Analysis of two poems

¶ … Anecdote of the Jar" by Wallace Stevens

The poem "Anecdote of the Jar" by Wallace Stevens has a trochaic rhythmical pattern, illustrated by the predominance of long stresses of words at the start of the lines of the poem. The combination of long, stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable is highlighted in the lines, "And round it was, upon a hill." The stress on the word "round" at the beginning of the line marks is complemented trochaically (after) by the words "upon" and "hill," unstressed syllables at the end of the exemplified line from the poem. As such, having a trochaic rhythmical pattern, the poem has a two-syllable foot, where the stressed syllable with the combination of the two unstressed syllables mentioned earlier make up the meter of Stevens' poem. The poem is also filled with caesurae, as demonstrated by the use of periods (end-stopping) twice within a stanza, or once within two lines.

In Rita Dove's "Daystar," initial rhymes were utilized, wherein rhymes occur in the first word or syllable of the line. This is exemplified in following lines from the poem: "pouting from the top of the stairs...out back with the field mice?..." Internal rhymes also proliferate the poem, wherein there is a presence of rhyming word within a line. An example of this is line 11 of the poem, stating, "...she'd see only her own vivid blood," a line that highlights how "only" and "own" were utilized to create emphasis not only of the words, but also the sense or meaning of the poem Dove wants to convey. Apart from initial and internal rhyming, the poem also utilizes alliteration, which highlights words containing the same consonant sound. This is exemplified in line 6, which states, "Sometimes there were things to watch," a form of repetition that creates continuous movement of the poem despite its lack of the conventional rhyming schemes prevalent among poems.

The Anecdote of the Jar" is a poem that depicts human history in a symbolic manner, using the symbol of a jar to signify the early beginnings of human society. In it, Stevens demonstrates how social progress was preceded and by rustic and natural living, which the jar exemplifies. The jar as a symbol carries with it significant meanings for the poem: as one of the earlier works of ancient human culture, the jar became the tool through which humans lived (as a tool for gathering food) and died (serving as an urn for the remains of the dead). Apart from symbolism, Stevens also used colorful imagery to demonstrate the progress of human society from being nomadic to being sedentary and progressive. The use of the words "roundness," "wilderness," "gray," and "bare" are effective words through which ancient human life is illustrated. Similarly, the progress of human civilization through time is depicted in the phrases, "wilderness rose up," "no longer wild," "tall and of a port in air," and "took dominion everywhere."