A Literary Essay Sample: Nature and Poems from As Far As I Know

Each of the poems from As Far As I Know seems to be a direct offspring of each other. Somoza has the skills to create meaning to the otherwise meaningless moments. His book is a meticulous and well-crafted piece of poetry, which is demonstrated throughout the book. Most of his work is highly refined and comes out naturally. Furthermore, most of the poems are thematically similar, explaining the same ideas in different contexts. Somoza's poems may contain several themes in common. He carefully chooses his subjects such that even though there are differences in the characters, as well as their environment, the ideas communicated are similar in the poems. He uses clear pictures and maps that connect the reader to his world and feel part of the poetry. The paper will focus on the theme of nature and human affiliation in the following four poems: Waves, After Ma Died, Makeshift and Back.

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In the four poems the theme of nature is evident, he has a unique skill of creating a balance where the significance is non-existent. Comparing him with a poet like Charles Simic, Somoza is perfect for the expression of the non-existent. Simic is more surreal and sardonic as expressed in the poems Mirrors at 4 am and The Old World (Nash and Simic 793). Furthermore, Somoza has a tendency towards physical nature. The two poets are minimalists of words, but Somoza is more effective in explaining the physical nature. For example, he tells about his father in Back as he recalls his childhood. His father is no more, but he still remembers and values him. He remembers about how he changed his course in college to become what he wanted and not what his father wanted him to be. It is accomplished through the use of a flashback. A flashback is also used in After Ma Died. He recalls when he was a child when his mother died, staying in the room playing the piano (the Mozart spinet pieces). The poem, alongside Evolution and From the Dark, is a clear look at his childhood and coming to terms with the past. He explains how the environment was when thinking about his dead ma; the sky is back, inconsistent with its forecast, but soothing in its milkiness under which the doves come and go like small airplanes looking for their ports (Somoza 19-106). Here, there is the use of simile, which helps the reader to appreciate the work and see what was happening.

Various poems talk about nature, but Somoza stands out among the many poets who write about nature through his ability to mention things plainly while at the same time making the reader connect to his world. He does this by presenting a picture of the way things unfold in the various scenes in different places, especially his backyard. In Waves, he explains how the new waves of boys and girls come to the beach, changing the whole look of the beach. The way he ends his poem, new finches kept appearing at the feeder. Sunflower, is a line that is a well-rounded hook that is explaining the nature at his backyard (Somoza 19-106). In Makeshift, Somoza is doing nothing more at his backyard other than sitting and telling about his surroundings; mosquito perfume in his hand, a dog next door. It gives the reader a clear map of what was happening. In Makeshift, he gives life to what surrounds him; The swaying rows of locusts over the cinderblocks, then house quiet until lunchtime and now his work is to reach down and use the experience that he has to give value to his world (Somoza 19-106). The whole scene represents him showing up to work. He uses imagery throughout his work just like other poets such as Ted Hughes in his poem Wind to signify other things and make his poems interesting (Bentley 21). That is seen when he is explaining about nature to create images in the readers head from the concrete details that he uses

As Far As I Know is a collection of poems closely interrelated, with thematic similarities and using specific poetic devices to pass the message. The major themes found in the selected poems are nature, change, and death. Somoza is fond of nature, and most of his poems explain about it, especially while seated at his backyard. The stylistic devices used in the poems are foreshadowing and imagery. Imagery is used to create an image in the readers mind while flashback is used to explain the non-existent.

Works Cited

Bentley, Paul. The Poetry of Ted Hughes: Language, Illusion & Beyond. Routledge, 2014.

Feldman, Daniel. "Poetry in Question: The Interrogative Lyric of Yeats's Major Poems." Partial Answers: Journal of Literature and the History of Ideas, vol. 12, no. 1, 2014, pp. 87-105.

Nash, Susan Smith and Charles Simic. "Walking the Black Cat". World Literature Today, vol 71, no. 4, 1997, p. 793. JSTOR, doi: 10.2307/40153380.

Somoza, Joseph. As Far As I Know. 2015. Print; 19-106.