Guns

Perhaps the most striking literary device used in "Guns", a poem by W.D. Earhart, is flashback. The story in the poem is told in first person by the narrator, but the most vivid image occurs in the following flashback:

Just eighteen, I killed

          a ten-year-old, I didn't know.

          He spins across the marketplace

          all shattered chest, all eyes and arms. (Ehrhart 21-24)

The poem contains a strong anti-war tone, and the horrific imagery in this scene illustrates the father's disdain for military conflict and weapons as a whole. He cannot stand when those who kill in war "call it love of country (20)". He also describes the gun at the Legion Post as having an "ugly little pointed snout (4)". The anti-war sentiment is further illustrated with the next literary device.

Dialogue is a phenomenal way to reveal relationships, and the main relationship in "Guns" is between the father and his four-year-old daughter. The conversation in quotation marks concerns what kind of gun the father used when he fought in a war. But what is most important is what the father is merely thinking but not saying. He is in a great conflict as to how much to tell his daughter. He knows that war starts out of ignorance, but he does not know how much to tell a girl age four about the horrors of war. This inner conflict is something that plagues perhaps every parent, and this poem excellently shows this conflict.

Peace is an issue that I feel more strongly for than perhaps anything. "Guns" shows war's stark horrors in a simple manner. Despite it's simplicity, "Guns" goes deep with its simple language. It creates a vivid image of a gun pointed toward a school, and I cannot help but think of Columbine. The image of an eighteen-year-old killing a child reminds me of Vietnam and incidents of the war such as the Mai Lai Massacre. In all, "Guns" is a poem with a sad tone, but a tone meaningful and strong enough to stand up to war's atrocities.           

The Fly

The first major literary device used in Karl Shapiro's "The Fly" is simile. There are many instances of similer usage in the poem, and different similes have different meanings in context. Usually, especially near the end, simile is used to enhance the work's imagery. Take the following passage:

Then like Gargantua I stride among
The corpses strewn like raisins in the dust, (Shapiro 41-42)

Examine the word choice. The subject is not just walking among the bodies, he is striding. To further enhance the strong image, the subject is compared to Gargantua, a strong and imposing name. Furthermore, the corpses are compared to raisins, grapes juiceless and lifeless, made dry and lifeless by great portions of time in the hot sun. Dust is synonomous with death, going as far back as Genesis, and it is effectively used in this poem. And as dust forms a cloud that shines in the desert sun, there lies an opportunity to transition to the other prominent literary device.

As indicated by the cliche image of the previous paragraph, the second major literary device used in "The Fly" is imagery. Some of the images are ironic, such as "green, sweet decay (11)" and "inlay maggots like a jewel (16)". Others are simply revolting, such as "imbedded in the amber muck (32)" and "little guts pasty and white (36)". Regardless, the imagery in this work is always strong, and creates a strong environment sometimes horrific and sometimes even hillarious.

Overall, "The Fly" is a well written poem with strong word choice. My own interpretation is that a fly is a pest, and everyone has killed flies before. It is common knowledge how disgusting they can be and how annoying they can be, and the peom through its imagery reveals the reasons for anti-fly discontent among humans. But at the same time, these winged organisms are living creatures, and this poem provides insight into the fly's world, showing the horror of fly traps and the fierceness of a creature multiple times larger and stronger than itself. Looking deeply enough, this can be a metaphor for genocide, as those exterminated in a genocide are considered pests and a hindrance to the progress of the established powers. In any case, it shows an everyday scenario from two different view points, and enrichens it to the point of deep thought and serious consideration.