Bronwen Wallace Common Magic
In Bronwen Wallace’s, 7 stanza poem “Common Magic”, the reader is shown different subjects’ lives and how they coincide in the same world. With each person different, along with the problems they must face, there is an unexpected sense of connection through the literary work. In Bronwen Wallace’s poem “Common Magic” the poet uses, imagery, and structure to illustrate that the world still goes on regardless of the problems you and everyone else in society may face.
Bronwen Wallace utilizes imagery, to create images in the reader's mind, to better understand that everyone’s lives are different and the world still continues even when facing problems. You are facing a problem that you cannot recognize the behavior of your best friend as her words
are “flimsy as bubbles rising / from the golden sea where she / swims sleek and exotic as a mermaid” (6-8) in result her finding a love interest. The friend being “exotic as a mermaid”(8) refers to her being something you are not accustomed to. This use of imagery helps the reader understand that ever since the best friend fell in love she was living her life differently and their relationship is no longer the same. In the poem, each subject of the stanza has their life, with their problems highlighted with the implementation of imagery. On the bus you see an “old man … [holding] a young child on his knee” (17-19) living his life as normal but “you notice his shaking hands, his need / of the child to guide him home” (26-27). This imagery emphasizes that the man faces his own problems and yet still continues life to the best he can, because there is nothing he can do to change it. Through imagery, it becomes clear to the reader that everyone's faces their own problems, in their life and relationships, but you have to continue living because the world does not revolve around you.
Wallace’s poem “Common Magic” is structured in the representation of life and how everyone's life is different than yours to contribute to the overall theme that life still continues when you are facing problems. This poem is free verse, having each stanza different and no pattern or rhyme scheme in the lines, this is the same with the topic for the individual stanzas. The subject being discussed changes from a “best friend”(1), to “the waitress”(11), to “the old man”(17), to the “old woman”(30), to “the children”(35), and then “the mechanic” (43) all while being in one poem. In our society, there are billions of people all existing in one world, just like all the people existing in one story told through a poem. With “Common Magic” being free verse it follows the flow of natural speech. This natural flow of writing is symbolic of the natural flow of life, as the poem continues with lines despite the sounds and syllables written. Bronwen Wallace made this decision to establish the calm mood of the poem, as the natural flow of voice is more calming than a rhyme would be. Overall, the free verse, natural flow structure of the poem contributes to the author’s views on that life does not revolve around you.
In conclusion, life does not just stop when you are facing a problem, there will still be events going on to experience happiness. Bronwen Wallace is writing this poem to convey that there is always positives to find in the world even when life may be hard.
Bronwen Wallace utilizes imagery, to create images in the reader's mind, to better understand that everyone’s lives are different and the world still continues even when facing problems. You are facing a problem that you cannot recognize the behavior of your best friend as her words
are “flimsy as bubbles rising / from the golden sea where she / swims sleek and exotic as a mermaid” (6-8) in result her finding a love interest. The friend being “exotic as a mermaid”(8) refers to her being something you are not accustomed to. This use of imagery helps the reader understand that ever since the best friend fell in love she was living her life differently and their relationship is no longer the same. In the poem, each subject of the stanza has their life, with their problems highlighted with the implementation of imagery. On the bus you see an “old man … [holding] a young child on his knee” (17-19) living his life as normal but “you notice his shaking hands, his need / of the child to guide him home” (26-27). This imagery emphasizes that the man faces his own problems and yet still continues life to the best he can, because there is nothing he can do to change it. Through imagery, it becomes clear to the reader that everyone's faces their own problems, in their life and relationships, but you have to continue living because the world does not revolve around you.
Wallace’s poem “Common Magic” is structured in the representation of life and how everyone's life is different than yours to contribute to the overall theme that life still continues when you are facing problems. This poem is free verse, having each stanza different and no pattern or rhyme scheme in the lines, this is the same with the topic for the individual stanzas. The subject being discussed changes from a “best friend”(1), to “the waitress”(11), to “the old man”(17), to the “old woman”(30), to “the children”(35), and then “the mechanic” (43) all while being in one poem. In our society, there are billions of people all existing in one world, just like all the people existing in one story told through a poem. With “Common Magic” being free verse it follows the flow of natural speech. This natural flow of writing is symbolic of the natural flow of life, as the poem continues with lines despite the sounds and syllables written. Bronwen Wallace made this decision to establish the calm mood of the poem, as the natural flow of voice is more calming than a rhyme would be. Overall, the free verse, natural flow structure of the poem contributes to the author’s views on that life does not revolve around you.
In conclusion, life does not just stop when you are facing a problem, there will still be events going on to experience happiness. Bronwen Wallace is writing this poem to convey that there is always positives to find in the world even when life may be hard.