Formalist Analysis of the Naming of parts by Henry Reed

NAMING OF PARTS

BY HENRY REED

To-day we have naming of parts. Yesterday,

We had daily cleaning. And to-morrow morning,

We shall have what to do after firing. But to-day,

To-day we have naming of parts. Japonica

Glistens like coral in all of the neighboring gardens,

          And to-day we have naming of parts.

This is the lower sling swivel. And this

Is the upper sling swivel, whose use you will see,

When you are given your slings. And this is the piling swivel,

Which in your case you have not got. The branches

Hold in the gardens their silent, eloquent gestures,

          Which in our case we have not got.

This is the safety-catch, which is always released

With an easy flick of the thumb. And please do not let me

See anyone using his finger. You can do it quite easy

If you have any strength in your thumb. The blossoms

Are fragile and motionless, never letting anyone see

          Any of them using their finger.

And this you can see is the bolt. The purpose of this

Is to open the breech, as you see. We can slide it

Rapidly backwards and forwards: we call this

Easing the spring. And rapidly backwards and forwards

The early bees are assaulting and fumbling the flowers:

          They call it easing the Spring.

They call it easing the Spring: it is perfectly easy

If you have any strength in your thumb: like the bolt,

And the breech, and the cocking-piece, and the point of balance,

Which in our case we have not got; and the almond-blossom

Silent in all of the gardens and the bees going backwards and forwards,

          For to-day we have naming of parts.

          

          The poem "Naming of Parts" written by Henry Reed, is a free-versed poem. Free-verse in a way that it doesn't have rhyme within its lines and it doesn't follow any rhyme scheme. Because of the word "we", i can say that the speaker in the person uses the first person point of view. the author of the the poem also incorporated similes and a metaphor in it. There are two similes that can be found in the poem. The first one can be seen in the the fifth line of the first stanza and the other one in the second line of the fifth stanza.

           A metaphor can also be found in the poem. The word "spring" in the last line of the fourth stanza may either mean or symbolize spring of an armor or spring that signifies season. Because of this metaphor,  I can say that though the character in the poem is in the military, wherein he must be as hard as a rock, he is at the same time a nature-lover, which is the total opposite of being hard. 

           An imagery is shown in the second stanza of the poem. Here the reader can come up with an image of what is being described by the author. Since each  part was described clearly and one-by-one, this enables the reader to draw a picture of what is being described. 

           

REFERENCES:

http://www.solearabiantree.net/namingofparts/namingofparts.html