I pulled over and called out to him, while being very conscious how ludicrous I sounded, did he by any chance know of a church where there was to be a poetry reading tonight?" The man did indeed tell Simic where the church was, indicating that poetry can serve as a means to uplift and communicate the universality of human experience. Social alienation and isolation that accompanies the immigrant experience can be mitigated by the shared connection within poetry.

Thus, Simic's inspiration derives not just from a disturbing childhood replete with wartime imagery and memories of a Nazi invasion. Simic's poetry places him squarely within the immigrant New World -- a world that is categorically comprised by immigrants. As critics have pointed out, Simic's "disturbing…tragi-comic intensity that leaves the reader suspended between amusement and grief…derives equally from the rigors of daily living," (deNiord 77). "Solitude" is a perfect example of...
[ View Full Essay]