Octavio Paz uses elements from nature in both "As One
Listens to the Rain" and "Summit and Gravity" to evoke strong emotions. In the love
poem, "As One Listens to the Rain," Paz recreates the incantatory sound of rain drumming
on the roof. He uses repetition and a strong regular rhythm to achieve this effect.
These literary devices can be seen in lines such as "it is the mist, wandering in the
night, / it is the night, asleep in your bed." This incantatory effect is powerful, in
the same way that the speaker's feelings for the "you" are. In addition, the relentless
rhythm evokes timelessness, mirroring the speaker's timeless
love.
In "Summit and Gravity," Paz evokes both the Garden
of Eden and Isaac Newton, turning the apple into the ultimate symbol of knowledge. He
uses metaphor to describe the fruit, "The seal of the scorched year / The carnal
firebrand/The star fruit." He also uses juxtaposition. As the fruit falls, a flock of
birds rises into the sky. These opposing actions allow the speaker to discover the
miracle of gravity.
No comments:
Post a Comment