Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Soft by Kay Ryan

In harmony with the rule of irony-
which requires that we harbor the enemy
on this side of the barricade - the shell
of the unborn eagle or pelican, which is made
to give protection till the great beaks can harden,
is the first thing to take up poison.
The mineral case is soft and gibbous
as the moon in a lake - an elastic,
rubbery, nightmare water that won't break.
Elsewhere, also, I see the mockeries of struggle,
a softness over people.

Analysis 
A word to note is gibbous, which is a phase of the moon that is more than half, but not yet full. Or having a hump.

In this poem, Ryan utilizes oxymorons and diction to create a critical, if not somewhat bitter tone through the poem.

The poem opens with an oxymoron, setting the tone for the rest of the poem: "In harmony with the rule of irony" There is no harmony in irony, so this suggests complacency and weakness and because of the "harmony" it also indicates a lack of change. The "we" in the second line most likely represents Americans, or Westerner's because Kay Ryan herself is American. Therefore, "the enemy" can be anything the reader sees as threat to the US. The shell represents the nation as a community. The two parties that we harbor, "the unborn eagle or pelican" represent the good and bad we protect. The irony of a soft "mineral case" is intended to mock the strength of our laws and the enforcement of the laws. Those who we defend are the first to "take up poison" is a direct attack at the flaws of the institution. 

The image of water is distorted in this poem, usually seen as cleansing and healing, Ryan describes it as rubbery,  a "nightmare water that won't break". The water here is symbolic of the court system, that fails to protect the innocent and incarcerate the guilty. The use of oxymorons represents the backward problems addressed in the poem. 

Finally, the speaker says "I see the mockeries of struggle, a softness over people". As long as people fail to correct these problems, we will remain soft, in this case, a negative and a warning. 

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