Calm Things can Change a Life
Jack Spencer
Literal
Suicide's Note is a poem that shows how someone in the world ended their life by a calm cool river. The narrator states that the river asks the person to jump in and get a kiss in the water.
Situation
The poem tells the story of a human being killing themselves in a calm river. The poem expresses a mood in the fact that it speaks about someone killing themselves. The poem directly speaks to the reader because it is in first person and this also is trustworthy because of first hand experience.
Structure
The poem is free form because it does not follow a specific structure. The poem develops in chronological order because it is a story from an experience. The narrator is just saying what happened at the given time. There are 3 lines in the poem but only one full sentence. The real only punctuation that is used is commas to keep the poem going and keep it moving. The narrator wants the poem to roll off the tongue with no major pauses. The title of the poem means to me a story of suicide. The poem to me means that the narrator is killing him/her self or just found a not of someone that had just recently suicide their life.
Language
The poem is written with simple words. There are no major words or hard words that are said in the poem. Due to the poem being written with simple words, the knowledge of all of the words is already seen. I believe there are allusions in the poem because it says that the river is calm but still takes the life of a human being even if they are doing suicide. Imagery is seen in the fact that it is talking about the river and also personification is being used in ways that the river asks the narrator to come and give the narrator a kiss.
Musical Devices
The poem has no particular rhyme scheme. So this makes the poem irregular. When dealing with the rhythm of the poem it is seen that there is not much of a rhythm do to how small the actual poem itself really is.
Citations
"Langston Hughes – Suicide's Note." Genius. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.