Ode to My Socks

1) Which features of this poem tell you that it is an Ode? 2) What is this poem an ode to? (person, event. natural surrounding or object) 3) Which literary/poetic devices are used?

Ode to My Socks Pablo Neruda - 1904-1973 Mara Mori brought mea pair of sockswhich she knitted herselfwith her sheepherder's hands,two socks as soft as rabbits.I slipped my feet into themas if they were two casesknitted with threads of twilight and goatskin,Violent socks,my feet were two fish made of wool,two long sharkssea blue, shot throughby one golden thread,two immense blackbirds,two cannons,my feet were honored in this wayby these heavenly socks.They were so handsome for the first timemy feet seemed to me unacceptablelike two decrepit firemen,firemen unworthy of that woven fire,of those glowing socks.Nevertheless, I resisted the sharp temptationto save them somewhere as schoolboyskeep fireflies,as learned men collectsacred texts,I resisted the mad impulse to put themin a golden cage and each day give thembirdseed and pieces of pink melon.Like explorers in the junglewho hand over the very rare green deerto the spit and eat it with remorse,I stretched out my feet and pulled onthe magnificent socks and then my shoes.The moral of my ode is this:beauty is twice beautyand what is good is doubly goodwhen it is a matter of two socksmade of wool in winter.

Asked by
Last updated by jill d #170087
Answers 1
Add Yours

Ode to my Socks is an ode, as it praises the socks.

The poem is an ode to the speaker's socks.

Simile:

“I resisted
the strong temptation
to save them
the way schoolboys
bottle
fireflies,
the way scholars
hoard
sacred documents.”

“Like explorers who in the forest
surrender a rare
and tender deer
to the spit
and eat it
with remorse,
I stuck out my feet
and pulled on
the
handsome
socks,
and then my shoes.”

Alliteration:

“S” sound:
“of socks
knitted with her own
shepherd's hands,
two socks soft
as rabbits.
I slipped."

“schoolboys,” “scholars,” and “sacred.”

“R” sound:

“and daily feed them
birdseed
and rosy melon flesh.
Like explorers
who in the forest
surrender a rare
and tender deer
to the spit
and eat it
with remorse.”

“W” sound:

“when,” “woollen,” and “wintertime,”

Assonance:

"socks" and "soft"

Source(s)

Ode to My Socks