Text:
They have been with us a long time.
They will outlast the elms.
Our eyes, like the eyes of a savage sieving the trees
In his search for game,
Run through them. They blend along small-town streets
Like a race of giants that have faded into mere mythology.
Our eyes, washed clean of belief,
Lift incredulous to their fearsome crowns of bolts, trusses, struts, nuts, insulators, and such
Barnacles as compose
These weathered encrustations of electrical debris¬
Each a Gorgon’s head, which, seized right,
Could stun us to stone.
They will outlast the elms.
Our eyes, like the eyes of a savage sieving the trees
In his search for game,
Run through them. They blend along small-town streets
Like a race of giants that have faded into mere mythology.
Our eyes, washed clean of belief,
Lift incredulous to their fearsome crowns of bolts, trusses, struts, nuts, insulators, and such
Barnacles as compose
These weathered encrustations of electrical debris¬
Each a Gorgon’s head, which, seized right,
Could stun us to stone.
Yet they are ours. We made them.
See here, where the cleats of linemen
Have roughened a second bark
Onto the bald trunk. And these spikes
Have been driven sideways at intervals handy for human legs.
The Nature of our construction is in every way
A better fit than the Nature it displaces
What other tree can you climb where the birds’ twitter,
Unscrambled, is English? True, their thin shade is negligible,
But then again there is not that tragic autumnal
Casting-off of leaves to outface annually.
These giants are more constant than evergreens
By being never green.
See here, where the cleats of linemen
Have roughened a second bark
Onto the bald trunk. And these spikes
Have been driven sideways at intervals handy for human legs.
The Nature of our construction is in every way
A better fit than the Nature it displaces
What other tree can you climb where the birds’ twitter,
Unscrambled, is English? True, their thin shade is negligible,
But then again there is not that tragic autumnal
Casting-off of leaves to outface annually.
These giants are more constant than evergreens
By being never green.
Initial Response:
I believe the poem is about how humans are taking advantage of nature. Instead of valuing nature and trees, humans destroy their beauty and replace them with telephone poles.
Paraphrase:
They have been with us for a while.
They will be he longer than trees.
Our eyes, like the eyes of a savage sieving the trees
In his search for game,
Run past the trees. They blend with the small town.
Like mythology, the trees have become lost.
Our eyes, blinded by improvement,
Believing in their fearsome crowns of bolts, trusses, struts, nuts, insulators, and such
Barnacles as compose
These weathered creations of electrical debris¬
Each like the Greek Goddess Gorgon’s head,
Could stun us to stone.
They will be he longer than trees.
Our eyes, like the eyes of a savage sieving the trees
In his search for game,
Run past the trees. They blend with the small town.
Like mythology, the trees have become lost.
Our eyes, blinded by improvement,
Believing in their fearsome crowns of bolts, trusses, struts, nuts, insulators, and such
Barnacles as compose
These weathered creations of electrical debris¬
Each like the Greek Goddess Gorgon’s head,
Could stun us to stone.
Yet they are our own creations.
See where the shoes of our workers
Have weathered the second bark
Onto the bald trunk. And these spikes
Have been constructed to fit for human legs.
Our creations, In every way,
are better than the nature that used to be there
What other tree can be climbed where the birds lay,
Unscrambled, is English? True, the thin shade of our creations is next to nothing,
But then there will not be the tragic autumn
As the tree casts off leaves annually.
These giants are more unchanging than evergreens
Without even being green.
See where the shoes of our workers
Have weathered the second bark
Onto the bald trunk. And these spikes
Have been constructed to fit for human legs.
Our creations, In every way,
are better than the nature that used to be there
What other tree can be climbed where the birds lay,
Unscrambled, is English? True, the thin shade of our creations is next to nothing,
But then there will not be the tragic autumn
As the tree casts off leaves annually.
These giants are more unchanging than evergreens
Without even being green.
SWIFTT
{SW}SYNTAX/ Word Choice:
The poem is written in short, concise sentences. Updike uses earthly words to represent the beauty of trees. This can be noticed in the lines, “the bird’s twiiter.” Along with the earthly word choice, Updike also uses words to describe how humans due things for their own needs, such as “sieving.”
{SW}SYNTAX/ Word Choice:
The poem is written in short, concise sentences. Updike uses earthly words to represent the beauty of trees. This can be noticed in the lines, “the bird’s twiiter.” Along with the earthly word choice, Updike also uses words to describe how humans due things for their own needs, such as “sieving.”
{I}Imagery:
As the poem continues, it adapts from the imagery mechanics and industrialization of telephone poles to the lost imagery of trees. The poem has lines such as, “Lift incredulous to their fearsome crowns of bolts, trusses,/struts, nuts, insulators, and such/Barnacles as compose
/These weathered encrustations of electrical debris¬” which is imagery for the telephone poles, and “What other tree can you climb where the birds’ twitter,/ Unscrambled, is English? True, their thin shade is negligible,” which is imagery for trees.
As the poem continues, it adapts from the imagery mechanics and industrialization of telephone poles to the lost imagery of trees. The poem has lines such as, “Lift incredulous to their fearsome crowns of bolts, trusses,/struts, nuts, insulators, and such/Barnacles as compose
/These weathered encrustations of electrical debris¬” which is imagery for the telephone poles, and “What other tree can you climb where the birds’ twitter,/ Unscrambled, is English? True, their thin shade is negligible,” which is imagery for trees.
{F}Figurative Language:
This poem contains many examples of figurative language- from similes, to imagery. The line, “Our eyes, like the eyes of a savage sieving the trees, /In his search for game,” contains not only simile, but alliteration. Updike uses imagery in both trees and telephone poles; the line, “Lift incredulous to their fearsome crowns of bolts, trusses, struts, nuts, insulators, and such” is an example of the telephone pole used in imagery; the line, “What other tree can you climb where the birds’ twitter,” is an example of imagery used in describing the trees.
This poem contains many examples of figurative language- from similes, to imagery. The line, “Our eyes, like the eyes of a savage sieving the trees, /In his search for game,” contains not only simile, but alliteration. Updike uses imagery in both trees and telephone poles; the line, “Lift incredulous to their fearsome crowns of bolts, trusses, struts, nuts, insulators, and such” is an example of the telephone pole used in imagery; the line, “What other tree can you climb where the birds’ twitter,” is an example of imagery used in describing the trees.
{T}Tone:
The tone of the poem is bitter, as Updike conveys the idea that humans have destroyed nature to achieve their own purposes. An example is in line, “Yet they are ours. We made them”
{T}Theme:
The theme of this poem is that as humas wish to advance in culture and technologically, nature will begin to disappear, as advancement has no room for nature.
Conclusion:
“Telephone Poles” is a satirical poem about how as humans push for advancement, They begin to lose nature. Although technology and advancement are critical, humans should appreciate the value of beauty of nature. Although the conception of technology being better than nature is conveyed throughout the future generations, technology can “never [be] green. ”
“Telephone Poles” is a satirical poem about how as humans push for advancement, They begin to lose nature. Although technology and advancement are critical, humans should appreciate the value of beauty of nature. Although the conception of technology being better than nature is conveyed throughout the future generations, technology can “never [be] green. ”
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