Analysis of "Disillusionment of Ten O'Clock"

The poem "Disillusionment of Ten O'Clock" by Wallace Stevens is found on page 410 of Sound and Sense 11. This poem is a general critique of the mundane, boring existence of most people in society. Repetition, diction and juxtaposition add this meaning to the poem.

The way that the author creates the hoe-hum feeling of most of society is through the repetition of the plainness of it all, beginning with
"The houses are haunted
By white night-gowns." Sure, ghosts can be exciting, but in this sense it is referring to the whiteness of the gowns. In general, ghosts are not considered to be happy entities, forced to remain on earth because they could not accomplish something. The eternity of this painful situation matches nicely to the author's attitude of the standardization of the world. The fact that ALL of the houses' occupants are wearing the same garb shows us the conformity of society. The fact that it is all white shows us not only conformity, but boringness, and the fear of standing out.
"None are green,
Or purple with green rings,
Or green with yellow rings,
Or yellow with blue rings.
None of them are strange,
With socks of lace
And beaded ceintures." This repetition is showing that there are so many different possiblites, but not a single one is taking place. The listing really exhausts any possiblity for difference, and the implies the absurdity that there are "only white nightgowns". Interesting also is the author's use of the word strange. Usually used in a negative way, the implications of this poem show it as positive, not usually what people think, adding to the persuasiveness of the poem. However this is where the contrast, the "weird person" comes in. Noting that it's only "here and there", meaning there are only a few of these "outcasts", contrasting to the ghosts that are in ALL of the houses. The regular people are not dreaming of "baboons and periwinkles", but the sailor, the representative of anyone living a non traditional lifestyle, is dreaming of catching tigers in red weather. The sailors dreams include color, contrasting again to the colorlessness of the "ghosts". It is also implied that the sailor is happy, when compared to the description of the ghosts.

Well when I first read this poem, my inital idea was that it showed how at night, all the distractions and lies of society are stripped away,and we are left to deal with our purest thoughts, however much you don't want to think of them. I used the repetition of the not strangeness to strengthen the purity of what I call "night-thinking" So the lack of the imagination idea is better, but that was my initial reaction. In general, I liked the simple language, and relaxed attitude. The poem had a very gentle feel to it, unlike in the Mill where the tension in the words did not match the words themselves, creating even more tension. It described things like socks and lace, nice usual things I suppose I found comfort in, even though that seems to be what this poem is against.

Analysis of "The Mill"

"The Mill" by Edwin Arlington Robinson is on page 395 of Sound and Sense 11. "The Mill uses a grim tone as well as morbid diction to portray the hopelessness of this transitional time in history, when modernization began to take precedence over human life. The miller, after losing his job, loses his identity, and hangs himself in his mill. His wife, finding him hanged, drowns herself. This poem thoroughly portrays the hardships of working life, especially when one has nothing to live for. It also brings up the insignificance of the individual, and the hopelessness we can all experience.

"The Mill" is a dark poem with a seemingly uncaring tone. Yet, this uncaring, cold tone, forms the base for the theme. . Yet the speaker finds no need to over explain anything that occurs. The simplicity of the diction, cold, warm, dead, creates the matter of fact poem. As if a computer reading an article about the brutal deaths of a husband and wife, the speaker says what happened, and nothing more. This simplicity, no names are given, and the situatino explained, is to show that these people really didn't matter. This is the feeling of so many people, there's no use getting hyped up over this one couple. This hopelessness, being a theme of the poem, is brought about mainly by this tone. The tone does not match up with the buildup provided, creating the shock of the reader, who may not have expected these deaths based on the simple word choice and rhyming method. The other technique used to stress the theme of the poem is the grim diction used. In the first stanza, an extreme sense of nervousness is created for the reader, as the incredible length the husband has been gone for, coupled with hopelessness of his last statement leads to imagining the worst. The "cold tea" and "dead fire" add to the death and lost time motifs. "Sick with a fear that had no form", of course adds to the anxiety. However, a contrast is made. The phrase "the warm and mealy fragrance of the past" suggests past comforts that only have hints of remaining, and juxtaposes the current condition of death and cold. The last stanza including "dark", "night'', and "black water", contains one of the most poignant themes of the poem. The insignificance of each one of u s.

"Black water, smooth above the weir
Like starry velvet in the night,
Though ruffled once, would soon appear
The same as ever to the sight."

I'll admit, the reason I read this was because it was about a miller, something my ancestors must have been at some point. While no one likes dark and sad poems, I really liked how the poet brought out the darkness and hopelessness in "The Mill". I was also really surprised- the rhyming of poems always makes me take them less seriously, and the language of the poem wasn't really helping, but the content completely contrasted this, and is powerful in this way. One of the poems I most remember is "Terrence this is stupid stuff", and I like to apply the theme of that poem to every "sad poem", using it as a learning experience.