Young” and “The Bean Eaters” Analysis

The poems “Young” and “The Bean Eaters” are both poems that tell very different stories but both hold a special meaning. Both poems are different examples of figurative language and both either have at least have one similar example. For instance, “The Bean Eaters” and “Young” both have an example of hyperbole since in Young says “a million of leaves sailed on there strange stalks” and in The Bean Eaters it states that there was “crumbs, receipts,etc’” covering every corner of the old couples single bedroom.

An hyperbole is an exaggeration and I feel like both authors exaggerated a little bit just to give the story a bit of detail and also an example of imagery. Both poems have at least one person who is observing the scenery around them. For example, in Young Anne Sexton, the author, wrote about a memory she made as a child and as she explained it she gave very descriptive details and explained everything very realistically.

In the poem “Young” the author had an example of a simile and personification. A simile is when two unlike things are compared together using the words “like” or “as. ” In Young she uses “white as wax” to describe the boards of the house. The boards of the house and wax are totally different things that are nothing alike but she compares them together to give the reader a better image. Personification is when you give an object or animal human characteristics. In the poem Anne gave heat a human characteristic by saying the “heat was running out. ” Theres no possible way heat can run out because it isn’t a person and can’t run since its obviously doesn’t have legs. In the poem “The Bean Eater” the author Gwendolyn Brooks has examples of onamatopoeia and alliteration. Onamatopoeia is a word to describe or imitate a sound made by an animal or action. In the poem onamatopoeia is used when she describes a table with “creaking wood. ” Since she used the word creaking you can actually hear somewhat how it sounds just by saying the word “creaking” aloud. Alliteration is when the same initial letter, sound, or group of sounds is in a series of word. I noticed alliteration at the very end of the poem when the author wrote remembering twice and used the letter T twice with “twinkling and twinges.