19 pages • 38 minutes read
Naomi Shihab NyeThe Words Under the Words
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1995A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Literary Devices
A Free-Verse Blazon
“The Words Under the Words” is a free-verse poem. It has irregular line-breaks and irregular stanza breaks. Characteristic of much of Nye’s work, it employs a more conversational tone that mimics regular speech in most places. It is also a variation on a type of poem called a blazon. Blazons are a type of poem popular in the Renaissance. Traditional blazons come from the phrase “to blaze,” as in emblazing an image on top of a shield or a crest to decorate it. A blazon decorates a person by covering them in metaphors. Typically, a poet writing a blazon separates each part of their beloved into different parts and compares each body part to something favorable. In this variation on the blazon, Nye writes about five different aspects of her grandmother: her “hands” (Line 1), “days” (Line 6), “voice” (Line 17), and “eyes” (Line 26). However, unlike the typical blazon the speaker does not praise her grandmother’s physical appearance but rather focuses on what her grandmother does that demonstrates her wisdom and faith.
Alliteration
Alliteration is the repetition of the beginning letters of words. The alliteration in “Words Under the Words” is subtle but consistent. It starts with the repetition of “g” in the first two lines: The “g” is repeated in “grandmother,” “grapes,” and “goats,” and also buried in the word “recognize” (Line 1-2). The next three lines alliterates the “f” sound in “followed,” “find,” and “fever” (Line 3-5). By using alliteration, the poet creates a sense of unity among the words she chooses, creating a more seamless musical experience for the reader. The subtlety of the alliteration does not overwhelm the reader or call attention to itself, so the poem still mimics normal speech patterns, making it feel like a heightened, slightly more musical conversation.
Metaphor and Simile
Poets uses metaphor and simile to convey complex emotions that are difficult to relay in normal language. Similes include when Nye says her grandmother’s hands are “like cool prayers” in Line 5, and in Line 24 when she says that those the grandmother loves “fly from her like seeds into a deep sky.” Nye ends the poem with a metaphor about how “the world is nothing but rough edges / difficult to get through, and our pockets full of stones” (Line 33) if a person doesn’t hear the “words under the words” (Line 25). All of these devices convey an emotional impact for the reader, the grandmother’s attitude toward the things she sees around her, and the emotional impact she takes from circumstances.
Related Titles
By Naomi Shihab Nye
