Tinkerbell - “A Walking Bass”
The Tinkerbell is representational of the stagnant notions that dominate the authoring of autobiographies. Peter Porter writes, “Memory, a sort of Tinkerbell, declares in autobiography everything seems static so it won’t take part.” The immovability of memory deduces that the memory is engrossed in unravelling accounts that would aggrandize the autobiography.
Versailles versus Slum - “Sunk King Sulking”
Sunk King Sulking commences: “In the park the peacocks/have made their own Versailles but the sparrow prefer a universal slum.” Versailles connotes mammoth supremacy and grandness whereas the slum embodies inferiority and incapacity.
Isaiah - “Isaiah’s Knee”
Isaiah embodies the Old Testament muscularity. Peter Porter observes, “here’s Isaiah/firming up the old Republic,/guarding what was once a pagan titulus. He stares ahead, promising/another age of masculinity.” The art illustrating ‘Isaiah’s Knee’ propagates the Old Testament ( Old Republic) conception that males (whom Isaiah represents) are more robust than females.
Life’s C Major - “Browning Meets Wagner at The Schlesinger’”
Peter Porter writes, “Once I wrote of Life’s C Major; so prophetic.” The C major denotes the constancy of life. The life expectancy pitch neither upswings nor sinks; hence, it is analogous to the ‘C Major’ that is pragmatic in music.