ENG-215 HW#6

1. The Word Plum by Helen Chasin had the strongest effect on me of the poems we read. I liked the economy of words used. Words were used to describe not just by their literal meaning, but by the feelings inspired by the words, by the types of sounds the words make when spoken out loud, and by the length of the lines and how they affect the meter when read aloud. The poem describes a plum and the act of eating and savoring a plum, but it also describes the word plum, what feelings the collection of sounds that make up the word bring up. It suggests, convincingly, that the word plum is perfectly suited for the fruit it describes. The word, small like a plum itself, has a puckered p sound, a lush, tongue on back of teeth l sound, and a savory um sound like the mmm sound we make to describe something that tastes good. Even the look of the body of the poem on paper resembles a plum. Small, almost circular, with a couple large chunks missing from the bottom, possibly from a bite taken. 2. The poem uses rhyme, repetition and alliteration to contribute to the tone. Rhyme is used in a non-traditional manner for poetry. The last words of the second, fourth, fifth and sixth lines of each stanza rhyme. So do the last word of the first part of the third line, the last word of the second part of the third line, and the last word of the first part of the fourth line, as do the last word of the first part of the first line and the last word of the second part of the first line.

Repetition is used throughout the poem. There is repetition of a single word at the end of the fourth and fifth line of every stanza and repetition of certain words across each stanza like nevermore (48,54,60,66,72,78,84,90,96,102,108), Lenore (10,11,28,29,82,83,94,95), door (4,5,16,17,22,23,41,42,52,53,68,100,101), and other words ending in the ore sound. Alliteration is used frequently in phrases like nodded, nearly napping (3), surcease of sorrow (10), doubting, dreaming dreams (26), and tempest tossed thee (86). 3. The speaker is distraught over his lost love, probably sleep-deprived, afraid, and a little paranoid. When he peers into the darkness, initially, he expects to see a visitor. As he continues to look, seeing nothing, he seems to expect something impossible, most likely his lost Lenore. He both dreams of and fears seeing her, probably because Lenore is dead, though it is not explicitly stated that she is dead, only lost to the speaker. 4. The speaker seems to become more frustrated and hopeless as the poem goes on. He seems deeply depressed and desperate to feel better. The poem is moving because the speaker tries and tries to lift himself out of his misery, but just cant do it. I feel pity for the speaker because he is so despondent. I have felt grief and frustration over a lost loved one, but thankfully never to the degree that the speaker did.