"My Erotic Double" by John Ashbery
from The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Poetry, pages 284-285
1. The speaker speaks to and about another character. The double speaker seems unique in the context of Ashbery's other poems.
2. The beginning of each line is capitalized although the lines before it are not punctuated. The speaker does not complete the thought.
3. Uses words such as: Behind, Between and Before. Time and place shift several times.
4. The line "Throw some away, keep others." exemplifies simple language.
5. The speaker and other character have a conversation at the end without quotations. "Thank you" and "Thank you". A nice polite exchange.
6." hide, shade, protected" all suggest safety or danger.
7. Repeats "feeling" three times. This is contrasted with the use of "thinking" at the end of the poem.
8. Short, clipped sentences are used in relation to long, descriptive sentences.
9. "go-around, afloat, shot-through" are all types of movement. This poem seems occupied with physical movement and mental movement.
10. Latin words, like "pleasant" contrast with the more Germanic words in this poem. The Latin words seem fake in relation to more concrete images.
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