When trying to detect poetic devices in a poem, the best way is
to take a copy of it and to highlight any particular words or phrases that are intriguing or
stand out, then to try and work out if these phrases contain any poetic devices. Reading the poem
out loud can likewise aid in this process, as you can "hear" a number of the sound effects
created which may not be so apparent if you only read the poem. The idea is that by annotating
poems and reading them aloud we interact with them, helping us to understand them better and
"unpicking" some of the devices employed.
With this poem, there is
alliteration in the first stanza in "peasant parents" and "stingy soil." Notice as well there is
also irony in the "smart professions" that encourage "shallow breathing" as opposed to the deep,
worthy breathing of working the land, as modelled by the "average man's" parents. This division
between the worthy job of working the land which is nonetheless scorned by society and more
worthy professions is one that will dominate the poem.
The desert is
personified in stanza three, as it is pictured "glaring" into the "blood-shot eyes" of the
average man, and then we are given a paradox in stanza four:
The silence roared
displeasure...
Silence of course
cannot literally "roar," but this helps us imagine the pressue this man was under and how he felt
the expectations of his parents and the fear of failure crushing him.
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