The poem I chose to analyze, Hanging Fire, is separated into three stanzas and has 35 lines. The poem as a whole seems to be about a 14-year-old girl who is worried about dying early. In each stanza shes says something like "what if I die before" or "suppose I die before." As you read through the poem, she seems to be the average teenager girl: saying she has nothing to wear tomorrow, saying she doesn't like her skin (since she is a teenager, this phrase made me visualize acne on skin), and that she doesn't want to wear braces. This poem also has quite of few line breaks, and all of them are caesuras. This seems to emphasize the phrase right after the line break and makes a new possible way to interpret the poem.
The poem has more repetition than just her worrying about dying early. The last 2 lines of each stanza say "and momma's in the bedroom with the door closed." This could mean many things, but one that struck me was perhaps her mom is never there for her like a mom should. The closed door could represent her not caring, and the repetition could mean that she never does. Throughout the poem, she complains a lot about things about herself or her life like "why do I have to be the one wearing braces." The way she says "the one" could mean that she has a sibling that doesn't have to have braces. Like most poems, this one seems like just some words until you try to figure out what it means, and find out it can be deep on varying levels.
The poem has more repetition than just her worrying about dying early. The last 2 lines of each stanza say "and momma's in the bedroom with the door closed." This could mean many things, but one that struck me was perhaps her mom is never there for her like a mom should. The closed door could represent her not caring, and the repetition could mean that she never does. Throughout the poem, she complains a lot about things about herself or her life like "why do I have to be the one wearing braces." The way she says "the one" could mean that she has a sibling that doesn't have to have braces. Like most poems, this one seems like just some words until you try to figure out what it means, and find out it can be deep on varying levels.
I like this post a lot Noah, and I think it is great. I like the detail you put into it and how well formed these two paragraphs. Also, I like the word choice and the fluency of this post. So, very good post.
ReplyDeleteNoah, I thinky ou mean "enjambed" instead of "caesura" here. Good analysis of the patterns you notice - keep working on finding more and developing your discussion more.
ReplyDeleteI think that the line that mentions that her skin has betrayed her refers to her being of colored skin because this is one of the recurring things in Audre Lorde's poetry and the author is African American. Also this poem is also set in a time when there was a fight for colored rights.
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