"Naming of Parts"

Mattie Cannon

Waddington

“Naming of Parts”

9 September 2009

Henry Reed, “Naming of Parts”

1.The language in the first half of the stanzas isn’t as pretty as the second half of the stanzas. First half, “And this/ is the upper sling swivel, whose use you will see.” Compared to the language in the second half of the stanza, “The branches/ hold in the gardens their silent, eloquent gestures.” As you can see, the language in the second half of the stanza leaves a lot more room for imagery, and it sounds a lot more beautiful.
The language in the first half of the stanzas is also a lot more direct than the second half. First half, “And this you can see is the bolt.” Compared to the second part of the stanza, “The early bees are assaulting and fumbling the flowers.” The second line leaves more room for different interpretations compared to the example from earlier in the stanza. The first three and a half lines of the stanzas also seem a lot more colloquial compared to the last two and a half lines.

2. In the first half of the stanza, he is describing how to use a gun, and the soldiers in World War II. The way that Reed “names” things, he makes it sound like a very simple poem in the first three and a half lines. Compared to the last two and a half lines in the stanzas, he is describing nature: the bees, branches, flowers, and blossoms. Then in the last stanza he combines all of these into the last two and a half lines.
These two descriptions show differences in language by using two different tones. The first half of the stanzas isn’t very touching, or deep. Whereas the second half of the stanza make these objects seem real. Example: “The branches/ hold in the gardens their silent, eloquent gestures.” Branches don’t make gestures but the way Reed structures his lines, he makes it sound normal. The first lines in the stanzas also don’t feel as emotional as the last two and a half, since they are direction about how to use a gun. They seem a lot more dull, and straightforward, and I think the last two and a half stanzas really help to keep the poem moving.

3. In the first stanza, the phrase “and today we have naming of parts,” shows up twice. But the word “parts” is what caught my eye. In the first half of the stanza, “parts” is leaning towards the side of naming parts of an object (the gun), whereas the second “parts” seems to be more towards naming parts of a garden, or objects in a garden.
In the third stanza, the word “finger” appears twice. In the first half of the stanza, it’s relating to a persons actual finger on their hand. Compared to the second time it is used, it’s relating to the blossoms.
In the fourth stanza, “backwards and forwards” is used twice. In the first half of the stanza, it is referring to the bolt that helps to open up the breech. Whereas in the second half of the stanza, “backwards and forwards” is referring to the bees, and how they are quickly moving backwards and forwards between flowers to pollinate them. The bees have to fight for their own flowers, which is why they must move quickly.

4. I think Reed is trying to point out that a poem can consist of almost anything. One poem can have more than one type of language in it, and still sound/move well. Even if part of the poem is colloquial, and the other half of the poem isn’t, it doesn’t matter. As long as the writer finds a way to keep the poem moving, he can write whatever he/she wants.


Work Cited
Reed, Henry. “Naming of Parts.” An Introduction To Poetry. 12th ed. Ed. X.J. Kennedy,
Dana Gioia. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. 500. Print.