Happiness By Raymond Carver

“Happiness” by Raymond Carver tells of a person who observes the sights of an early morning, and contemplates the meaning of happiness shown through the items he sees. To express his opinion on what happiness is, Carver utilizes several poetic devices that help the reader to understand the underlying meaning of his poem; that of which include: enjambment, alliteration, and allusion.
The grammatical techniques that the author uses in the poem, enjambment and alliteration, serve to create a tone that influences the audience to the point where he or she feels a strong connection to the poem. The use of enjambment is very integral to the poem and the poem’s value as a moral. Carver uses enjambment to append separate examples for similar ideas; and is used on almost every line, which is an example …show more content…
It says that love, death, and ambition (three of life’s greatest stressors) don’t enter into happiness, meaning that true happiness is free of these worries; and creates an atmosphere for the reader where they feel the same way. Nonetheless, the idea of separation for excitation is key to not giving the reader a predictable poem to read, and will further intrigue the audience. The other technical poetic device is the use of alliteration; which can usually be overlooked, but is very integral to this poem as it is on nearly every line as well. The main alliterative sound is “th” and it comes up every time the poet is talking about a representation of happiness. The first example is when the poem reads, “I think if they could, they would take / each other's arm.” This is important to recognize because he realizes that the boys are probably gay for eachother, and finds that to be a source of happiness. As noted above, love can be a large factor of stress in life; and when there is no obstacle to avoid, such as antigay