Throughout the poems that we have studied on Irish poets, there is an overarching theme of domestic interiors, particularly in the poetry of Vona Groarke. Throughout her writing, Groarke conveys this theme while captivating the reader with her words, as they are reading and her ability to maintain the readers interest throughout her work. Her themes are dark and depressive, but she also creates a speaker (the narrator) who questions their purpose in life and wonders why life has so many struggles. It examines the burden of life and the feelings of being trapped in the life they live. Through the theme of domestic interiors, Groarke infuses human feelings in certain objects while allowing for feelings and emotions to be placed in those inanimate
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It takes the idea of power and places that into certain objects and then compares that to the feelings of one’s existence. The speaker says, “the fridge motor turns over / like the engine of a great ship / hauling me out to the spot in the ocean” (13). The speaker is thinking of the fridge in comparison to a ship and the size and power that these vehicles have. Then the speaker says, “that’s just as far from one home as the other” (13). The speaker is now thinking that the size and power of these vehicles is nothing compared to the silences that exist in everyday life. The vehicles that the speaker is thinking of are very large and loud, but are no comparison to the everyday life that she is living. In this poem, Groarke includes a lot of domestic interior objects such as a fridge, a cell phone and even a radio, to show the normality that the speaker is living in; the immenseness of these objects makes the speaker feel inadequate and trivial. This poem also imposes the idea of homesickness and longing for one’s place of origin. The feeling of power that these objects emit is enough to make the speaker long for their home. They are uncomfortable with the idea of unimportance, but long for a place of security and …show more content…
The part where she says things in poetry are not “necessarily obvious” is very accurate because the way in which one interprets a poem can vary from person to person. Each person can have their own interpretation on what different things in the poem mean. For example, in the poem ‘Oranges’, the reader can see the poem from a positive viewpoint while seeing the goodness in the speaker’s life and how the speaker is living a very overwhelming life but is able to come home everyday to a wonderful family. Another reader can see the poem more negatively by seeing the struggle that the speaker is having between the light and dark of her life but also depends on how literal the reader takes the words that are written. Some poets write very literally and base their work off of real life events, but Groarke said during her recent visit to Montclair State University that: “a challenge of being a great writer is clearing life out”. She tries not to write her poetry based not on events in her life. She wants her mind to do the work and not necessarily use personal inspiration as the basis of her
It takes the idea of power and places that into certain objects and then compares that to the feelings of one’s existence. The speaker says, “the fridge motor turns over / like the engine of a great ship / hauling me out to the spot in the ocean” (13). The speaker is thinking of the fridge in comparison to a ship and the size and power that these vehicles have. Then the speaker says, “that’s just as far from one home as the other” (13). The speaker is now thinking that the size and power of these vehicles is nothing compared to the silences that exist in everyday life. The vehicles that the speaker is thinking of are very large and loud, but are no comparison to the everyday life that she is living. In this poem, Groarke includes a lot of domestic interior objects such as a fridge, a cell phone and even a radio, to show the normality that the speaker is living in; the immenseness of these objects makes the speaker feel inadequate and trivial. This poem also imposes the idea of homesickness and longing for one’s place of origin. The feeling of power that these objects emit is enough to make the speaker long for their home. They are uncomfortable with the idea of unimportance, but long for a place of security and …show more content…
The part where she says things in poetry are not “necessarily obvious” is very accurate because the way in which one interprets a poem can vary from person to person. Each person can have their own interpretation on what different things in the poem mean. For example, in the poem ‘Oranges’, the reader can see the poem from a positive viewpoint while seeing the goodness in the speaker’s life and how the speaker is living a very overwhelming life but is able to come home everyday to a wonderful family. Another reader can see the poem more negatively by seeing the struggle that the speaker is having between the light and dark of her life but also depends on how literal the reader takes the words that are written. Some poets write very literally and base their work off of real life events, but Groarke said during her recent visit to Montclair State University that: “a challenge of being a great writer is clearing life out”. She tries not to write her poetry based not on events in her life. She wants her mind to do the work and not necessarily use personal inspiration as the basis of her