Poetry Essay #2

May Swenson utilizes powerful and unique imagery while also expressing two different point of views throughout her entire poem known as "The Centaur".

During the beginning of the poem the reader finds that the author is looking back at her childhood.  She is specifically reminiscing on when she used to ride her favorite horse.  The author then makes the transition from adulthood to childhood.  By making such a swift change in point of views the reader must take into consideration that the author most likely did this on purpose to relay the idea of just how important her childhood was to her.  By the end of the poem the author is reminded by the powerful presence of her mother.  The emotion of the author as a little girl is completely changed when she come in contact with her mother.  Her words and actions become more restricted, "Go tie your hair, said my mother, and Why is your mouth all green?"  From this quote the reader understands that the author had to completely change her point of view in the poem to correlate towards the treatment she received from her mother.

Swenson's use of imagery only adds another dimension to her vivid poem.  "My head and my neck were mine, yet they were shaped like a horse."  This quote represents Swenson's most unique imagery in that she expresses to the reader that she herself has become the horse or that the horse and her have become one.  The reader is left with the only one idea and that is the belief in just how connected the author is with her horse.  "I had cut me a long limber horse with a good thick knob for a head, and pealed him slick and clean."  Here the author is describing her creation of a wooden horse with the use of her brother's knife.  Yet the reader gets a sense that the author is also describing the outer appearance of her own horse through the creation of her wooden one.  Through her animated imagery Swenson truly captures the reader in a world where anything and everything can happen.

"The Centaur" accurately represents the passion that Swenson had for her horse through colorful imagery and a dynamic point of view.  Without these core literary techniques the poem would not have been able to richly define the thoughts and beliefs of May Swenson.