A List of Some Observation by

A list of some observation

A list of some observation. In a corner it's warm.

A glance leaves an imprint on anything it's dwelt on.

Water is glass's most public form.

Man is more frightening than its skeleton.

A nowhere winter evening with wine. A black

porch resists an osier's stiff assaults.

Fixed on an elbow the body bulks

like a glacier's debris a moraine of sorts.

A millennium hence they'll no doubt expose

a fossil bivalve propped behind this gauze

cloth with the print of lips under the print of fringe

mumbling "Good night" to a window hinge.

by Joseph Brodsky

http://www.shigeku.org/xlib/lingshidao/waiwen/brodsky.htm

Small bio

Josep Brodsky was born in Leningrad, Russia on May 24, 1940, Joseph started writing poetry in his teenage years. He was charged with "social parasitism" by the Soviet authorities, who sentenced him in 1964 to five years of labor. The sentence was later altered and shortened. Brodsky was exiled from his country in 1972 and immigrated to the U.S. He won the Nobel Prize in 1987 and was poet laureate from 1991 to '92. He died on January 28, 1994.

Summary

The speaker of the poem is the author himself.  Brodsky is trying to aim at the public to bring out a point about hidden secrets.The author states a list of observations that he makes about general life. For example, “ In a corner it's warm.A glance leaves an imprint on anything it's dwelt on.Water is glass's most public form.Man is more frightening than its skeleton.”  Then, the author introduces the idea of a “millennium” being able to discover a fossil(symbol) that says “Goodnight” and leaves lip prints on a window.

Imagery and Figurative Language

Brodsky uses touch, eyesight, and hearing in his poem to introduce his thoughts and ideas. The author uses simile, personification, symbolism, and metaphors in his poem as a way of conveying the theme of the poem. When the author states his observations, he says “A glance leaves an imprint on anything it's dwelt on.”  Your mark is being left when you take a glimpse at any secret.

As the author gets to his point theme, he is sending messages to the reader that he is telling a secret or forbidden information. For example,”Water is glass's most public form.” This metaphor is telling the reader that a truth is about to be said. It adds to the overall point that the author is making about the complete truth truth

Part of the author’s ending point is “A millennium hence they'll no doubt expose

a fossil bivalve.” The author is trying to say that a person of early generations is determined to find the truth that has not been told in the past. For Example, lies or secrets that governments have kept from the people.

Tone

Brodsky’s tone in this poem can vary from the type of words he has chosen. His tone changes when you analyze the poem as a whole and not as singular parts. As singular parts the tone shifts from secretive to reflective.  He used a remorseful tone overall.

Theme

My interpreted theme to “A list of some observation”, is that truths and secrets always end up being revealed. The starting observations of the author in this poem really tells the reader that he is urging to reveal the truth. Find the hidden truth of what has been kept from the public. The dark secrets that are eventually obvious to the people. Uncover the overall lies that have made people believe the worst false facts.

Aspects Noticed

Joseph Brodsky structured this poem on one stanza. All of which had sentences centering the idea of truth or reveal of the truth. It can be concluded that Brodsky only made this poem one stanza because his message or theme was central in all of the sentences. The ideas of every single sentence revolved around his message or theme. Brodsky tied together all his ideas to his final message, making the structure of the poem valid.

The poem has a build up that leads into the final message. The sentences get longer as the poem progresses and evolves. His observations get deeper as the poem goes on.