The Blue Bowl

The poem, “The Blue Bowl,” by Jane Kenyon, Kenyon expresses grief over her cat who had passed. Kenyon writes about her cat using imagery and similes. By using these devices, Kenyon creates a somewhat dark, but sad tone for the reader. She expresses grief using imagery when Kenyon describes the “long red fur” and “white feathers between the toes” of the cat as they bury it. Kenyon also uses similes such as, “like primitives we buried the cat” to describe the pain she felt while burying the cat.  Kenyon also used a sound device when she wrote, “they fell with a hiss and a thud on his side.” This creates a sudden, darker tone for the poem as she writes in the sound the dirt made as it fell onto the cat. Kenyon was able to create a grieving tone in her poem by creating images out of similes and sound devices.

The Summer I was Sixteen Precise

In the poem,  “The Summer I was Sixteen,” by Geraldine Connolly, Connolly writes in a reflective manner. In the poem, Connolly uses imagery and metaphors when creating vivid images of her summer when she was sixteen. Connolly looks back on her summer by throwing in detailed imagery when she says, “the turquoise pool” and the slide a “silver afterthought.” Connolly also uses the sense of hearing when she says they had danced to the “low beat of Duke of Earl.”  Connolly further reflects her summer eagerly when she uses metaphors and similes such as “cotton candy torches” that were “sweet as furtive kisses.” By using her many literary devices, Connolly was able to create imagery and metaphors in order to reflect on her sixteenth summer.