07-05-2014, 02:12 AM
BJM,
I get that these homeless people/winos live in cardboard boxes which melt in the rain and that is juxtaposed to rainless beaches that people leave, that it could be ironic. It could be ironic because the beach dwellers give up the sunny beach to go on vacation, probably in New York, where it is raining on these cardboard houses. It could be ironic that rain is toxic for someone living in a cardboard box. The problem for me is that irony does not necessarily translate into something significant simply because it is ironic. Irony can not be it's own end, anymore than metaphor, or rhyme.
I don't know if it makes much sense to say that they have been displaced by others, as that is not generally the cause of their plight. You could have said that about hobos during the great depression, but not in this instance. There is a high level of ambiguity in the statement:
"reflecting their sad faces"
It was only the fourth read I realized that the raindrops reflected the sad face of the person in the "box", not that the raindrop had a sad face. I think this level of ambiguity permeates the entire poem. It begins with "blanketed street dwellers" who become people living in boxes without any transition. A blanketed street dweller could be the same as someone who lives in a cardboard box, but they are not synonymous, so initially it gives the impression that the speaker is talking about two separate groups of people.As this is mild critique, I should probably end here.
Dale
I get that these homeless people/winos live in cardboard boxes which melt in the rain and that is juxtaposed to rainless beaches that people leave, that it could be ironic. It could be ironic because the beach dwellers give up the sunny beach to go on vacation, probably in New York, where it is raining on these cardboard houses. It could be ironic that rain is toxic for someone living in a cardboard box. The problem for me is that irony does not necessarily translate into something significant simply because it is ironic. Irony can not be it's own end, anymore than metaphor, or rhyme.
I don't know if it makes much sense to say that they have been displaced by others, as that is not generally the cause of their plight. You could have said that about hobos during the great depression, but not in this instance. There is a high level of ambiguity in the statement:
"reflecting their sad faces"
It was only the fourth read I realized that the raindrops reflected the sad face of the person in the "box", not that the raindrop had a sad face. I think this level of ambiguity permeates the entire poem. It begins with "blanketed street dwellers" who become people living in boxes without any transition. A blanketed street dweller could be the same as someone who lives in a cardboard box, but they are not synonymous, so initially it gives the impression that the speaker is talking about two separate groups of people.As this is mild critique, I should probably end here.
Dale
How long after picking up the brush, the first masterpiece?
The goal is not to obfuscate that which is clear, but make clear that which isn't.
The goal is not to obfuscate that which is clear, but make clear that which isn't.