Words With Impact: Direct Language Nuance

Workshop: Discover Words That Sing

“All the poet can do is warn. That is why true poets must be truthful.” Wilfred Owen

Recognizing and Developing Implicit and Explicit Language

Read the following poem Emplumada, from the University of Pittsburg Press. As soon as you finish, write down a journal response of your immediate thoughts and feelings—no analysis—just your immediate reaction.

Emplumada

BY LORNA DEE CERVANTES

When summer ended

the leaves of snapdragons withered

taking their shrill-colored mouths with them.

They were still, so quiet. They were

violet where umber now is. She hated

and she hated to see

them go. Flowers

born when the weather was good - this

she thinks of, watching the branch of peaches

daring their ways above the fence, and further,

two hummingbirds, hovering, stuck to each other,

arcing their bodies in grim determination

to find what is good, what is

given them to find. These are warriors

distancing themselves from history.

They find peace

in the way they contain the wind

and are gone.

Would you classify this poem as using implicit or explicit vocabulary? Back up your opinion with examples. For instance:

Literal—explicit: two hummingbirds, hovering,

Figurative—implicit: They find peace

 Is the use of nature metaphors effective or not? Why?

Action Steps:

1. Take a few lines that are explicit and implicit and reverse them to be contrary.

2. In what way does the power of the phrases diminish in expression?

Share: What other metaphor concept other than nature could this poem be spoken in? Why or why not?

Read deep, marcy