“I Close M y Eyes”

1. “I Close My Eyes” By: Alyssa Dunning

2. Poem’s Speaker • The creator of this poem is David Ignatow. He grew up in Brooklyn, and was largely self-educated. • For years, he worked very odd jobs just to support himself while he wrote poetry. • His work was eventually published and right after this he had a bunch of job offers. • He served as the editor of many magazines and as the poetry editor of the The Nation. • He was the recipient of many honors including the Bollingen Prize.

3. Poem’s Structure • 3 stanzas • 10 lines • Free verse • Ballad

4. For example, when the poet mentions their mother in the poem it says, “ I close my eyes like a good little at night in bed, as I was told to do by my mother when she lived.” The repetition of “as I was told” gives me a feeling of the poet obeying their mother when they were younger. They now do the things they are supposed to do as a grown up, such as keeping a balanced checking account and they now have a easier life because of listening to their mother. Repetition It makes sense to why they ask the question of “Why can’t I live forever?” because they think they deserve to live forever cause they do things they are supposed to do in life. Repetition is a series of words that are repeated through a poem to create a effect on it. “As I was told” holds deep meaning in this poem because it gives you a description of how the poet acts in everyday life. It helps you understand the poet a little bit better later on in the poem.

5. Simile is pulled out to my attention in the poem because it compares the poet to closing their eyes like a good little boy would at night in bed. Simile In my opinion, I think of a little boy being bad when they aren’t disciplined, but when they are told to do right they listen. This makes me think that if the poet was not told to do right and wrong by his mother, he would have a hard life in his older age later on in this poem. I think he wouldn’t even be questioning living forever, he would be asking the opposite of this question like, why couldn’t I have just listened? I think if the poem was set up this way it would have more of a melancholy effect on it, than the satisfied feeling the poet has in this poem. Simile is a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind.

7. Repetition Repetition is important in this poem because when the poet emphasizes “I” in the poem it gives a exaggerated effect on the poem. For example, when it says “I do all things required of me to make me a citizen of sterling worth”, it makes you think that he/she wants to take all the credit for being a responsible human being in life. It also emphasizes that the poet does all these things.

8. Literal and Figurative Meaning Literal Meaning: The literal meaning of the poem is that the poet is questioning living forever because they are a responsible mature adult just like their mother taught them to be. From learning this at a young age, their life is easy now because of this. That is why they are questioning, “ Why can’t I live forever?” Figurative Meaning: The figurative meaning of the poem is that the poet was thankful for their mother teaching them important things at such a young age that prepared them for later on in life. Now, because of this they make more wise, thought out decisions, like a mature adult should in all cases of their life.

9. Intended theme and Author’s Purpose Intended theme and Author’s Purpose: I think the poet was trying to tell everyone to be responsible because later on in life it will pay off and things will be easier for you, so you don’t have to struggle. Then, maybe you will be asking the same question the poet is asking.

10. Sources • http://www2.uwrf.edu/static/portfolio/current_examples/swanson/Example%20Simile%20Poems.htm • http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poet/david-ignatow • http://www.poetryoutloud.org/search?q=i+close+my+eyes