as other kids do and that her disability is making her essentially live her life backwards as opposed to normal.
The speaker then proceeds to think that her father must abandon the girl, “my father must lose her.” but knows the father would have a hard time doing so, “his runaway on a treadmill.” Meaning no matter how far away he ran he will always be in the same place with the same issues. This distraction he places on himself like going out to get wood and the distraction he places on his daughter is the best example of the subject to this poem. That no matter how far you run away your problem that it will always be there with you and the only way to put up with that problem is to distract yourself from it. Subterfuge means, a deception used to achieve or obtain something desired. The author used this word for the title because it best describes what the father is doing in the poem. He is distracting his daughter from her disability and her doubt in herself. In the fourth paragraph you can see an amazing sound structure as the poet says, “falling by chance on rhyme, novel and curious bubble blown with …show more content…
a magic pipe, she tries them over and over, spellbound by life’s clashing in accord or against itself.” This beautiful sentence is a combination between connotative meaning and sound symbolism. The connotative aspect derives from the line, “falling by chance on rhyme, novel and curious bubble blown with a magic pipe.” As the meaning to this line is not clear therefore it is up to the reader to decide on the interpretation of the meaning that best suits them and their understanding of the poems subject.
Personally I interpret this line to be describing the girl’s desire to type nonsense regardless if it’s just nonsense she distracts herself by falling into a trance of curiosity as she types random characters onto paper that resemble her thoughts, “curious bubble blown with a magic pipe.” bubble blown as in thought bubble created from a magic source which is her imagination. Not only does this line contain connotative meaning behind it but it also has a nice rhythm and tone to it. The tone and sound throughout this poem is created by the use of several figures of speech. Alliteration is one and can be seen in the words, “bubble blown,” and, “pretending pretense.” The use of alliteration help entice the reader and also creates a certain rhythmic tone to the poem. The next use of figure of speech is similes. This poem is full of them. In almost every paragraph there is a simile. The first use of a simile is in the line, “bearing it in his arms like an awkward bouquet.” Describing how the speaker’s father looked like walking in the front door with a pile of wood in his arms. Another simile is when the author is describing the girl’s interaction with the typewriter, “pecks at the keys with a
sparrow’s preoccupation.” In conclusion, the author illiterates the idea of hardship brought upon a parent whose child has special needs. The subject of this poem is that distraction is key when it comes to dealing with something that can appear as an issue and can never go away. The fact that the poem is titled subterfuge helps with my idea of the subject to this poem. Also, another key indicator that proves this to be an accurate subject is the poem’s final line, “as she toils at tomorrow, tensed at her makeshift toy.” Meaning that the girl feels trapped in this endless and helpless feeling cycle that will just start again the next day and so her dad helps combat this feeling by distracting her with her new, “makeshift toy.”
The poem is written in the father’s point of view; this gives insight of the father’s character and
The poem begins with the speaker, the daughter, describing how the sky “has been dark for many years,” giving the poem a dark and murky mood. She compares her own skin to her mothers, pale from the lack of sunlight, realizing that her body is beginning to change just as her mothers did as she grew old. The realization worries her, as she secretly longs for freedom from the chore of taking care of her aging mother. But
Formally, the poem has thirteen short lines with different numbers of syllables and accents. The poem is unrhymed but engages such alliterations as “flat farm feet” (2) / “furrows” (3), “soil has seen” (10), and “weep for the waste” (12). All of the alliterated sounds are voiceless, which projects the current situation of the girls. The thirteen breath units of the poem divide into two clear sentences. With no stanza break in the poem, these sentences establish the language of the drama.
The author of the poem relies a multiple combination of uses of figurative language including using alliteration, assonance, and usage of parallel structure. Alliteration was presented multiple times through the poem, with the usage of musical rhythm and the flow of the overall writing. The usage of alliteration made every stanza stand out to create a flow with reading the poem. The first type of alliteration that is present in the poem is the repeated sounds in the beginning
Perhaps among the most personal of subject matter, the relationship of the family unit has been explored at great lengths in confessional poetry. Reputable confessional poet Robert Lowell explored the idea of fatherhood while struggling with mental illness. Lowell wrote of a pain to which many readers could relate. Going through a separation and divorce, Lowell felt vulnerable and this was especially evident in his writings about his daughter. The vulnerability experienced by Lowell at this time appears to grow with each poem, and he seems to develop a fixation on the relationship he shares with his daughter and, in particular, the rift between them. While initially making comparisons between himself and his daughter in infancy in the first poem of For Lizzie and Harriet, (such as both of them being wearied by the passage of time), he appears to further unravel in The Hard Way, feeling more alone as his daughter reaches an age associated with self-sufficiency and rebellion. By this point in the collection of poems, it appears Lowell has become more concerned with the idea of mortality, both his own and his daughter’s. It seems as if he is at a loss as to how to close the gap between the two of them, and so, offers her the best advice he believes he can. “Don’t hate your parents, or your children will hire unknown men to bury you at your own cost.” (Lowell, 2003) This is almost a plea to his daughter. It highlights how deeply concerned he is about the distance between them. While it does seem that Lowell holds an austere view of adolescence, it also appears that his genuine attempt to impart some wisdom to his daughter is one made as a result of some emotional growth. The reader is presented with a powerful image of a man who i...
However, by the end of the poem it is his father who needs help from
At times, a parataxis of a certain character in one part of the poem help explain
Poetry is an art for literature that is written or can be spoken in a rhythmical way for the reader or listener(s) to experience many thoughts and emotions while reading a particular poem. However, if a reader wants to comprehend that certain poem, then, there are the elements of the poems that offer the reader a better understanding or also known as the Figures of Speech. The elements or figures of speech can include metonymy, synecdoche, paradox, puns, and in this particular passage, we will discuss personification, metaphor and simile. Of course, in order to learn more about personification, metaphor and simile precisely, we shall take a look at two poems by two poets by the name of James Joyce and Ted Kooser. Those
... end of the poem as if he is speaking to his father, attempting to let him know that even though he tried to be the man he thought he should be, and most likely imposed that attitude on his son, they were more alike than his father would ever understand.
The poem comprises of four stanzas, five lines each containing a lot of visual imagery which is appropriate for a poem inspired by a
The poem starts with the daughter. She comes home from school crying after being taunted by classmates about her clothing. (This has its own irony. No parent expects to dress their child in a way that results in them being teased). The father lists his daughter’s desirable qualities: “A decent child, lovely, bright, considerate” (6). The daughter’s valuable attributes are not enough
common theme seen throughout literature. A father’s role in shaping his son is both impactful
In the first section of the poem, it gives a brief introduction of the personal connection. The poem states, “When I taught you at eight to ride a bicycle, loping along beside you as you wobbled away on two round wheels my own mouth rounding in surprise when you pulled ahead down the curved path of the park,”. In the beginning of a daughter’s life, they depend on their parents for everything since they cannot behave alone. Most parents enjoy this feeling and have a hard time letting it go as the daughter grows older. As the child grows and learns to do new things the parents become proud, but eventually they realize this means they are becoming more and more independent.
To begin, the poem, “Eve’s Apology,” uses many different poetic devices such as alliteration, assonance, rhyme scheme, and simile. The author uses a great number of alliteration, which is the repetition of constant sounds generally at the beginnings of words. Alliteration can be seen in the words “what” and “weakness” in line 3. Some more examples of alliteration throughout the poem are “subtle serpent’s” (23), “he had him” (24), and “with words which” (30). Assonance, the repetition of the same or similar vowel sounds in stressed syllables that end with different consonant sounds, is another poetic device that the author uses greatly. Some examples of assonance are found in lines 10 “ The ‘p...
Similarly to the use of alliteration, the author utilizes his confusion through rhetorical questions, repetition and rhyme schemes. The second ...