“Flying at Night”
Ted Kooser http://www.tedkooser.net/excerpts/flyingAtNight.html Ted Kooser’s poem, “Flying at Night” is, ironically, about lights, not a plane as I had at first expected. This poem is similar to his other works in the sense that he remains very metaphorical and incorporates the beauty of space. His poem is not very long, only eight lines, so I will try to go as in depth as I can with it. The beginning line, “Above us stars. Beneath us, constellations” at first, seems to provide the celestial planet of earth as a visual, surrounded by both stars and constellations in the depth of space. However, as I read on, I can see that Kooser has a different visual in mind that will only make sense by the last line. The next couple of lines, “Five billion miles away, a galaxy dies/ like a snowflake falling on water” is Kooser’s description of a supernova. A supernova is the explosion of a dying star that often happens millions of light years away from earth itself. It is interesting because he compares it to a snowflake falling on water. What good is this? As it turns out, Kooser is simply trying to make a point through this simile to say that even though supernovas constantly explode around us, we cannot feel it (because earth is too far away to receive any significant effects). To us, a supernova is just as gentle as a snowflake falling on water. We may feel the tiny ripples, but they will be unnoticeable and insignificant. Kooser’s next few lines are, “some farmer, feeling the chill of that distant death/ snaps on his yard light, drawing his sheds and barn/ back into the little system of his care.” Kooser provides a contrast here between the immense, radiant explosion of a supernova and a farmer’s small light. We cannot feel the effects of a supernova, but we can see the farmer’s light, even though it is much less powerful. The last line in the poem says, “All night, the cities, like shimmering novas/ tug with bright streets at lonely lights like his.” I think what Kooser is trying to explain here, is that the farmer’s light is rather insignificant, like the supernova to the farmer, compared to the city’s lights. The farmer’s light is swallowed up by the radiance of the entire city, so that you can no longer distinguish which one is his. Referring back to the first line, that is why I think Kooser was not talking about earth as a planet, but rather some object (whether it be a plane or a bird) flying over a city. Above us, there are stars, but below us there are constellations. It only seems this way because the lights from a city undermine the brightness of the stars, so a person can no longer feel the effects of the alluring night sky. Maybe this was Kooser’s reason for writing this poem. He was explaining the frustration that any stargazer who lives in a city feels. The stunning, mysterious night sky cannot be seen or felt through the incandescence of a bustling city. However, as Kooser wrote, flying at night over a city looks like a constellation in itself and anyone who stargazes will not be disappointed.
3 Comments
DJ from WV
1/11/2017 07:56:00 am
I would like to start off by saying I LOVE your blog's name! Very clever! I also enjoyed the fact that I saw Spongebob and Patrick when I first opened your blog. Nothing like some good, clean fun. Now, on to the serious stuff. I thought your analysis of the poem was very thought out and clever I understand the poem clearly now because of your analysis. I also thought that your vocabulary is strong. Nice job!
Reply
Alyssa from SHS
1/13/2017 05:13:37 am
Hey Kelly! I'll be honest, after I first read your poem I had basically no idea what it meant; thankfully your analysis cleared everything up. This poem, because of the hugeness of objects the author talks about, made me feel rather insignificant. However, it also reminded me how cool of a world we live in. I really love the line from your analysis, "incandescence of a bustling city" because I immediately knew what you meant. Thanks for broadening my horizons through this poem and analysis!
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
March 2017
Categories |