After RainAfter Rain ~P.K. Page~ ~P.K. Page~

By: Rimsha SyedaBy: Rimsha Syeda

Aim: Can a poem describe the Aim: Can a poem describe the overall difference between male overall difference between male

and female?and female?

Do Now:

Describe how sometimes masculinity is idealized juxtaposed to femininity.

The Brief, Overall Meaning…The Brief, Overall Meaning…“After Rain” hides its meaning deep within.

The overall meaning of it explains that a woman comes upon a ruined garden and adores the beauty that lies within:

“The snails have made a garden of green lace:

Broderie anglaise from the cabbages,

Chantilly from the choux-fleurs, tiny veils-

I see already that I lift the blind

Upon a woman’s wardrobe of the mind.”

“After Rain” also explains the eerie understanding of the strengths and weaknesses natural in masculinity and femininity. Where a woman is able to catch the beauty in a destroyed garden, the gardener, a male, sees not beauty but only a messed up garden.

WhatWhat does the first stanza mean?does the first stanza mean?

The first stanza introduces the poem with imagery of a garden. The last line, “upon a woman’s wardrobe of the mind…” enlightens that a garden blemished by snails becomes the prefecture of a woman. The woman is labeling a destructive garden as beautiful, and this shows how the woman’s mind is different from the man’s. On the other hand, the male is disturbed by the destructed garden.

How can we define the next two How can we define the next two stanzas?stanzas?

The next two stanzas concentrate also on the garden imagery. However, such lines go into a different meaning. For example, the words “female whimsy” go into a self-spontaneous analysis. The poet’s “female whimsy” is her lack of sympathy for the male who fails to see such beauty. The words “…tulle, a flimsy mesh” state the beauty of the destructed garden seen from the poet’s eyes.

How is the poet trying to get her How is the poet trying to get her message to the gardener?message to the gardener?

“O choir him, birds, and let him come to rest, within this beauty as one rests in love…” The poet is asking for the birds to communicate with Giovanni because she cannot. It restates misfortune of prejudice.

What is the deeper meaning of the What is the deeper meaning of the next stanza?next stanza?

“I suffer shame in all these images” is the opening line for a stanza. Her shame is set in in ability to sympathize for the gardener Giovanni. Giovanni happens to be the gardener for whom a garden is a plain garden and not a poem. This line can be also a self-critique. “I find his ache exists beyond my rim/and almost weep to see a broken man” is used to compare her feminized impersonality to a “broken man.”

How does the poet end the poem?How does the poet end the poem?

The last stanza closes with words that show her desire for interconnection that Giovanni “comes to rest within this beauty as one rests in love.” She wants for Giovanni to be able to see the beauty in the ruined garden the way she does. Opposite responses to the garden set the male and female on opposite ends.

What thematic poetic elements can What thematic poetic elements can we identify in “After Rain?”we identify in “After Rain?”

Imagery is the first thematic poetic element identified. It is carried out in the first two or three stanzas. You can create a picture in your mind of the garden the poet is describing. The second poetic element would be a simile. The simile can be spotted in the last stanza, line 3: “…beauty striking like a bell.” The last thematic poetic element would be symbolism, discussed in the fifth stanza, lines 1 and 2: “and let him come to rest within this beauty as one rests in love…”

What can be classified as formal What can be classified as formal poetic elements?poetic elements?

The first formal poetic element spotted is the first line in the third stanza: “I none too sober…” This line can be classified as assonance. The rhyme scheme will be discussed of the first two stanzas.

A F

B G

C H

D I

D J

E K

BibliographyBibliography

Websites used:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3683/is_200401/ai_n9406893/pg_12

http://www.bookrags.com/criticisms/P._K._Page

www.google.com (Images)