Friday, February 22, 2008

"Snow" by David Berman

1. Berman, David. "Snow," Actual Air. New York: Open City Books. 1999. 5.
This poem can be found here http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/039.html

2. This is a contemporary poem that I like very much. The meaning is pretty self evident. It's about two brothers walking in the snow. The older of the two is trying to answer his younger brother's questions about the origins of snow angels and gives a somewhat fantastical explanation. The poem also describes the outdoors during a snowstorm and seems to effectively capture the all around feel one experiences when they are young and have a snowday off from school.

3. What I like about this poem is how the speaker goes back and forth between his explanation of the untimely demise of the snow angels and his own descriptions on the effect snow has on nature. It's almost as if the speaker's own thoughts keep getting interrupted by his little brother's ever present curiosity. This poem also demonstrates what David Berman does best, which in my opinion is being able to present the idiosyncratic absurdity of every small moment in life.

4. In terms of form, "Snow" doesn't really remind me of anything we've read so far in class. It obviously doesn't really adhere to any of the rigorous poetic rules exemplified by the much older poetry we've read in class. Although they're about completely different things, "Snow" reminds me a little bit of "Morning" by Billy Collins. This is because both poems present unique points of view towards some of the more minute aspects of life.

5 comments:

Amy L said...

I enjoyed this poem because it is very "real" in the literal sense of the word. I could imagine the two brothers walking along and spotting the snow angels. "Snow" is simplistic in its style, yet there are many implied meanings in the older brothers explanation of the snow angels and others occurrences observed throughout the duration of the poem.

Sara Bouchard said...

This poem shows the imagination and curiosity of children. The way the little brother keeps asking questions and the way the older brother makes up stories to explain to his little brother. It captures sibling relationships in childhood well.

samantha_kinosh said...

This poem is very simplistic and I nice contrast between the extended metaphorical poetry we looked at last class. However there is simile that I really enjoy towards the end of a poem. The comparison of the snowy outdoors to some sort of room is really unique and quite interesting. The outdoors are supposed to be wide and open spaces and to consider the snow as changing that is interesting. The speaker has a good point that the acoustics change outside when it snows and that the walls are "blasted to shreds and falling" is very imaginative imagery that works. This poem shows a snow day in a unique light.

Desiree Goodwin said...

I love this poem! It is so imaginative; it reminds me of my adolescent days in the snow. There are several different ways this poem captures another person's heart. I seem to associate snow with so many things that have happened in my life that just reading this poem leaves me nostalgic of those certain events. This poem also does a great job at capturing siblings' relationships; I remember being the little tike who was always full of questions about silly things and my older brother was always so quick to make up a child's explanation. Great poem!

Marissa said...

Comparing it to Billy Collins "Morning" poem was really interesting. I don't think I'd have thought of it, but I can definitely see it now that you mention it. There's something in the style and matter-of-fact/honest tone. . .

Unrelatedly, there's something kind of weird and gruesome about this poem, if you think of it--shooting angels, having them dissolve when they hit the ground. It's completely at odds with the setting, on the one hand: all the "pure" snowy white. But on the other hand, it fits with the coldness, perhaps.