“Smoke They Can’t Resist” Poem Analysis Term Paper

They call me the cancer stick; I am a gigantic straw,

Crack of dawn in just a flick, pleasuring is what I draw,

In an attempt so quick, I rip them out of the low,

I am branded unique; call me the savior they know,

Sun not new now is noon, my consultation needed again,

Dusk is close up comes the moon, my demand is high in vain,

But the slightest cough off the goon, panic triggered with the pain,

They must quit lest the tune, of dirges when their soul slain,

In vain they resist my call, within time wins submission,

They try from summer to fall; deep I am in blood transmission,

Doctor to conquer try them all, some escape in “good position”,

If you haven’t shopped my mall, do try please my requisition,

Many have gone and left room, others to fill in ignorance,

I spare not the bride and groom, run don’t turn; whenever the chance,

Summary

This is a poem about the struggles of trying to quit cigarette smoking. The poem explains how a person is a dependant on cigarettes all day long. People smoke to get stimulated. Whenever there is an early sign of imminent danger, smokers panic and promise to quit. They later realize that quitting is not easy as they have thought. They find themselves smoking over and over again. Desperate smokers visit doctors and experts in an attempt to help them stop the addiction.

The poem also warns people who have never tried smoking before. It warns them not to try it as many have died due to tobacco addiction that may result in ad health complications, such as lung cancer.

Figures of speech

Personification is evident throughout the poem where the cigarette takes the form of human and resembles the human characteristics, “I am branded unique, call me the savior they know,” The cigarette also records the past by knowing that people die after using it. The cigarette also lures people to use it.

Oxymoron is also used in the poem. “Gigantic straw” is something very small in size yet it is enormous in the poem. In this case, it is so huge due to its far-felt effects. Some of the effects that make cigarettes be referred to as the giant ones are a strong addiction to tobacco and lung cancer that kill many people.

The conventional symbol is used to describe the cigarette where it is referred to as the “cancer stick”. Many people associate lung cancer with cigarette smoking. Over ninety percent of cases recorded of people who suffer from lung cancer are due to smoking or being near people who smoke a lot.

This is a didactic poem; the moral of the story consists in the fact that smoking is harmful to one’s health. People die due to complications associated with tobacco smoking. Cancer does not affect a selected group of people. Anybody who smokes can succumb to it; “I spare not the bride and groom”. The poem tells us to avoid smoking “run don’t turn; whenever the chance”.

Verbal irony is used to show that some of the people who survive the harmful effects of smoking do so but have permanent scars or marks to show about it. “Some escape in “good position”,” The good position is meant to depict a poor state of health or body form.

Alliteration is used in “not new now is noon”. This is the repetition of the consonant sound ‘n’. Onomatopoeia is used in” just a flick” to resemble the sound made when one lights up a match to light a cigarette. Assonance is also used in “Doctor to conquer”. The rhyme scheme used in the poem is the same in every four consecutive lines apart from the last two ones.