Poems

The poem that was chosen was “Stone” by Charles Simic. Charles Simic argues that it is better to be as simple as a stone, than being energetic and some other kind of creature or object that has action in its life. The narrator is telling us that his idea of perfection or tranquility is being a stone, lying there, doing nothing for eternity. He prefers this over being something like a tiger or something with action. In the beginning of the poem, Charles Simic says the he would go straight to doing something, rather than taking the time to think about what he is doing. “Go inside a stone, that would be my way”. Charles Simic also claims that he would prefer being a stone over being any type of animal or part of an animal that has specific meaning to it. “Let somebody else become a dove, or gnash with a tiger’s tooth, I am happy to be a stone.” Some of the key words in the first paragraph of the poem are my way, which is telling people how he would prefer it that he does what he wants to do and not let anyone tell him what he has to do. Another key statement is Let somebody else become... This shows that that he wants to let other people do more complicated things and have them do all the work.

In the middle of the poem, Simic says that a stone is very complicated. It has a hard to understand outer surface and an easy understanding of what can be in the center of the stone. “From the outside of a stone is a riddle: no one knows how to answer it. Yet within, it must be cool and quiet.” The next line states that the stone can be indestructible or invincible because it can last throughout any punishment given to the stone. “Even though a cow steps on its full weight, even a child throws it in a river, the stone sinks slow, unperturbed.” Some of the key parts of the middle section of the poem are when simic compares the outside of the stone to the inside of the stone. This description of the parts of the stone show that Simic makes something that looks so simple,