Poetry

“A Work of Artifice” by Marge Piercy (p.321 #263)

“A Work of Artifice” by Marge Piercy is a feminist view of the prejudice directed towards women in society. Piercy used the literary devices of metaphor and allusion to strengthen her message within the poem. The poem literally is speaking about a bonsai tree and the life it must live. However, the metaphor is deciphered and reveals a poem speaking about a woman. The gardener, otherwise known as men, condemns the tree. He stunts the tree’s growth, “The bonsai tree in the attractive pot could have grown eighty feet tall”. Up until recently women were not allowed to grow intellectually because men had to be dominant. In the following line, “It is in your nature to be small and cozy, domestic and weak;” the speaker directly references society in the 40’s and 50’s when the woman’s place was in the home. The line “Crippled brains” alludes to when people were told that if a woman learned too much her head would simply explode. The line "bound feet" is alluding to the Chiniese tradition of binding the woman's feet to keep women delicate. However, this also disfigured the feet and led to numerous health complications.

The metaphor and allusions were successfully utilized by Piercy to reinforce  the severity of woman's' past confinement.

When I first skimmed through the poem I was immediately drawn to the text because I find bonsai trees to be peculiar. As I started to actually read the poem I was intrigued by the idea of using a tiny tree to describe the repression of women. I thought it was a brilliant way to go about it and although short, the poem made a huge impact.

“Money” by Victor Contoski (p.279 #212)

Victor Contoski’s poem “Money” uses the personification of dollar bills to reveal how greed contaminates and corrupts people. In the lines “reciting softly to itself the names of the presidents” the money has already started to learn and develop. Going further on the speaker says “It will delight your friends, shake hands with men”, now the money has started to separate itself from the person and attract attention of others. This represents how greed starts to consume people and control their actions until it takes over their existence. This is shown in the last stanza, “There will be no pain but in thirty seconds the poison will reach your heart.” Along with personification Contoski uses metaphors to compare the money with an animal. “When you think you are its master it will turn its head as if for a kiss and bite you gently on the hand”, this creates the image of a dog testing its boundaries with its owner and succeeding therefore becoming the dominant creature in the relationship. The Contoski uses another metaphor in the last stanza to represent the money as a venomous serpent. This is money and greed’s final act to fully take control of the person and a common scenario in todays society.

I thought Contoski’s poem was clever. I enjoyed reading it and I thought the message was clear and accurate. It was interesting to read a poem and picture a inaminate object as a pet. It reminded me of when people try and tame exotic animals, like monkeys or big cats, and are betrayed by their “trustworthy” companion.