“Late February”
Ted Kooser https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/42621 I decided to write this poem in celebration of it being the end of February (and because it is about 75 degrees outside, holla). “Late February” by Ted Kooser is a poem about winter slowly transitioning into spring. The end takes a MAJOR shift that caught me completely off guard when I first read the poem. However, the shift is significant because it drives home Kooser’s point that spring tends to approach very dramatically some years, and it helps show that the stark difference between the brisk days of winter to the sunny days of spring could not be more unpredictable. In the first four lines of the poem, Kooser mentions that it is the “first warm day” and “the snow is no more.” This reveals that the area Kooser is talking about has been a cold, wintery environment up until now. Kooser wrote, “through the heaviest drifts/ rise autumn’s fallen/ bicycles, small carnivals/ of paint and chrome.” Bicycles and carnival rides that have not been used since the fall are now being utilized again for the joy they bring to their riders. Kooser is emphasizing the fact that spring and summer allow for people to enjoy the outdoors more, because the weather is more bearable than in winter. The lines “now children/ stiffened by winter/ and dressed, somehow/ like old men” refer to how kids, dressed in multiple layers of sweaters and coats, resemble old men. (Note: Kooser probably added this random line because of his own personal opinion. For some reason when he thinks of old men he thinks of grandpas dressed in multiple layers of clothing with coats and scarves, and that is a-ok. Just a nice reminder that when you are writing poetry, it is ok to make it personal and add your own viewpoint or silly line, it makes it more interesting! And now that I have drifted completely off topic...) The poem now takes a shift to a more interesting aspect--February nights. Kooser wrote, “But such a spring is brief/ by five o’clock/ the chill of sundown....” Just like Virginia is experiencing right now, February is an odd month because it has variable weather. One week there will be a blizzard, and the next it will be 80 degrees outside. The setting Kooser is trying to describe are those February days where it is uncharacteristically warm, and children can wear shorts and and drivers can roll their windows down. Now, for the ULTIMATE shift, Kooser wraps up his poem with the lines “the body of a farmer/ missing since fall/ will show up/ in his garden tomorrow/ as unexpected/ as a tulip.” It took me a while to realize that he was talking about finding a murdered body in a field. And, not only does Kooser go from talking about lovely, sunny, warm February days to a dead body in the middle of a corn field, but he even goes as far to compare finding the body to finding a tulip! Why does he do this? What is the point of this flabbergasting shift from what was a nice poem? I’ll tell ya why! Kooser cleverly added in his startling end to symbolize the dramatic oncoming of spring/the dramatic end of winter. This poem might be my new favorite from Ted Kooser, because of his clever word play. The whole poem up to the last few lines describe the beautiful, albeit quick, onset of spring to replace winter. He describes children coming out to play and snow melting on the ground. The last few lines are an astonishing, dark finish to the poem that I did not expect. In a way, his whole poem is an allegory for what he was trying to describe (did that just make any sense?). I hope that Kooser’s poem inspires all of you to take a moment to ask yourselves if spring is already here for where you live. After all, it is “Late February”....(well now it is the beginning of March, but what I am asking still applies).
2 Comments
Kerston
3/8/2017 07:32:05 am
Good job! You are so witty, I love your remarks in your post.
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Myla from WV
3/8/2017 08:00:47 am
Good job! Great analysis! I loved how you talked about the poems shift. I haven't seen anyone talk about that yet. Overall good job!
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