Larry Levis's poem "Adolescence" is a rambling yet descriptive poem about looking back on his own teen-age years. In his mind, these years were a missed opportunity. He reminisces of his youth when at age 15 he encountered a girl whom he did not love. She passed away from spinal meningitis and he regrets not bestowing his love before she passed away. Maybe nothing would have happened had he loved her; he cannot help but ponder whether he should have loved her. The poem does not seem to have a particular track or direction, but Levis crafts the text to support one main point: "Live each day as if it were to be your last." Every aspect of this poem works to reinforce this purpose and create an excellent narrative. By formulating a proficient combination of differing techniques to mold the poem, Levis creates a work of art.

To compose a successful poem, the author must keep the attention of the reader. One method Levis chose is a dramatic pause. He uses a recess in the text to give a sense of suspense, leaving the reader "hanging" for a moment, wondering what will happen next. In the second stanza: "Someone anonymous...bought her A bus ticket back . . . ." the reader is given a

In a different case, simple colorful description is used to give a stronger impact than personification or likeness. In line 21: "The woods were gray, vagrant, the color of smoke Or sky." The author decides to tell what color the trees are, and this choice gives a stronger illustration of the forest. The reader can form a solid, forceful picture in their mind giving a dreary, chilling view of the forest behind the father's house. Levis may only have used this descriptive technique in one instance but with a variety of techniques the poem easily keeps the interest of the reader.

In one particular instance, Levis uses personification to describe an object. In the first stanza the huge cemetery trees literally grasp hold of the dead. We can see the roots wrapped around a coffin, taking nutrients from the decomposing body, giving life from death. Instead of describing the look of the trees in the graveyard the author opts to tell what the trees do. In this manner, the reader is given a deeper understanding of the trees by knowing what they are doing underground. This also paints a vivid picture in the reader's mind without telling the reader exactly what to see.

The subjects in the cemetery can also be associated with adolescence. The children are virginal to it, having not yet experienced their "coming of age." They also remind the narrator of his youth, when he was young and naive. The youths bring him back to a time where he too was innocent to the ways of the world, innocent of love and loss. However, they have not yet experienced adolescence and can learn from others' mistakes. The trees can also be likened to adolescence. They grow and mature from past experiences, and are formed entirely from everything that has happened in the past. The trees take something old and use it to grow, as we do with our past. We learn to build from our past experiences and apply our wisdom to our daily lives. The narrator can use his past experience to teach or warn the children so they do not make the same mistakes he did.

In other occurrences, metaphors work to mold the poem well. The excerpt: "And if death is an adolescent" shows this usage ideally. Writing, death is... as opposed to death is like... expresses the point very crisp and clear. There is no wasted time delving into how death is likened to something, or spending lines elaborating on an obvious point that has already been made. If Levis were to write several lines about how "death is like dying flower, losing color drooping and wilting in the unrelenting sun..." the reader is sure to lose interest and want to stop reading. By using metaphors, the poem keeps progressing with an attentive reader.

Levis links objects and people that seem unrelated to add depth to "Adolescence." The introduction is an excellent example of this relation. Levis begins by speaking of the babysitter and her sons, and then moves on to talk of graves under the trees, the trees whose roots must touch the dead. He touches on a subject only for a brief

Some common words found in the essay are:
Larry Levis's, Adolescence Drifting, Larry Levis, English Common, levis chose, , girl love, holding tight, roots touch dead, feelings regret, written short, narrator writes, girl loved, touch dead, roots touch, love passed,
Approximate Word count = 2043
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)