Symbol Analysis
Poetry comes in all shapes and sizes.. and forms. It comes in lots and lots of forms. Ordinarily, that doesn't have to be a bad thing. We know lots of good poems that follow a pre-set form to the letter. (We're looking at you, Shakespeare.) At the same time, you've got to have something to say with that form. It can't all be just fancy rhymes and meters. At least, that's the realization that poor Petit makes after he's misspent his whole life fiddling with forms and not focusing on meaningful content.
- Lines 5-6: Here we get a laundry list of forms (check out our "Detailed Summary" for a breakdown). Unfortunately, these forms all have the "same old thought," so they don't amount to a hill of dried seeds.
- Line 15: Just in case you forgot, our speaker hits you again with the same forms. There's nothing new to add here. He just wants to repeat how dull and repetitive these poems can be without anything crucial to say to the world.