Poetry Essay #2

Poetry Essay #2:

In June, amid the golden fields,
I saw a groundhog lying dead.
Dead lay he; my senses shook,
And mind outshot our naked frailty.

There lowly in the vigorous summer
His form began its senseless change,
And made my senses waver dim
Seeing nature ferocious in him.

Inspecting close maggots' might
And seething cauldron of his being,   
Half with loathing, half with a strange love,
I poked him with an angry stick.

The fever arose, became a flame
And Vigour circumscribed the skies,
Immense energy in the sun,                   
And through my frame a sunless trembling.

My stick had done nor good nor harm.
Then stood I silent in the day
Watching the object, as before;
And kept my reverence for knowledge         

Trying for control, to be still,
To quell the passion of the blood;
Until I had bent down on my knees
Praying for joy in the sight of decay.

And so I left; and I returned                     
In Autumn strict of eye, to see
The sap gone out of the groundhog,
But the bony sodden hulk remained

But the year had lost its meaning,
And in intellectual chains                                                 
I lost both love and loathing,
Mured up in the wall of wisdom.

Another summer took the fields again
Massive and burning, full of life,
But when I chanced upon the spot             
There was only a little hair left,

And bones bleaching in the sunlight
Beautiful as architecture;
I watched them like a geometer,
And cut a walking stick from a birch.

It has been three years, now.
There is no sign of the groundhog.
I stood there in the whirling summer,
My hand capped a withered heart,

And thought of China and of Greece,         
Of Alexander in his tent;
Of Montaigne in his tower,
Of Saint Theresa in her wild lament.

1982 Poem: “The Groundhog” (Richard Eberhart)

Prompt: Write an essay in which you analyze how the language of the poem reflects the changing perceptions and emotions of the speaker as he considers the metamorphosis of the dead groundhog. Develop your essay with specific references to the text of the poem.

 

 Poetry Essay #2

                            Transitional shifts in tone and perspective are very necessary to the power of poetry. In the poem "The Groundhog" by Richard Eberhart, the shift can be found through the speaker's mental and physical transition in the middle of the poem. The groundhog, once seen as rotten and disturbing, is now seen as in the vast circle of life. Peace is found through the years that the poem sifts through, and this can be seen through the language difference before and after the shift in the poem. The poem starts off very somber with grotesque and unsure language, jumps to self reflection right before the shiftt with a pause, and then shifts to a very free flowing second half which embraces nature for what it is. 

 

                            The poem's language starts off very uneasy and fearful. The imagery in the first few stanzas paints a bleak picture with words such as "dead", "frailty", and "maggots". This shows the first reaction to seeing the dead groundhog. The narrator becomes unable to think clearly, emphasizing on his or her system shock. They tell every emotion concretely, and do not let their thoughts flow at this point. The uneasiness can be seen through the use of the words "naked", "senseless", and "trembling". These points of uncertainty and fear set the stage for changing emotions, and this emotional stage for the narrator sets the stage for the theme of the poem to shine through.

                          

                            Right before the shift in the narrator's perspective, he enters a brief period of deep thought. This period starts at the line "My stick had done nor good nor harm." and ends with "Mured up in the wall of wisdom." Sadness turns to indifference in this time, with the second viewing of the groundhog. Here the diction changes to using very calm words and adjectives for the tone. The words "quell", "control", and "wisdom" all convey this new perspective. The middle of the road attitude is also seen through the use of antonyms when his feelings are described, such as, "I lost both love and loathing.". This leads up to the shift in which the speaker changes their perspective once more.

 

                           At the shift, the narrator's attitude drastically changes from indifferent to accepting and joyful. The dead groundhog is all but gone, and in its place is a beautifully described scene. In juxtaposition with the previously dead groundhog corpse, the setting is now "Massive and burning, full of life". The use of the word life contrasts with the the use of the word dead in the first stanza, and shows a concrete change in viewpoint. Instead of emotions being described, the narrator focuses on the scene before him, showing his acceptance of nature, and his inner peace.

                          The groundhog offered a medium that the narrator's change in mentality could be shared through. The tone, diction, and psychology of the situation changed throughout the poem in accordance with the narrator. The narrator's final peace can be seen through the allusions used in the last stanza. It relates each individual to where they found their peace at, and the narrator found theirs in nature.