In all my dreams before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
The speaker jumps from the past, of the gas attack, to a present, and describes a recurring dream that he can't escape, in which the dying soldier races toward him in agony.
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning
The speaker then compares the scene to being underwater and imagines the soldier is drowning.
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime. —
The speaker describes this man as looking like someone caught in fire or lime (Lime-chemical weapon used to effectively blind opponents
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.
They are tired to the point of feeling drunk, and don't even notice the sound of the dangerous poison gas-shells dropping just behind them.
Men marched asleep
The men are so tired that they seem to be sleeping as they walk.
Many had lost their boots, But limped on, blood-shod.
Many of the soldiers have lost their combat boots, yet continue on despite their bare and bleeding feet.
Men marched asleep
The men are so tired that they seem to be sleeping as they walk.
she would open her eyes and think of the place that was hers for an hour-where she was nothing, pure nothing
She finds this brief moment in time that is the only thing that belongs to her entirely. When there, she’s not a wife or mother. She’s not expected to do anything or be anyone.
And just what was mother doing out back with the field mice?
The child believes that the mother is doing something wrong being outside, rather than inside where she's "supposed" to be all the time.
She wanted a little room for thinking: but she saw diapers
The poet is using imagery to show that no matter where the mother goes, she can’t escape the affirmation of motherhood.
he was going blind, my father sat up all one night waiting for a song, a ghost. I gave him the persimmons, swelled, heavy as sadness, and sweet as love.
In this stanza, the author describes how he gave the ripe persimmons to his father, who was going blind. His father sat up all alone one night. Then he gave him the persimmons. They were swollen and felt “heavy as sadness,” and “sweet as love.” Through these comparisons, he actually hints at his sadness and love for his aging father.
My mother said every persimmon has a sun inside, something golden, glowing, warm as my face.
The stanza before reminded the author of another memory relating to his mother. the author metaphorically connects the color of the fruit’s core to that of the sun. The simile at the end hints at the sweet relationship between the speaker and the fruit.
Mrs. Walker brought a persimmon to class and cut it up so everyone could taste a Chinese apple. Knowing it wasn’t ripe or sweet, I didn’t eat but watched the other faces.
Once Mrs. Walker brought a persimmon to the class, referring to it as the “Chinese apple.” She told one student to cut it up so that everyone could taste it. The author knew it was neither ripe nor sweet. So, he avoided taking a bite and watched the reactions of his classmates. He essentially thought to himself, that if the teacher would have asked him, he might have saved the class from having a bitter first encounter with this incredibly delicious fruit. Since she did not know the traditional way of eating the fruit either.
My mother made birds out of yarn. I loved to watch her tie the stuff; a bird, a rabbit, a wee man.
Throughout this poem, the author continues to compare his memories, and In this line, the author remembers how his mother made birds, little animals such as rabbits, and a “wee” man out of yarn.
Fight was what I did when I was frightened, Fright was what I felt when I was fighting. Wrens are small, plain birds, yarn is what one knits with. Wrens are soft as yarn.
The author talks about the words that got him into trouble. “fight” and “fright”; “wren” and “yarn.” He was aware of the meaning of the words, but he could not pronounce them properly. According to him, he describes fighting back while frightened and felt frightened during a fight. He also describes the meanings of “wrens” as “small, plain birds” and “yarn” as “one knits with”.
Donna undresses, her stomach is white. In the yard, dewy and shivering with crickets, we lie naked, face-up, face-down.
In this stanza, the author compares his memory of persimmons with the memory of an intimate moment with his lover Donna. He describes how they made love in the yard, dewy and shivering. In the silhouette, the crickets sang alongside.
evening newspaper and a cup of tea that his wife would serve him insilence
Mr. Kapasi has lost his ability to communicate with his wife, which led to him drinking his tea in silence at night. These moments start leading to a "loveless marriage" with the lack of communication.
Mrs. Das continued to polish her nails. She hadstill not removed her sunglasses
In the story, there are a lot of prime examples on the importance of communication. As the reader, you can see that the sunglasses Mrs. Das wears, represents her detachment and closeness, which makes all the attempts at communicating with her husband frustrating, which leads to hurt feelings.
. Mr. Das placed the camera to his faceand squeezed one eye shut, his tongue exposed at one comer of hismouth
Mr. Das’s camera represents how he sees the world and engages with it. Because he views the world through his camera he misses out on the reality of life.
Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried tranquilizers until hewas shot in the head outside the village of Than Kh
Ted Lavender's death is one of the central events of the story. It's a straightforward development that shows the suddenness of death.