Poem 239 Page 301

"The Riddle" by William Heyen is a strong poem with a powerful message. It effectively takes the subject of the holocaust and shows it in an accusatory and critical way. The use of repetition is all over the piece. "Not I", "and some", and of course that probing query, "Who killed the Jews?" are all lines that are seen over and over again throughout. All of the repeating lines are denying their involvement, accusing involvement, and simply asking who's fault it all was. The repetition emphasizes the blame and how it travels from one person to a group to a situation. It never settles on one thing that caused the killing of innocent people in the masses. From line 14 to line 26 the list of people and things that were involved in the killing of the Jews is long and seemingly never-ending. Everyone played a part, but no one admitted it. The assumption was most likely, the more we deny, the more probable it is; and that is the reason for the repetition.

The rhyme scheme is ABCB until lines 15-24, where the list of the guilty is. The use of a rhyme scheme in poetry lets the reader have an idea of what to expect as each stanza is read. This pairs with the repetition. If the line" Who killed the Jews?" is used at the end of each stanza, it is expected that it will be present. The second line of four of the stanzas rhymes with Jews, therefore the repeated line is anticipated. This predictable line is there because of the rhyme scheme and the repetition. It helps stress and highlight the power of the poem.

I really felt something from this poem, even though it is an upsetting subject matter, the power of it makes it great. The lines 9-11 show a personal perspective to connect the speaker. The imagery of the fourth stanza is so effective and shows the ignorance of the soldiers; how they didn't help these suffering people. The answer to the riddle, who killed the Jews, is silence. The silence of the prisoners who were not allowed to speak, the soldiers who were ordered to obey Hitler, those who smelled smoke but never cried fire, all remained silent when asked the question "Who killed the Jews?". Their inability to admit their involvement caused a massive footprint, not just in the history books or burned into the minds of the survivors, but the whole universe is affected by this sadistic horror that occured. The stars, the sun, the moon, will all remember and carry this impactive event forever, specifically the freedoms taken from the prisoners "gold, shoes, skin".

Poem 203 Page 273

The poem I selected from Sound and Sense was "On Reading Poems to a Senior Class at South High" by D.C. Berry. Nothing in particular drew me to it except flipping through my poetry book. The basic idea is basically in the title, reading a poem aloud to this person's classmates at his high school. The feelings of nervousness and being unsure of what the speaker's audience will think. The structure of this poem greatly adds to the overall effect and emotions that the speaker is feeling throughout the poem. The first line, "Before" and then it goes to the next line to continue it. This pause, or line break makes the reader go through it slower and a little choppier. This shows how the person reading his or her poem is nervous and taking their time because they are unsure of the reactions they'll receive. This occurs throughout the entire poem and especially at the end where a line stands alone as a stanza.

The entire poem is one huge metaphor that's carried throughout. The metaphor of coming to life, like fish being unfrozen in a pond. The first stanza describes his classmates as frozen fish; they are all listening attentively but not engrossed in the poem. The fact that they are frozen is saying that they are alive, but not interactive, not relating quite yet. However, gradually, in the next stanza, the students started to become interested, but the reader didn't realize their interest at first, "till it [the water or the interest level] reached my ears". Moving to the third stanza, the audience is completely absorbed into the poem. The poem-reader thought he was overwhelming them ("drowning") with his poem, but they became apart of it, "opened up like gills..and let me in". "Together we swam around the room", this is my favorite line of the passage. Everyone is intertwined and becoming part of the poetry. Then the bell rings, letting all of the water and fish out into their next classes; letting the energy and the students out of class. The speaker's high continued until he was home when his cat licked him, and he came back down to reality. It's similar to "pinch me I'm dreaming". The reader was so euphoric off reading the poem so successfully that he couldn't even feel.

What I enjoyed most about this poem is the journey that it takes the reader on. It begins frozen and as it thaws it fills with energy and then calmly yet abruptly brings us back to reality. Reading or presenting is a fear that I can relate to and this is a positive experience that is rather encouraging. The excitement that the speaker felt is so great and as the reader, you kind of cheer on the nervous poet. The fact that its rewarding is simply a happy ending and that's always positive. The crescendo of the poem when everyone is in one big fish tank swimming amongst each other, is amazing and I can only imagine the unity felt throughout.