Poetry Citique

1." Epidermal Macbre" by Theodore Roethke

Indelicate is he who loathes

The aspect of his fleshy clothes, --

The flying fabric stitched on bone,

The vesture of the skeleton,

The garment neither fur nor hair,

The cloak of evil and despair,

The veil long violated byCaresses of the hand and eye.

Yet such is my unseemliness:

I hate my epidermal dress,

The savage blood's obscenity,

The rags of my anatomy,

And willingly would I dispense

With false accouterments of sense,

To sleep immodestly, a most

Incarnadine and carnal ghost.

2. I selected this poem for several reasons. I have used this poem in school before, so I thought I'd read it again and see if my interpretations of it changed. I was pretty sure I knew what it meant last year, but now I don't. I like it because it makes me think and I feel like I understand it even though I can't explain it.

3. Maybe he's trying to say this gruesome thing, whatever it is, is spreading and more nad more people are involved.

4. There is imagrey throughout the whole poem. The whole poem is a metaphor. These to devices make the poem what it is.

5. The tone is depressing and morbid.  He used words in every line to create a depressing, morbid picture.  I would say he was successful with his tone.