Dela Cerna, Syvell C.

Bachelor of Arts in Literature and Cultural Studies 2

ELECT 1 Literature and the Environment
Mr. Geoffrey Marfa

Poetry Analysis:
Anthracite Country & Some Questions About the Storm

ANTHRACITE COUNTRY by Jay Parini

The culm dump burns all night,

unnaturally blue, and well below heaven.
It smolders like moments almost forgotten,
the time when you said what you meant
too plainly and ruined your chance of love.

Refusing to dwindle, fed from within

like men rejected for nothing specific,
it lingers at the edge of town, unwatched
by anyone living near. The smell now
passes for nature. It would be missed.

Wound of the earth, offal of an age

when pitch-faced men dug marrow
from the spine of a speechless land,
it resists all healing.
Its luminous hump cries comfortable pain.

​ We live in a world where industrialization and urbanization are increasingly prevalent in

society. Despite knowing this, some of us simply just live without having a thought of how our
world has been exploited too much and not even considering the consequences of unchecked
exploitation of natural resources. We are going to delve into the poem of Jay Parini entitled
Anthracite Country. As I have scoured the internet, I found out that Parini expresses his
emotions through the help of describing the present happenings of the outside world, hinting
the connection of humanity and the natural world. Poetry teaches us how to live our lives. In
line with this, it is only natural for us to explore and examine the literary devices present in the
poem. In this analysis, we are going to identify the figurative languages and literary devices
present in the poem and how it contributes to the overall meaning of the poem.

These are the lines that contains Metaphor;

“The culm dump burns all night,
unnaturally blue, and well below heaven.”
The burning culm dump is likened to something infernal and unlikely to be divine. This would
imply that it is not looking nice since nature should always be like a heavenly place.
“It smolders like moments almost forgotten,
the time when you said what you meant
too plainly and ruined your chance of love.”
The smoldering of the culm dump compares to a painful experience of a past mistake in love.
This love could be meant as the love of humans for their nature.
“Wound of the earth, offal of an age
when pitch-faced men dug marrow
from the spine of a speechless land,”
The culm dump was described as a wound of the earth and a waste which is the word ‘offal’
formed by industrialization, emphasizing its environmental impact.

​ These are the lines that contains Personification;

“it lingers at the edge of town, unwatched”
“Its luminous hump cries comfortable pain.”
The culm dump was given the human ability to linger and remain unnoticed, and is also
described crying.

​ The Symbolisms. The culm dump itself symbolizes the effect of industrialization and its
lasting impact of environmental degradation.
“when pitch-faced men dug marrow
from the spine of a speechless land,”
The pitch-faced men symbolize the miners or the labor force that extracted natural resources
while the speechless land symbolizes nature being exploited and abused by human activities.

​ These are the lines having Imageries in the poem;

“The culm dump burns all night”
“unnaturally blue”
 “It smolders”
“it lingers at the edge of town, unwatched”
“The smell now passes for nature.”
“Wound of the earth, offal of an age
“when pitch-faced men dug marrow”
“Its luminous hump cries comfortable pain."

The Irony present in the poem is the line, “The smell now passes for nature. It would be
missed.” This means that the idea that the smell of pollution from the burning culm dump has
become so normalized that it would be missed if it were gone. There is one Oxymoron which is
the “comfortable pain.”

These are the Sound devices present in the poem. First is the Alliteration, "when
pitch-faced men dug marrow," the repetition of ‘m’ sound in “men” and “marrow.” The line "from
the spine of a speechless land," the repetition of the ‘sp’ sound in “spine” and “speechless”. Second
is the Consonance, "unnaturally blue, and well below heaven," where the 'l' sound in
“unnaturally,” "well" and "below." The line “It smolders like moments almost forgotten,” the
repetition of the 'm' sound in "smolders," "moments," and "almost." The line "the time when you
said what you meant," where the 't' sound is repeated in “time,” “what” and “meant.” Lastly, the
Assonance, "The culm dump burns all night, unnaturally blue," the repetition of the 'u' sound in
"unnaturally" and "blue." The line "the time when you said what you meant," where the 'e' sound
in "when," "said," and "meant" were repeated. The line “Refusing to dwindle, fed from within,” the
repetition of ‘i’ sound in "refusing," "dwindle," and "within." The line “like men rejected for nothing
specific,” the repetition of the 'e' sound in “men, ” "rejected," and "specific." Enjambment is also
evident in the poem.

​ To answer the question how it contributes to the overall meaning of the poem. The
figurative languages and literary devices employed in Jay Parini's "Anthracite Country" enhances
the poem’s overall meaning. Through the use of these, the poem vividly describes and portrays
environmental degradation caused by industrial activities. It makes the readers immerse
themselves into the poem and see what the poem is trying to convey. And those sound devices,
they work together to enhance the poem's specific rhythm, tone, and mood, which helps to
emphasize the overall message of the poem. Ultimately, the poem encourages the readers to
think about the effects of their actions towards the environment and to recognize the
importance of conserving and preserving our planet for future generations.
SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT THE STORM by HILDA RAZ

What's the bird ratio overhead?

Zero: zero. Maybe it's El Niño?

The storm, was it bad?

Here the worst ever. Every tree hurt.

Do you love trees?

Only the gingko, the fir, the birch.

Yours? Do you name your trees?

Who owns the trees? Who's talking

You presume a dialogue. Me and You.

Yes. Your fingers tap. I'm listening.

Will you answer? Why mention trees?

When the weather turned rain into ice, the leaves failed.

So what? Every year leaves fail. The cycle. Birth to death.

In the night the sound of cannon, and death everywhere.

What did you see?

Next morning, roots against the glass.

Who's talking now and in familiar language? Get real.

What's real is the broken crown. The trunk shattered.

Was that storm worse than others?

Yes and no. The wind's torque twisted open the tree's tibia.

Fool. You're talking about vegetables. Do you love the patio

tomato? The Christmas cactus?
Yes. And the magnolia on the roof, the felled crabapple, the topless
Spruce.
​ In Hilda Raz's poem "Some Questions about the Storm," it depicts the aftermath of a
storm. In the poem, a thought-provoking dialogue between two voices, showcasing the
relationship between nature and human beings, and the impact of natural disasters. This
analysis aims to examine how figurative and literary devices enrich the overall meaning of the
poem. Through close examination, this aims to uncover the hidden messages embedded within
the poem.

​ The are the Imageries in the poem;

“Here the worst ever. Every tree hurt.”
“Your fingers tap. I'm listening.”
“When the weather turned rain into ice, the leaves failed.”
“In the night the sound of cannon, and death everywhere.”
“roots against the glass.”
“What's real is the broken crown. The trunk shattered.”
“The wind's torque twisted open the tree's tibia.”

​ The lines that contain Personification, "Every tree hurt" and "The wind's torque twisted
open the tree's tibia." The trees are being personified, giving it human attributes, such as having a
“tibia” which is a bone and the notion that trees were hurt. These are the Metaphors in the
poem, "The wind's torque twisted open the tree's tibia," comparing tree parts to human bones.
Also “the broken crown” and “the trunk shattered” as metaphors for destruction. I noticed that
the structure of the poem is in a dialogue form, this is to emphasize the exchange between two
perspectives. There are also rhetorical questions, questions that could provoke the readers and
ask themselves about such, such as "What's the bird ratio overhead?," "Do you love trees?" and
"Who owns the trees?” The Symbolisms, first is the trees, which symbolizes life and especially
nature as a whole. Second is the storm, which symbolizes turmoil and destruction.

​ These are the Sound devices present in the poem. First is the Alliteration, "Zero: zero.
Maybe it's El Niño?” and “The wind's torque twisted open the tree's tibia." Second is the
Assonance, “Zero: zero. Maybe it's El Niño?,” the repetition of ‘o’ sound and "So what? Every year
leaves fail," the repetition of ‘e’ sound. Enjambment is also evident in the poem.

​ Now, how do these literary devices contribute to the overall meaning of the poem? The
imagery allows and helps the reader to visualize the scene and feel the devastating effect of
natural disasters. The dialogue structure of the poem creates an interactive kind of idea to make
the readers immerse themselves as the one who is talking to the other voice. The symbols, trees
for example, represent the broader concepts of life and how it is vulnerable to any disasters.
These rich figurative languages help to explore the themes of environmental destruction, the
resilience of nature, and especially the connection of humans to the natural world. The sound
devices enhance the emotional impact of the lines, to invite the readers to reflect and think
about the deeper meanings or the underlying emotions the poem is trying to convey.
Furthermore, through the use of these literary devices, the message of the poem about
environmental concern, how fragile nature is, human’s connection to the nature, and the natural
cycle of life give the readers a thought-provoking insights into the reality
References

Poetry and the Environment. (n.d.). Poetry and the Environment | Poetry Foundation. Poetry

Foundation.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/collections/146462/poetry-and-the-environment

poetryfoundation.org. (2001). Some Questions about the Storm by Hilda Raz | Poetry Foundation.

Poetry Foundation.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49953/some-questions-about-the-storm

poetryfoundation.org. (2018, April 17). Anthracite Country by Jay Parini. Poetry Magazine.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?contentId=33548