There is usually more to a poem than its literal meaning. The ideas and values that a writer may want to express can be manifested with the use of metaphors, similes, analogies and even the very structure of a poem. In the poem “Blackberry Picking,” by Seamus Heaney, both the use of the poem’s structure and an extended metaphor regarding blackberries are the tools utilized to convey the writer’s overall meaning. Heaney uses the idea of blackberry picking and the structure of the poem to symbolize one’s journey through life and to accentuate the vanity of greed that develops in one’s life.
The poem’s structure can be likened to the entire life of an individual. The beginning starts with a beautiful picture of late August, featuring heavy rain and sunshine, much like the oscillating tantrums and giggles of a child. The berries are still raw, and need time to mature. As time passes, children grow and the berries of life ripen. They are sweet and cause a delightful mess of “thickened wine.” The very visceral and vivid diction of the poem evokes a raw and ripe reading. Heaney’s use of colors also work with the images to paint a picture of pure, genuine experiences. These could be the times we’ve cried and laughed and screamed. An ice cream in the fall or the smell of candy. An innocent glance at your first crush or the time we all made a fool of ourselves trying to talk to them. The times we’ve loved and lied and lived. It is eating these berries of life that define our lives and who we are. These little moments are the berries that the narrator is picking.
Into adulthood people pursue the pleasures and riches of life without really living during the process, sometimes hurting themselves during their hoarding. This lust for more is perfectly expressed in the midsection of the poem: “Our hands were peppered with thorn pricks,” explains the narrator of the poem, but the quest for the berries continues. Instead of eating and enjoying the berries then and there as they came, the narrator allows greed to guide his or her senses as the tin cans and pans fill and fill with more and more berries. The action is desperate, however, because the berries will rot: “Each year I hoped they'd keep, knew they would not.” Despite the clear and inevitable end, the narrator continues to pick, despite the vanity and despite the fruitlessness. The end of the poem is the end of the individuals life, when their efforts and struggles to obtain the berries is wiped away by the concept of death. It’s a concept that everyone is familiar with and yet no one seems to act upon. The narrator ends up letting life pass by without enjoying the berries, the things that mattered the most, or the simple and delicious pleasures and memories of living.
With such a structure, it can be argued that the reader “lives” through an entire lifetime in one short poem. Heaney does this by using inclusive terms like “our,” and even occasionally writing in the second person. With this effect, Heaney is able to lead the reader through the ups and downs of life at a very fast and overwhelming pace, which actually helps stress the essential brevity of life. At such a fast pace it is possible to notice the gradually developing greed in the narrator’s life, something that isn’t always possible in an entire lifetime that desensitizes the desire for more. This leaves the reader asking themselves “What have I done?” which makes the poem the perfect medium for Heaney to convey his overall message.
Heaney’s smart use of structure in “Blackberry Picking” perfectly resembles the life of a person in their vain endeavor to collect as many blackberries as they can. These “blackberries” range from pleasures to memories, eventually evolving into money and more. It is only at the end of the poem, at the end of one’s life, that one realizes their solemn mistake of hoarding instead of living, and Heaney brilliantly leads the reader through that very same experience.
This essay, written a week after the "Kite Runner" essay, already shows significant signs of improvement. The analysis is stronger and interesting, and tangents or generalizations that are present do not detract from the overall work this time around. Instead, they add far more depth to the analysis, tying larger themes of life into the essay, making it far more than a mere analysis of a poem. The piece is focused, and has one main idea that is supported three times instead of having three broad ideas that are touched on only once. There is a certain element of creativity to this poem, which is hard to come by in analytical works, but it serves Alex's purpose well.
The introduction paragraph is not nearly as dull as the previous essay's, although it is still flimsy when compared to the dense analytical paragraphs. The conclusion (at least there is one this time) seems like a redundancy, not saying anything that is strikingly different or anything that adds to the previous paragraphs. In essence, it serves only the purpose of closing the essay, which is a wasted opportunity.
13 September 2012
There is usually more to a poem than its literal meaning. The ideas and values that a writer may want to express can be manifested with the use of metaphors, similes, analogies and even the very structure of a poem. In the poem “Blackberry Picking,” by Seamus Heaney, both the use of the poem’s structure and an extended metaphor regarding blackberries are the tools utilized to convey the writer’s overall meaning. Heaney uses the idea of blackberry picking and the structure of the poem to symbolize one’s journey through life and to accentuate the vanity of greed that develops in one’s life.
The poem’s structure can be likened to the entire life of an individual. The beginning starts with a beautiful picture of late August, featuring heavy rain and sunshine, much like the oscillating tantrums and giggles of a child. The berries are still raw, and need time to mature. As time passes, children grow and the berries of life ripen. They are sweet and cause a delightful mess of “thickened wine.” The very visceral and vivid diction of the poem evokes a raw and ripe reading. Heaney’s use of colors also work with the images to paint a picture of pure, genuine experiences. These could be the times we’ve cried and laughed and screamed. An ice cream in the fall or the smell of candy. An innocent glance at your first crush or the time we all made a fool of ourselves trying to talk to them. The times we’ve loved and lied and lived. It is eating these berries of life that define our lives and who we are. These little moments are the berries that the narrator is picking.
Into adulthood people pursue the pleasures and riches of life without really living during the process, sometimes hurting themselves during their hoarding. This lust for more is perfectly expressed in the midsection of the poem: “Our hands were peppered with thorn pricks,” explains the narrator of the poem, but the quest for the berries continues. Instead of eating and enjoying the berries then and there as they came, the narrator allows greed to guide his or her senses as the tin cans and pans fill and fill with more and more berries. The action is desperate, however, because the berries will rot: “Each year I hoped they'd keep, knew they would not.” Despite the clear and inevitable end, the narrator continues to pick, despite the vanity and despite the fruitlessness. The end of the poem is the end of the individuals life, when their efforts and struggles to obtain the berries is wiped away by the concept of death. It’s a concept that everyone is familiar with and yet no one seems to act upon. The narrator ends up letting life pass by without enjoying the berries, the things that mattered the most, or the simple and delicious pleasures and memories of living.
With such a structure, it can be argued that the reader “lives” through an entire lifetime in one short poem. Heaney does this by using inclusive terms like “our,” and even occasionally writing in the second person. With this effect, Heaney is able to lead the reader through the ups and downs of life at a very fast and overwhelming pace, which actually helps stress the essential brevity of life. At such a fast pace it is possible to notice the gradually developing greed in the narrator’s life, something that isn’t always possible in an entire lifetime that desensitizes the desire for more. This leaves the reader asking themselves “What have I done?” which makes the poem the perfect medium for Heaney to convey his overall message.
Heaney’s smart use of structure in “Blackberry Picking” perfectly resembles the life of a person in their vain endeavor to collect as many blackberries as they can. These “blackberries” range from pleasures to memories, eventually evolving into money and more. It is only at the end of the poem, at the end of one’s life, that one realizes their solemn mistake of hoarding instead of living, and Heaney brilliantly leads the reader through that very same experience.
This essay, written a week after the "Kite Runner" essay, already shows significant signs of improvement. The analysis is stronger and interesting, and tangents or generalizations that are present do not detract from the overall work this time around. Instead, they add far more depth to the analysis, tying larger themes of life into the essay, making it far more than a mere analysis of a poem. The piece is focused, and has one main idea that is supported three times instead of having three broad ideas that are touched on only once. There is a certain element of creativity to this poem, which is hard to come by in analytical works, but it serves Alex's purpose well.
The introduction paragraph is not nearly as dull as the previous essay's, although it is still flimsy when compared to the dense analytical paragraphs. The conclusion (at least there is one this time) seems like a redundancy, not saying anything that is strikingly different or anything that adds to the previous paragraphs. In essence, it serves only the purpose of closing the essay, which is a wasted opportunity.