The Snow Man

      This poem by Wallace Stevens is very descriptive and visual.  To do this he uses a lot of imagery.  Stevens says, "Spruces rough in the distant glitter,"  This allows the reader to easily see what he is talking about especially if you are familiar with this winter setting.  There is also personification to help the reader see the visual aspects of this poem.  "Of any misery in the sound of the wind," says Stevens.  Giving that human emotion of misery to the sound of the wind helps to imagine what it is like to be there.  This poem is easier to understand as long as the reader has lived or visited a place which has this cold, winter look and feel to it.  If a person has never seen anything like it, it may be more difficult to picture.  Stevens has a very strong emphasis in using imagery and personification for the reader to see what is in the poem.

The Possibility

            This is a poem that seems to talk about a few different subjects but ties them all together.  James Fenton uses personification, similes, and rhyming in this poem.  His use of personification is more subtle that it is often seen in other poems.  Fenton used it while talking about the lizard, "engrossed," and "telling," are some of the words he used to describe the actions of the lizard.  To use a simile he says, "It opened like a crimson hand," while talking about the flower.  Lastly he uses rhyming throughout.  Words such as, "wood, good, be, me, strong and wrong," are all used effectively because they have the rhyming sound to them while still adding to the poem and this still gets his point across.