Question

The poetic effect is achieved in the poem through understatement and asides. Discuss this with examples.

Answer 1

The effect that an understatement or an aside creates is the vivid visual imagery that descends in the reader's mind while reading the poem. It brings the reader in resonance with the poet's mood while composing. The reader is overwhelmed with the setting through which the poet captivates the reader's mind. Thus, the work of these adjectives is to not just beautify but to create the image of the plot. The details of the background and other surroundings, the details about the characters that infuse the mind of the reader so that it all appears lucid to imagine and feel what the poet probably felt or is trying to convey through her/his creation.

When the poet details the environment like “on a broken window pane” and the rest, an image is imparted of the house the characters live in. The emotional effect is created when the narrator recalls “the man she loves who happened to be me” amidst the argument, it makes it clear that no matter how many debates or discussions happen the bond between a husband and wife is eternal and can not be challenged. The poet does not forget the little one around and his body language, he describes keenly. How with “his small legs well apart” he demanded his mother with dinner. The little boy is growing up, his body language reflects his attitude; “his crescent-moon-like chin uplifted eyes hard and cold” display his determination. These all draw images cascading in the mind along while one reads the poem.