By; John Ashbery
Poem Analysis;
"The Struggle" is represented in this poem , not physically but emotionally.My interpretation of the poem is formed is formed by the concept of how time isn't well organized or managed in one's own life. A particular part in the poem stood out to me while i was reading it, The beginning with the little girl . This little girl has a toy wrist watch on and she asks for the time .My question is why ? , why ask for the time ? . Why is this little girl starting off the poem and what is the purpose of this little girl being introduced that particular way ? I also noticed that the poem had a transformation of scenery , from a little girl's point of view to adulthood . As if though the poem wanted the reader to expreicance a journey thus connecting it back to the title "Melodic Trains".
Literary devices ;
The literary device used in this poem was irony. The little girl with the watch whom asked what time it was . If the irony wasn't used then the poem wouldn't have a solid base at the beginning of the poem . The ironic thing about the little girl is that she has a watch but she doesn't need to know the time even though she has her own watch. Last but not least the literary device personification was used in this poem . "Like date-colored sierras with the lines of seams sketched in and plunged now and then into unfathomable valleys that can't be deduced by the shape of a person " is a form of personification because both the valley and the sierras are given human form of how they are sketched and plunged in form of a human .