In "The Groundhog," Richard Eberhart uses eloquent diction to reflect the changing perceptions and emotions the speaker has towards the decaying groundhog. Also, his use of vivid imagery allows the reader a greater sense of the actual metamorphosis of the dead groundhog. We follow the speakers many shifts in sentiment as the poem continues.
The speaker has stumbled across a groundhog "lying dead" in the ground. He claims his "senses shook" and his frailty shown through. It is now that this metamorphosis began. His initial emotion is that of great sorrow and anguish over the ferociousness that nature has done on the groundhog. The speaker says it "made my senses waver dim," to show how upset this loss of life has made him. He uses words like "maggots might" and "seething cauldron" to express the grotesqueness of the scene. And again, he states his minds turmoil, "half loathing, half with strange love." This is a potent theme in this poem: the authors tumult over the sight of the groundhog. Why in a scene of blood is he both saddened and joyous. He conveys this anguish with his strong diction, "Trying to control, to be still, to quell the the passion of the blood," and "praying for joy in the sight of decay.".
On line 29, the speaker shifts to an emotionless state. This is far contradictory to the previous lines where he was greatly afflicted by the sight of the dead groundhog. This shift happens as the season changes from summer to autumn. The speaker expresses his detachment from the groundhog with statements of "lost it's meaning," and " lost both love and loathing." He uses images of "bony sodden hulk," and "sap gone out" to express the change in the groundhogs decrepit appearance. This is the midst of his metamorphosis.
Again we have a shift on line 33. In the following lines the speaker has returned to his grief - stricken state. This shift also happens when the season turns again to summer.
All of these themes can be found in the modern day film "Groundhog Day". ... We all live our Groundhog Day cycles. ... "Groundhog Day" was a perfect story with which to end this semester, if only for one flaw. ... To adequately fit the themes we discussed this semester (not to mention a better ending, period), Phil would continue to live out Groundhog Day for the rest of eternity. ...
Groundhog Day , starring Bill Murray, is a film about a television weatherman named Phil who relives the same day, 2 March, over and over again. ... This realisation is, in part, brought out by supernatural forces in Groundhog Day and by a manager's harsh words in A & P . However, in each work, the female protagonist, Rita in Groundhog Day and the character nicknamed 'Queenie' in A & P , acts as a catalyst, inspiring and motivating the main character to change. ... In Groundhog Day , Sammy refers to his customers as "pigs" and "sheep". ... Once the change has been completed h...
This idea of sleep is furthered through the introduction of the woodchuck (groundhog) which is known for its hibernation; the speaker states that he would wish to hibernate like a groundhog. It is known that winter has already started thus putting in to question what the speaker wants from the already hibernating groundhog. This creates a fallacy within the speaker's thought processing, perhaps he does not want hibernation as a groundhog does. ...
The social message of the play is shown by the physical representation of the Birlings" household and contrasted with reports of the desperate attempts of the workers to increase their poor wages and drab lives; lives forced upon them by the Crofts and Birlings of this world. The Inspector cham...
Cholera Cholera is an acute, diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The infection is often mild or without symptoms, but sometimes it can be severe. Approximately one in 20 infected persons has severe disease characterised by profuse watery d...
What if a demon enters your room and tells you that you must live every day of your life as you lived them a million times before and will live them a million times more, each day exactly the same (not like in the moving Groundhog Day, but more like a "Ground Hog" Life, only you would not remember the pervious lives). ...
The traditional "good" woman has many stereotypical characteristics. She doesn't talk to men first and doesn't ask them to dance but waits for them to approach her. Rushing into sex never happens. In fact, more than casual kissing on the first date is a rarity. If you want to get into the extreme stereotype, you can go the way of June Cleaver. ...
