“I Say I Say I Say”
“I Say I Say I Say” speaks to two audiences namely: “Those in the dark/at the back” and “ Those at the front/in the know, those of us who have, hands up,” The people in the dark comprises those who have by no means had a go suicide whereas “those at the front” refer to the survivors of suicide. The image of ‘lacerated skin’ segregates the two groupings. A survivor would not repudiate his/ her suicidal undertakings, for the marks would refute the denial. “Those as the front” are factual lessons for the people who could be envisaging suicide. Accordingly, it is noteworthy for the survivors to confess their suicide-related accounts.
“I Am Very Bothered”
“I Am Very Bothered” makes the most of the Cause-Effect Structure. The first stanza pronounces the cause which takes account of the speaker’s deed: “I held a pair of scissors by the blades/and played the handles/in the naked lilac flame of the Bunsen burner;/then called your name, and handed them over.” The effect follows in the second stanza whereby, “ the unrivalled stench of branded skin/as you slipped your thumb and middle finger in,/then couldn't shake off the two burning rings.” The outcome is detrimental because it triggered a wrenching injury on the addressee’s fingers. The effect is irremediable; nevertheless, the speaker’s penitence could help him to bargain for closure. Besides, the speaker’s anxiety is another end-product of the childhood deed which can be diminished through the addressee’s pardon.
“Poem”
“Poem” is an ideal sample for New Criticism. The man’s paradoxical engagements trigger tension in “Poem.” The man portrays constructive and destructive traits. For example, cleaning up snow, nurturing his daughter, saving tendencies, tipping inclinations, and striking the wife, contracting a nurse for his mother, and taxing his mother to church are praiseworthy conducts. Comparatively, hitting the wife and stealing from his mother are uncommendable activities. As a result of the conflicting actions, a tension surfaces, one which makes it impractical to look at the man as a picture-perfect being.
