"On Reading Poems to a Senior Class at South High"-D.C. Berry #203

While some may seem to be oblivious and ignorant to the potential of impacts of poetry, the sharing of literature can yield surprising results, as shown through "On Reading Poems to a Senior Class at South High."

Just by reading the title of the poem, much can be assumed about the speaker. The speaker of the poem is someone reading poems to a senior class. The word "a" in the title as opposed to "the" or "my" implies that the speaker does not belong to the class. It can also be inferred that the speaker is a guest to the school, as opposed to a teacher from the lines: "They went to another class/ I suppose and I home" (lines 24-25). A teacher would most likely have another class to teach and would not go home in the middle of a school day. Sine the speaker is a guest, it can be assumed that this person is an expert regarding poetry.

By referring to the class as "frozen fish" in the first stanza, the speaker uses simile to highlight what he assumes is there disinterest in poetry. The speaker is forming opinions of them and anticipating their lack of enthusiasm ( "Before / I open my mouth" (lines 1-2)). By saying the word "Before," the speaker is giving a time frame in relation to when he began to speak, indicating that a change will occur once he opened his mouth.

There is no rhyme scheme in this poem, making the poem seem very conversational, as though the speaker is speaking casually to the reader. This mood makes it seem as though the speaker is trying to teach a lesson, while retelling a particular scenario. This poem is in free verse, however the stanzas increase in fluidity (the number of syllables per line), until the fifth stanza when the climax of the poem ( stanza 4) is over and the fluidity begins to decrease. This increase and decrease mirrors the water, and thus the inspiration, that flows in and out of the room.

This poem itself is an analogy. The water is symbolic of the inspiration and understanding that results frompoetry. One can immerse themselves in water, just as they can immerse themselves into the "depths ofpoetry." If one simply looks at the ocean, they cannot fully grasp the wonders that lie below the surface. However, even looking below the surface does not even give one the true experience of the ocean-one must become part of the ocean, as the class does in stanzas three and four. (Water was an interesting choice to compare the class to, since a group of fish is also known as a "class"). The speaker says that he does not notice the water "til it reached/my ears" (lines 7-8), indicating that the impact the poetry has on the students is not apparent until discussion is facilitated. The gills that the speaker mentions ("with my words/that they had only opened up/ like gills for them/ and let me in" (lines 14-17)), represent the disguised ability the students have to comprehand and analyze poetry. The line, "Together we swam around the room" (line 18), represents the way in which the students and the speaker immersed themselves in the language of poetry, thereby exploring a new world. The hole "punctured" in the door represents the literal world where everyday obligations exist.

Berry uses shift to create the transformation and changing feelings of the speaker and the students. The first stanza places the speaker in an ordinary classroom, with a condescending attitude regarding the way students will react to poetry. In the next stanza, the speaker has begun to read and notices water filling the room only once "it reached / my ears." Possibilities are arising with such a strange occurrence. The poem moves the speaker from a literal classroom, people simply resembling fish, to a figurative classroom where the reader seems to be more comfortable. With the continuation of the aquatic imagery, the speaker is more able to anticipate the positive reactions of the students. The next stanza rids the classroom completely. I still sense condescention, especially when the speaker says that the bell punctures a hole in the wall. While the students may have been immersed in the poetry temporarily, the speaker believes that the students are still ruled by the ringing of the bell, and the "real" world outside of the written word. In the final shift of the poem, from the classroom to his home, the speaker even admits to being ruled by responsibility when he speaks of his cat "Queen Elizabeth." His cat represents household responsibility, while the name "Queen Elizabeth" alludes to society's obsession with status and fame, which has distracted many people from the written word.

I really enjoyed this poem. The title is what originally drew me to this poem because I felt as though I could relate to the senior class mentioned in the title. I really enjoyed the slow transformation from classroom to sea and then the transformation back to real life. I still have mixed feelings about whether or not the speaker is condescending and elitist the entire poem. I think that at the beginning of the poem, when the speaker describes the students as "frozen fish," and at the end of the poem, the speaker is condescending. However, I think the air of condescention disappears when the speaker and the students allow themselves to be taken away from the written word. This poem uses shift and analogies to symbolically show the effects poetry and the written word have.