Anecdote of the Jar" by Term Paper

In it, Stevens demonstrates how social progress was preceded and by rustic and natural living, which the jar exemplifies. The jar as a symbol carries with it significant meanings for the poem: as one of the earlier works of ancient human culture, the jar became the tool through which humans lived (as a tool for gathering food) and died (serving as an urn for the remains of the dead). Apart from symbolism, Stevens also used colorful imagery to demonstrate the progress of human society from being nomadic to being sedentary and progressive. The use of the words "roundness," "wilderness," "gray," and "bare" are effective words through which ancient human life is illustrated. Similarly, the progress of human civilization through time is depicted in the phrases, "wilderness rose up," "no longer wild," "tall and of a port in air," and "took dominion everywhere."

In "Daystar," paradox is utilized to generate an understanding of the poem's subject -- a woman who is also a mother and wife to her children and husband, respectively.In the poem, Dove attempts to depict the sorry plight of the female protagonist, 'imprisoned' from the difficulty of motherhood and mothering and the being subjected to submissiveness by a demanding husband. Paradox is evident from the title itself, where the woman's only chance of spending time for herself is by daydreaming; the "daystar" the poem refers to are the ambitions in life that the woman can only fulfill during the day and when she is alone, an activity which should be done only at night, since stars manifest themselves only at night. This is demonstrated in the last lines of the poem, where the poet explicates, "...she would open her eyes and think of the place that was hers for an hour -- where she was nothing; pure nothing, in the middle….....