Silence
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Brittany Musselman
Professor
American Literature After the Civil War
11 April 2013
Analysis of Silence by Marianne Moore
The poem Silence by Marianne Moore represents a poem of advice and, in a sense, demonstrates a representation of experience. This advice is portrayed through the father’s experience and is bestowed upon the daughter/child. In the poem, the father treats his daughter much like the circumstances he talks about. The topic of this poem is superiority of people. The father discusses what this looks like as far as behavior and representation of one’s self to society. The first few lines of the poem demonstrate this idea. The father is telling the daughter, “Superior people never make long visits…” (Silence, Line 2). He is teaching her how to be superior and is using this visit as a lesson. He is informing her of this visit particularly and how it needs to be short and to the point. The following two lines: “…have to be shown Longfellow's grave nor the glass flowers at Harvard” (Silence, Line 3-4) says that superior people don’t need to be directed around a place he/she is visiting and is implying that this is something that can be easily done one’s self.
Next, we jump to another idea in the poem, this illustrates that cat and the mouse. We are given the image of the mouse’s tail hanging from the cat’s mouth. The father is telling his child that sometimes silence is the key to fully understanding the world around him/her. We learn that listening to people and circumstances that overtake the situation gives us better insight and knowledge than trying to overtake the situation through speaking. In this image he is representing the cat in the poem. He is demonstrating this idea of restraint in teaching his child.
Finally, the last two lines: “Nor was he insincere in saying, "Make my house your inn." Inns are not residences” (Poetry, Line 13-14) connects to the main idea that we started with. He is telling the daughter that her stay must be short to demonstrate her understanding of this lesson being given. The idea of an inn is used for a short time. It allows for the person/persons to gain a level of knowledge or understanding to move them into thery next location. The inn represents temporary grounds to get one where they need to be. The father uses his house and ‘lesson’ as the inn of succeeding to the next step.
The speaker of the poem is the daughter. She brings specific instances and circumstance to the poem to provide examples and meaning. Moore uses quotations in her poem to demonstrate the father’s voice, and the follows the quotes with personal interpretation of what his words mean to her. The lines all run together, much like the idea of this lecture. The father is pulling the idea of visiting, teaching and loving his child together through this one visit much like the lines of the poem, where we are given this idea of superiority and how to portray it in life in one sitting/read through.
To conclude, the title and meaning of the poem Silence demonstrates the poem exactly. Silence is demonstrated through the father’s storytelling, the idea of superiority in his terms, and in the success of life as told by the father. Silence is provided through the speaker of the poem, which portrays a strong interpretation to the ideas it represents to the reader.
Professor
American Literature After the Civil War
11 April 2013
Analysis of Silence by Marianne Moore
The poem Silence by Marianne Moore represents a poem of advice and, in a sense, demonstrates a representation of experience. This advice is portrayed through the father’s experience and is bestowed upon the daughter/child. In the poem, the father treats his daughter much like the circumstances he talks about. The topic of this poem is superiority of people. The father discusses what this looks like as far as behavior and representation of one’s self to society. The first few lines of the poem demonstrate this idea. The father is telling the daughter, “Superior people never make long visits…” (Silence, Line 2). He is teaching her how to be superior and is using this visit as a lesson. He is informing her of this visit particularly and how it needs to be short and to the point. The following two lines: “…have to be shown Longfellow's grave nor the glass flowers at Harvard” (Silence, Line 3-4) says that superior people don’t need to be directed around a place he/she is visiting and is implying that this is something that can be easily done one’s self.
Next, we jump to another idea in the poem, this illustrates that cat and the mouse. We are given the image of the mouse’s tail hanging from the cat’s mouth. The father is telling his child that sometimes silence is the key to fully understanding the world around him/her. We learn that listening to people and circumstances that overtake the situation gives us better insight and knowledge than trying to overtake the situation through speaking. In this image he is representing the cat in the poem. He is demonstrating this idea of restraint in teaching his child.
Finally, the last two lines: “Nor was he insincere in saying, "Make my house your inn." Inns are not residences” (Poetry, Line 13-14) connects to the main idea that we started with. He is telling the daughter that her stay must be short to demonstrate her understanding of this lesson being given. The idea of an inn is used for a short time. It allows for the person/persons to gain a level of knowledge or understanding to move them into thery next location. The inn represents temporary grounds to get one where they need to be. The father uses his house and ‘lesson’ as the inn of succeeding to the next step.
The speaker of the poem is the daughter. She brings specific instances and circumstance to the poem to provide examples and meaning. Moore uses quotations in her poem to demonstrate the father’s voice, and the follows the quotes with personal interpretation of what his words mean to her. The lines all run together, much like the idea of this lecture. The father is pulling the idea of visiting, teaching and loving his child together through this one visit much like the lines of the poem, where we are given this idea of superiority and how to portray it in life in one sitting/read through.
To conclude, the title and meaning of the poem Silence demonstrates the poem exactly. Silence is demonstrated through the father’s storytelling, the idea of superiority in his terms, and in the success of life as told by the father. Silence is provided through the speaker of the poem, which portrays a strong interpretation to the ideas it represents to the reader.