The Lost Baby Poem
In Lucille Clifton's, "The Lost Baby Poem," the poet displays a young mother who is full of regret and guilt for her child in which she had lost to death. There are many technical devices that express the poet's intentions and how it all fits together within this poem. First, I will be discussing what this poem is trying to convey also the denotations and connotations within this poem. Secondly, the poet uses imagery so intensely that one can almost feel the coldness of the winter chill. Lastly, I will discuss how figurative language plays a major role in the young lady's guilt.First of all, I noticed that this poem had been written all in lower case letters except for "Genesee Hill" and "Canada," which were names of the place that they had lived. The poet had even written herself as "i" in lower case in which it symbolizing a great shame upon herself. Then I had broken this poem into three groups in which they have already been divided. I believe the first group represents the process in which the baby in being aborted. "The time I dropped you almost body down down to meet the waters under the city and run one with the sewage to the sea what did i know about waters rushing back what did i know
"To watch you slip like ice into strangers' hands you would have fallen naked as snow into winter," (11-12) is an example of the sense of sight and display the dark colors and feeling of the cold, bleak weather. "If i am ever less than a mountain for you definite bothers and sisters let the rivers pour over my head let the sea take me for a spiller of seas" (15-19) The poet is making a promise to her unborn child that if she does not treat her living children right (the unborn child's brothers and sisters), then she wants punishment. This can also be represented by the sense of feeling of the frosty cold temperature. I can imagine the feeling of discomfort every time I read this line. Lucille Clifton uses the term "black men," because she for one is black and she wants everyone who reads her poem to know that she is black. However, I did discover that there were big gaps within this poem and no periods or commas. The second group represents the excuses that the poet makes for her baby not being born as if it was a benefit for the unborn baby. " (18) I found this to be ironic because she wants the sea to hate her but the sea is nonliving and does not have any feelings. I found it to be a gruesome example of how one deals with the guilt and regret. In, "If i am ever less than a mountain for you definite brothers and sisters," (15-16) mountain represents a symbol of being strong or supportive. I can imagine the feeling of discomfort every time I read this line. This can also be represented by the sense of feeling of the frosty cold temperature. She wants nothing to do with men because that is how this tragic incident happened. "What did I know about waters rushing back, what did i know about drowning or being drowned," represents the sense of feeling. It seems that the poet decide to put these big gaps within this poem so that the reader would pause and think about what has just been read.
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