Raymond Carver: Poetry Literary Elements

In Hummingbird, Carver writes from a first person perspective and addresses Tess in the second person pronoun 'you,' giving the poem a very personal feel.

Hummingbird consists of one eight-lined stanza that is in blank verse, creating a realistic, conversational tone.

The poem Balsa Wood is so named based on the simile 'I feel like balsa wood' within it. This simile reveals the feelings of the protagonist as uncertain. Balsa wood is often used to make model airplanes and the protagonist later refers to 'the airplane glue' on their 'fingers,' so perhaps this simile is based on their knowledge and experience with balsa wood. It shows the tendency of a child to relate their feeling to something familiar, especially when the feeling is complicated or undefinable.

The alliteration and consonance of 'I waded, deepening, into the dark water,' creates the image of the protagonist slowly submerging into the river, whilst also creating an ominous tone, as if something is not quite right.

In Stupid, the line 'Help is what he's most short on tonight,' is ironic as throughout the poem, it seems as though help is what the protagonist needs, some sort of companionship or counseling. It is also ironic because the description of the night, as 'a storm thrashes outside,' suggests it is a night when people may need help for a number of reasons. the fact that help is lacking in this poem seems ironic in the setting and context, as well as in the narrative events.

Hummingbird is a romantic, love poem.

Balsa Wood is set in the family home initially, 'at the stove,' and then moves to car and then 'the dump,' before back to the car.

Balsa Wood is written in such a way as to produce a tense tone of angst and discomfort.

In Balsa Wood, the protagonist is the child narrator and the mother could be considered the antagonist for causing an argument with the father or the father could be at fault for responding in a an antagonistic tone Howver the real antagonist to their happy morning seems to be an issue with money.

The major conflict in Balsa Wood is between the mother and father. The child protagonist states 'Something has just been said. My Mom said it,' and then goes on the quote his father's reply '"I'm in a hole. Don't dig me no deeper."' The child guesses that the argument might be over money.

The climax of the poem Stupid comes in the lines 'Uncle Bo stayed married to Aunt Ruby / for 47 years. Then hanged himself.' It seems sudden and its placement in the narrative makes it surprising. It is also a definitive action, stated bluntly, whilst most of the rest of the poem is less definitive and more like an interior monologue relayed by a third person narrator.

In No Need, the opening line 'I see an empty place at the table,' suggests that all is not well and denotes the absence of someone who is normally there. Throughout the poem, the protagonist is saying their goodbyes and eventually, at the end, leaves. The placement of this foreshadowing sentence as the opening line creates a cyclical motion within the poem and sets an uneasy tone.

In the poem No Need, Carver ends with the line 'It's time to be on the way' which seems to suggest a journey with no return, possibly his death. However the casual and calm tone of this statement do not fully represent the gravity of the situation, whilst it's monosyllabic nature creates a sense of finality.

The line 'We shall not meet again in this life,' in the poem No Need alludes to the protagonists eternal departure - death.

In the poem Hummingbird, the title word written in a letter becomes synonymous with summer and memories of 'those days,' and the fact that Carver loves Tess.

In Stupid, the line' The darkness teems with insight,' gives a human quality to the space occupied by the protagonist. It is also somewhat of a pun because darkness usually masks everything, whilst the noun 'insight,' suggests it is enlightening or illuminating in this case.

In Balsa Wood, the child protagonist states in their narrative 'The whole morning is shoveled into the garbage and mixed with other things.' Physically they refer to the 'burned brains and eggs,' yet metaphorically-speaking, they imply that the happiness or wholesomeness of the morning is lost because of an underlying issue - 'Something has just been said.'

The short, monosyllabic noun 'Rats screech,' is onomatopoeic since it evokes the spine-tingling and unpleasant noise of the rats, encapsulating their disgusting nature, 'as they crawl out of rotten sacks, dragging their bellies.'