Symbols, Imagery, Wordplay
Form and Meter
SyllabicYou might have read poetry where the lines are arranged by meter. Does iambic pentameter (found a lot in Shakespeare) ring a bell? You know, that confusing system of stresses, beats, and fe...
Speaker
This speaker, whoever he or she is, is an entomologist-ornithologist-psychologist-magician.Or something like that. Seriously, this speaker really knows her stuff, and she's clearly quite the observ...
Setting
It's all in your head. No, seriously—the poem doesn't take place anywhere in particular. Instead, we're given different comparisons of what the mind is like. So if we had to choose a setting, it...
Sound Check
Sure, we've got the rhyme scheme that we discuss in our "Form and Meter" section, but Moore is tinkering with a few other elements, too, in the sound booth that is this poem. One of the tricks Moor...
What's Up With the Title?
The title is a statement in sentence form (without the period). It's totally straightforward. The mind, our speaker states, is an enchanting thing. If this were an essay, the title would be the the...
Calling Card
This is not the only poem in which Moore draws information from a number of sources. She likes the bonus-point vocabulary words, and she doesn't discriminate against certain kinds of language or in...
Tough-o-Meter
This isn't a very long poem, but be sure to bring your hiking boots, parkas, and (above all) patience. Take your time with this poem and don't get discouraged. It is difficult. But after you've cle...
Trivia
As the editor of a prestigious literary magazine called The Dial, Moore was a mover and a shaker in the verse world. Her job allowed her to connect with all kinds of famous poets, including Wallace...
Steaminess Rating
Not even close to steamy.
Allusions
Herod (36): Ancient Palestinian ruler. Gieseking (6)Scarlatti (6, 32)