IV
His soul stretched tight across the skies
That fade behind a city block,
Or trampled by insistent feet
At four and five and six o’clock;
And short square fingers stuffing pipes,
And evening newspapers, and eyes
Assured of certain certainties,
The conscience of a blackened street
Impatient to assume the world.
I am moved by fancies that are curled
Around these images, and cling:
The notion of some infinitely gentle
Infinitely suffering thing.
Wipe your hand across your mouth, and laugh;
The worlds revolve like ancient women
Gathering fuel in vacant lots.
***I am not sure what literary technique is used in th beginning of the stanza... it could be Simile
Metaphor
hyperbole
synecdoche
metonymy
i have a feeling it is a metaphor?
also the last image is displayed by the use of a simile right?
Both of your answers are right.
Thank you! :)
You're welcome. :-)
Yes, you're right.
Metaphor
and
Simile
In order to determine the literary technique used in the beginning of the stanza, it's important to closely examine the text. Let's break it down:
"His soul stretched tight across the skies
That fade behind a city block,"
In these lines, the soul is described as stretching tight across the skies. It is not being directly compared to the skies, but rather it is being equated to the concept of stretching across the skies. Therefore, the literary technique being employed here is a metaphor.
Now, let's move on to the last image:
"Wipe your hand across your mouth, and laugh;
The worlds revolve like ancient women
Gathering fuel in vacant lots."
In these lines, the worlds are being compared to ancient women gathering fuel in vacant lots. The word "like" is used to indicate a comparison, suggesting that the worlds are similar to ancient women in their behavior. Therefore, the literary technique being used here is a simile.
In summary, the beginning of the stanza utilizes a metaphor, and the last image is displayed through the use of a simile.