Charles Simic: Poetry Literary Elements

'The Initiate,' is written from a first person retrospective and reflective perspective, from the point of view of a 'blind child.' It is almost like a Bildungsroman, yet significantly differs in that the child does not seem to have the typical childhood experience.

'Wherein Obscurely' takes the form of four regular quatrains. The rhythm is fairly regular in style but it is not always regular in feet. This poem is unrhymed, yet flows due to the use of enjambment and limited caesura.

In 'My Shoes,' the metaphor, 'two gaping toothless mouths,' is used to describe a pair of shoes. It reveals the shape and perhaps the enveloping nature of these shoes for the speaker, as they seem to consume their life.

In 'Pocket Theatre,' the simile, 'The fingers when they strip are like bewitching nude bathers or the fake wooden limbs in a cripple factory' is used. These two rather different descriptions of a pick-pockets fingers do present unpleasant connotations regarding their behaviour. 'Nude bathers,' are provocative and the adjective, 'bewitching,' reveals their ability to take over a person for their own advantage, as a pickpocket can distract their victim in order to discreetly take their money. However, 'fake wooden limbs in a cripple factory,' indicate a use of sympathy and deception to take people's money, but this is a less appealing or amusing simile to most, if not all.

The sibilance of, 'stirs the shrimp on the stove,' in, 'Crazy About Her Shrimp,' allows the reader to hear the sound of the shrimp being stirred and the food cooked.
The alliteration of 'O crows circling over my head and cawing!' in the poem, 'Heights of Folly,' emphasises the noise of the birds and the circular, repetitive motion they fly in.

The alliteration in 'A Book Full Of Pictures in the last line, 'With my heart spiked and bleeding in its branches,' creates a tone of sadness and an image of dripping blood, emphasising the horror of this image, portrayed by a child.
The assonance in 'And four small wheels / Under his feet,' in Simic's poem, 'The Wooden Toy,' emphasises the intricacies of this toy and how it works and moves.

Ironically in 'Empire of Dreams,' the speaker will go and stand where they are not meant to, disobeying those in authority, but they are, 'afraid to put on,' the 'kind of Halloween mask,' they have, which seems trivial in comparison when considering occupying forces.

'This Morning,' is a reflective poem and a narrative.

'The Partial Explanation,' takes place as it is getting dark in a 'grimy little luncheonette.'

The tone of, 'My Shoes,' is sinister and disturbing, whilst strangely intriguing and worrying.

In 'The School of Metaphysics,' the unnamed speaker is the protagonist, whilst the 'Executioner,' appears to be the antagonist.

There is major conflict presented in two ways within the poem, 'Paradise Motel.' Firstly, there has evidently been conflict in a war-like capacity, as, 'millions are dead.' However there is also a conflict between the statements 'everybody was innocent,' and 'The President / Spoke of war as of a magic love potion, and the overall tone of the poem, which seems to question these statements through a satirical tone throughout. It also critiques the conflict between a person's perception and reception of reality and ability to switch it off momentarily or at least remove it from their radar.

The climax of 'Private Eye,' is at the end of the poem, when the tone changes from purely intellectual to violent and forceful as the investigator lies sarcastically, 'That's just little old me sweating / In the customer's chair, I'll say.' His forceful and determined attitude is emphasised in, 'I'm not closing up till he breaks,' which heightens the tension and drama of the poem right at the end.

In the poem, 'The School of Metaphysics,' the 'Executioner,' keeps appearing and explaining 'his wristwatch,' which foreshadows the end of the poem, when there is no time and this person tries to make the speaker understand. This shows the need to listen to advice and information when it is given.

The lines, 'The dog got the stick and looked back at us. / And that was the whole show,' in 'Country Fair,' are an understatement, as the real message of this poem is critiquing the treatment of and irregular fascination with things that are strange. The man kissing the drunk woman before this line is a sub-plot, that has a story to continue, whilst the show will continue on many more times most likely. Therefore, 'that was the whole show,' is understating the reality of life and the continuance of what has been described.

In 'The Immortal,' Simic alludes to 'lost arctic voyagers,' which may refer to a historical expedition gone wrong. In 'A Book Full Of Pictures,' there are allusions to stereotypical and historical stories about 'dead kings and queens.' Finally, in the poem, 'On this Very Street in Belgrade,' the title and the destroyed house may be allusions to bombings and shelling in Belgrade during the First and Second World Wars, and possibly the occupation of Belgrade.

In 'Paradise Motel,' the 'President,' represents the ideas of the American Government, and possibly many American people regarding war, and so the poem is relevant to all. The speaker also represents the common man and their tendency to ignore reality.

In 'Autumn Sky,' the sentence, 'The stars know everything, / so we try to read their minds,' is personifying the celestial stars as omniscient to a certain extent, with a knowledge of the world that is desired. They are able to hear and take in all that is heard, even the very whispers on earth below, according to this poem.

The phrase, 'with that night moth's terror for company,' seems like hyperbole in, 'The Oldest Child,' to mock the fear of the dark and night which cripples Prometheus.

The onomatopoeia of, 'Psst,' and the sibilance before in, 'silent,' complimented by after it with, 'someone said behind my back,' also an example of alliteration, creating tension and suspense, whilst send shivers up the readers spine, as the feel these whispers themselves behind them. This onomatopoeia is in the poem, 'The Wooden Toy.'