Explication of Three Poems: Exploring Themes, Imagery, and Language

This assignment presents an explication of three poems: "The Soft Corner," "The Color of my Skin," and "The Bottled Queen." The analysis of "The Soft Corner" explores the themes of death and the soul's reaction, examining the use of alliteration and the poem's dark tone. "The Color of my Skin" delves into racial discrimination, using the metaphor of a rose to highlight societal biases based on skin color and the importance of judging based on character. "The Bottled Queen" is a sonnet that personifies a bottle of wine, attributing human characteristics to it and exploring the pleasure derived from the wine through sensory details and vivid imagery. Each poem's explication includes detailed analysis of themes, literary devices, and overall meaning, providing a comprehensive understanding of the poems' messages and artistic techniques.

Running Head: EXPLICATE A POEM
Explicate a poem
Student’s Name
University Name
Author’s Note

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EXPLICATE A POEM
The Soft Corner
The soul weeps, as her woes
At the drop of the night
When insane darkness
Witness, the dark spirits fight.
Her body is numb, the soul restless,
The plethora of pangs makes it bleed-
The vexatious voice, still fights with him-
“Don’t do this with me, I am just a kid!”
The spotless spirit was all soaked in love,
When the beast intruded her bosom,
Now the shimmering red echoes her wish
“Baby, I don’t want to live lonesome.”
Explanation: This poem exhibits the tragedy of a death. There are reflections that the death is so
vivacious that the soul is also astounded after it leaves the body. The agency of intrusion and

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EXPLICATE A POEM
vocation of death is left unrevealed for the reader to explore. The use of alliteration has been
done here for the purpose of communication between the audience and the gruesomeness of the
tragedy. The estranged use of the “soul” is evident in the use of alliteration in the first line of the
poem, itself.
The Color of my skin
If I were a rose with black petals
Would you lay me aside?
Like the snake lays down its skin-
Would my black skin tarnish my sweet essence?
If I were the rose with black petals
Would my zeal of darkness-
Cover the beauty of your hands,
Make you wander; if I am a rose at all?
If I were the rose, blessed with white petals-
Would my beauty make the pearl on your ears shy?

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EXPLICATE A POEM
Would my aura make the potion smell sweeter?
I bet you would proudly place me by the window beside your bed.
If I was only a rose,
And you had eyes with no light
Could you touch my skin to feel its color?
I wander when the first wind would bring you my fragrance
Will my anonymous color matter?
Explanation: This poem explores the theme of racial discrimination among men that is still
dominating and paralyzing the society. The discrimination is visible everywhere and stands out
as a big spoiler of falling humanity. The voice of the rose resembles the argument of the people
who are barely perceived to be humans because of their skin complexion. The use of repetation
is vividly used here in order to exhibit the difference in attitude towards the flower when, it is
black, white and when the person holding is blind. The fragrance of the rose is the representation
of the essential human features that makes a man. As it is important to judge a man by his or her
work and not by their skin color, similarly the rose should be judged by its fragrance only, not by
the complexion of its petals.

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EXPLICATE A POEM
The Bottled Queen (sonnet)
There is absolute pleasure in a bottle’s voice
As the cork pukes the essence of wine; as it is tugged out,
Nothing as wine slips its legs on the bosom of the glass-
Pleasure flames when she lingers on the lips, the throat and deeper-
The hovering darkness fades when she touches the tongue.
The candle flame makes the day,
When her face flushes, hid behind the green garb of the bottle.
Pleasure is embodied in her witty redness
The foods lay like water at her feet; bearing tokens of every lingering charm,
At each gulp, after every bite.
Her pleasure is like godliness!
That is seldom found in crowded morgues in heaven or hell!
As lovers disrobe and entangle, wine embodies with me-
With pleasure, overflowing the mirth during the night

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EXPLICATE A POEM
Explanation: This sonnet personifies the bottle and the wine in it. Human characteristics have
been provided to the bottle and the wine. The bottle finds its voice and the wine finds the
ladylike charm and “redness” in the poem.