Tony Hoagland

Retaining Innocence
In Tony Hoagland’s poem “Please Don’t,” he personifies nature to fully understand the naïve lives of them and the emotions that go along with them being sheltering. The poem takes place in the springtime when the flowers have all merely bloomed. A narrator, from afar, shares the description to the audience. In the second and third stanza, he talks about the relations between different aspects nature, in this case “about the rain, the fog, the dew” and how, in return, the flowers “lose control of themselves” (5, 8). In the following stanzas, the narrator describes the “chemistry of mitochondrial explosion” that is necessary for the survival of these “solar-powered” flowers (17, 13). Finally, the narrator talks about the detrimental

situations the flowers could possibly encounter in their lives. Along with this, he asks what the benefits would be, if the flowers are told of these circumstances. In this poem, Tony Hoagland gives insight to innocence and why children’s innocence requires vigilant protection when they are young.
Hoagland uses three key pieces of imagery because they allow the audience to fully understand the young age of the flowers and what the nightmare-like instances look like from their point of view.

This imagery is evident in the middle of the poem when the narrator eloquently describes how the flowers are “drawing nourishment up” (14). “With their pale albino roots” they pull nutrients out of the ground (22). This nutrients travels up the flower by capillary action “into their/ thin green skin” (15-16). These examples of visual imagery prove that the flowers are still growing, and are not yet adults. In the time of infancy, innocence is implemented most because it allows the children to not worry about the effects of the destructive scenarios. Next, the “human beings with boots/who stop to marvel” gives visual and auditory imagery that explains a possible peril the flowers could encounter (28-29). As humans, we see walking among nature a valuable part of life, for we are able to connect with the outdoor environments around us. However, the flowers and nature see this act as a terrifying circumstance, because for them it could be their end. This shows why scenarios that humans see as beneficial are sheltered from the young flowers, for the situations make the children fearful of the future and this anxiety does not enhance their

life.
Two key phrases of personification and one metaphor are utilized to humanize the flowers because it makes one feel sympathetic toward them.

The growing flowers are said to be “all Dizzy/ Gillespie with the utter/ sufficiency of everything” (23-25). This metaphor uses the flowers as a tenor and Dizzy Gillespie as the vehicle. Dizzy Gillespie was a phenomenal trumpeter in the twentieth century, who invented be-bop and brought it to popularity among the musical community. While performing he was always fully present with sound and personality. This metaphor explains how the flowers have everything sufficiently present to become successful plants. The most used figurative language in this poem is the act of personifying nature, where the vehicle of the metaphor is human characteristics. This is evident through “The grass is under the same/ simple-minded impression,” with the grass being the tenor (3-4). The mindset of the grass shows that it has not been exposed to the complex nature of reality. This is beneficial for “it feels so good” for them to be in the world with innocence, rather than living in an unsheltered world, which could lead to worries about events to come (7). Next, “They don’t imagine lawn/ mowers, the four stomachs/ of the cows” (26-28). As the flowers think of these circumstances, it makes one think of them as living, breathing creatures rather than concrete objects. As the flowers imagine this detrimental event, it shows that they have fears just as

children do.
The tone of the poem shifts from one of contentment to one of dreadfulness after the narrator describes the flowers as having a “hallucination of happiness” (33). The quote explains how the happiness, in the beginning of life, is actually created by the act of being sheltered. Without this sheltering they would no longer be content. From that point on, the narrator explains the scenarios of death the flowers may encounter, and the anguish that goes along with them. The title “Please Don’t,” is the plea of retaining innocence that the poet is trying to make. He wants the flowers not to be told about the terrifying world and the inevitable. “Not yet. Tell me/ what you would possibly gain/ from being right?” (35-37). This explains how the inevitable will come, but exposing the young to the world leads to anxiety, instead of enjoying life. To conclude, Tony Hoagland explains through his poem “Please Don't,” that innocence is a key part of childhood because the sheltering provides many benefits that the full truth simply cannot.