So - before we go on our analytic discussion - just a basic gist of the poem: Two Ph.D.'s were sent to Venus to conduct some experiments on assorted animals. They find that Venus can support life and report back to the people on Earth who barely seem to care and continue on their nuclear wars with one another. The human race quickly falls, Earth is left a wasteland, and the two Ph.D.'s, with their rapidly growing number of specimens, decide to stay on Venus. They let the animals go and watch as a new world takes birth. Right before they die of old age, they see the first step of the new world's evolution toward human-like society.
First and foremost, the imagery throughout this poem is vibrant. Though Sexton's voice seems nonchalant and frank, the reader can get a crisp feel of "the 2 Ph.D.(s')" and "the loud earth teller(s')" attitudes and feelings. Near the end, the words "hobbled," "empty," and "crying" all depict the sadness in the Ph.D.'s hearts. I could picture in my mind the scene and the expressions on the Ph.D.'s faces. Further up, Sexton's sarcastic tone in lines 27 - 29 illustrates how the people on Earth are so engrossed in their materialistic universes that they don't even notice the weight of the discovery of life in another planet. And when the animals are set free, they seemed eager to start a new life on Venus and away from human destruction. All of the third stanza illustrates this. Anyone else glean other images/tones from the poem?
No comments:
Post a Comment