Part 1: subject matter
The subject that will be covered in this paper is love. The poems chosen for this paper are all about love. Everything in these poems by Gary Soto revolves around love whether young love or matured love.The subject matter of the poems is a boy in two of his poems, oranges and that girl, while the subject matter of the other poem, water and light is a man. The difference between the two subjects is that, for the two poems where the subject matter is a boy, the love between the persona and the girl can be considered to be young love. For the other poem, water and light, the love between the persona and the subject, that it the woman, can be considered as old and matured love‘‘that brings a man to his wasted knees’’ (Soto, line 23). For the other poem, this line helps in showing the young love between them, ‘I looked up, gazed for what my mother and sister could not Offer, then returned to the same sentence: The Nile’ (Soto, line 37). The subject matter of the three poems does not stay consistent over time as these poems are from different collections that are from different periods of time. In the first poem oranges, the persona, a young twelve years old boy, goes to pick a girl from her home and takes her for a walk. The persona is weighed down by the oranges in his pocket that he later uses to pay for the chocolate the girl picks at the drug store, ‘With a girl, I was twelve, Cold, and weighted down With two oranges in my jacket,’ (Soto, line 2).
The persona is confident as that nickel he has cannot pay for the chocolate that the girl picks. He uses one of the oranges to pay for the chocolate, and he looks the sales lady straight in the eye without saying a word. If the persona which is the subject matter were not confident, he would not have offered to pay for the chocolate using the orange and still be calm about the issue. He later walks her back home holding her hand, which he later let go to allow her unwrap the chocolate. The girl enjoys the chocolate while the boy peels the remaining orange to eat. The boy is also a gentleman no matter how young he is. Apart from his confidence, he ensures that the girl is safe. Holding her hand through the dark streets is a sign of showing the girl that she is safe with him. He also buys her the chocolate though he cannot afford it! The other poem, that girl, helps in proving that there is no consistency with the subject matter. The boy is in the library but cannot keep up. He keeps on rereading the same sentence a number of times. The girl at the other end of the table has his attention and due to this, the boy is a bit shaken up maybe, confused and is shy too. The boy just admires the girl from far and due to this; he does not do his assignment well from the poem, he says how he will hand in an assignment that is not well presented, and he will blame the girl. He also adds that the encyclopedia that the girl is reading might be part of her assignment, and she will copy from it, and her assignment will be well presented. The comparison between the two shows that the young love between them is only one sided. Only the boy notices the girl but does not approach her. On the other hand, the girl goes about her business without paying any attention to the boy.
The boy is shy, despite his love for a girl; he still does not have the guts to face her. When the girl’s pen rolls from the table on opening her binder, the boy looks up for a while and goes back to reading the same sentence he has been reading. All the facts above depicting the lack of consistence in the subject matter between the two poems, that girl and oranges. The other poem, water and light, the lack of consistency is depicted in so many ways. This poem shows old and matured love between a man and a woman, unlike the two poems above that showed love between young people; love that is yet to mature. The man says its okay to think about the future, maybe what the future could have in place for him and the woman. Another difference in the poem is that though the love between the two was mature, it is no longer in existence. In one of the lines, the persona says that the woman was his water and light. It is put in the past tense meaning that the persona and the woman are no longer together. The line where he speaks of his jeans weeping soapy jeans is imagery of what the persona is going through. He weeps for the fact that he is no longer with his love, and that’s why he thinks of the future. That is why he comforts himself by saying that it is okay to think about the future. The difference between this poem and the other two is, therefore, depicted very well here. For the other two poems, the persona is clearly close to the girl. Though in the first poem, oranges, the persona and the girl go out and in the second poem, that girl, the persona and the girl do not go out, it can be seen they are at least close to each other. In the last poem, water and light, the person and the girl were together in the past but were not together in the present.
Part 2: form
The forms of two poems here show the writing styles of Gary Soto. In these two poems, water and light and oranges, the poet uses short sentences in though the poems are long in a way. ‘’Oranges’’ is a bit longer than ‘’water and light’’, but the sentences in each line are short. In these poems, there are no stanzas. It shows the distinction between him and some other poems, and it defines his poetry. He writes the poems as lyrics; there are no stanzas in his poems. Another form of his poems is that he uses simple, straightforward language. There is no much of vocabularies that someone has to refer to their dictionary now and then to check the meanings of most of the words. The poet does not also use many similes and metaphors in these two poems either. It shows the use of the same format in his poems. The imagery in his poems too can help one detect them from afar. He uses light imagery that the reader does not have to over think to see it.His images are rich and detailed to the letter such that the person reading the poem can connect with the poem. Everything detailed plays in the mind of the reader throughout the poem; one feels as though they are at the spot or a place with the poet. In the first poem, oranges, one can see in their mind while reading the poem how the boy goes to pick a girl and is afraid of the dog that barks at him. We can also see how he holds her hand as they walk through the dark streets. The reader can also see how the boy places the nickel and the orange on the counter and how he faces the sales lady to just prove that is he got to pay for the chocolate, and he has to get it to please the girl. In the other poem, the imagery is just the same as the one in the other poem. The reader can see how the persona stands at the backyard and prepares to set the sprinkler. The poem connects the reader to the emotions of the persona at the moment as he leans on the sprinkler after setting it, and how he starts thinking of the future. All the physical details in both poems are very articulate and good for helping the reader understand the poem.
Part 3: my response
I like Gary Soto’s poetry because he uses very simple language in his poetry I do not have to pick the dictionary now and then to get the meaning of his words. Another reason is that his poetry is straightforward. No matter the similes used or the metaphors, his works are straightforward. I do not have to think all day trying to get what he meant by using such images and similes, or metaphors for that matter. I find his poetry emotionally moving because I can connect with the persona and feel what it is they are feeling. In the third poem, water and light, I can feel the sadness of the persona as he thinks of the future. Maybe the future he could have had with a woman who is not with him anymore. I can feel how the woman was his rock as he always looked up to her. The future he thinks bout is due to the loneliness he has since the woman is not around him. In the other poem, that girl, I can feel the shyness of the persona and his discomfort due to the presence of the girl in the room. All these resonate with the feelings and the understanding I have about the world and what goes around. When one is close to the people they have feelings for, they tend do things in a different manner. For a boy in the library, he keeps on reading the same sentence over and over. When people are close to people they love, they will repeat the same chore or sentences or even actions a million times without realizing that they are doing it. As much as they want to talk to them, sometimes gathering the courage to do it, and they just prefer to sit back and suffer in silence. In the first poem oranges, all the aspects of pleasing a girl are as narrated in the poem. Men and boys together will do their level best to get the things and items that their girls and women want, even if they cannot afford them. People get loans to buy apartments and cars for their women. They will do anything, no matter what it costs them, to ensure that they please their women. The poems teach me that we should cherish the people we love and care about it while we still have them around. We should not be afraid to approach our fears as they may keep us away from what we want in life. We should also strive hard to keep what we hold dear in life because when they slip off our fingers, we will just be left to mourn and wish we had still had them in our lives.
