Poetry Explication of James Wright’s Poem“Lying in a Hammock on William’s Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota”
...en anything. Everything he says symbolizes something, There is no stopping the symbolism. In the first, second and third stanzas, he states, 1 Over my head, I see the bronze butterfly, 2 Asleep on the black trunk, 3 Blowing like a leaf in green shadow. The bronze butterfly asleep symbolizes something being dead to the world but, only for a short time. When the butterfly sleeps and blows like a leaf in green shadow, that lets us know that it had no more durability then a leaf. Life indeed is short-lived on earth but you will live in another world soon. Death represents the color green. Green is a nature color. Nature represents knowing the influence of nature and its lifelessness. In stanzas seven, eight, nine, and ten it says, 7 To my right, 8 In a field of sunlight between two pines, 9 The droppings of last year’s horses 10 Blaze up into golden stones. The sunlight can represent him coming into the light. The droppings ands its new golden feature represents two things. It represents change for one. The droppings use to be brown and smelly but, now they have changed and have a golden shine to it. The man might be scared of change. It also represents a memorial. The horse left something behind. The droppings are memorials of them so we can remember them. The man might want us to remember him when he is gone. He might leave something behind. In stanzas eleven, twelve, and thirteen it states, 11 I lean back, as the evening darkens and comes on. 12 A chicken hawk floats over, looking for home, 13 I have wasted my life. He leans back and sees the darken sky. The dark sky represents the end of life. The chicken hawk floating away represents finding home to that safe place in unconsciousness. He is now free from the world. No more hurt. Finally he talks about how he has wasted his life. After examining nature he realizes that his life is wasted and is about to end. So far Wright used metaphors, and symbolism; finally Wright uses similes, and personification. There are no many similes, and personification examples in the ...