The poem is a story and like many other stories the brain
connects images and memories with certain words. Although this poem is a big analogy,
you can still see the images. "feeds me bread of bitterness...sinks into
my throat her tiger's tooth" I can imagine a poor man not having enough to
eat after much misfortune (the bread of bitterness) and constantly being kicked
down by the economy and others around him (the tigers tooth). You see the
author is powerful and doesn't let anything push him down. "flows like
tides into my blood...giving me strength..."bigness sweeps me like a
flood." can visually see the "tides" or perseverance into his
blood, giving him the strength to overcome his fears and accomplish something
in the vast land of opportunity, (bigness sweeps me) America, something as big
and powerful as a flood.
The sound devices in this poem are
very subtle but you are still able to identify them. With the line
"stealing my breath of life" I can hear the sound of somebody getting
the wind knocked out of them. A man who has been beaten down so many times, so
abruptly, that it's taking away one of the simplest acts of life, breathing.
Sound devices can also be the same as personification. "Of terror, malice,
not a word of jeer." This is saying that his fear is making fun of him. I
would consider this a sound device over imagery, because I can make out the
sound of a little kid, calling names and "jeering" at others.
To me, the whole poem is a figure of
speech. He is personifying America. There are many analogies and examples of
these things such as "Giving me strength erect against her hate." You
can see America is a "she" who as difficult as "she" is
gives him the motivation to be better because he knows there's opportunity out
there. There's another example of personification later on, "Beneath the
touch of Time's unerring hand", is making time a person, comparing time to
someone who is stubborn and changes for nobody. These are all important as they
add to his view on the wonder and adventure of America.
