While reading Stevens' poem, I was reminded of the scene of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. In the scene of Kennedy's death, everyone is at first extremely happy, but when Kennedy is shot, the onlooker's joy instantaneously reverts to horror. Similar to this scene, the speaker is at first enjoying the simple pleasures of a dump, but his mood quickly changes to deep sadness. Stevens uses particular statement throughout the poem to express the mood of the speaker. In the beginning of the poem, the sp

eaker expresses his delightful indolence by using the line, "Day creeps down. The moon is creeping up(1)." This statement gives the impression of time passing slowly. He goes on to say, "one sits and beats an old tin can," giving the reader the feeling that the speaker is enjoying the time he is spending on the dump. Stevens' use of imagery and statements in the last stanza instantaneously changes the scene to macabre; the speaker says, "nightingale torture the ear, Pack the heart and scratch the mind (39-40)." The speaker's mood changed, just as the mood of the crowd of onlookers changed as they watched their beloved president shot.

Through the imagery and writing techniques that Stevens utilizes in the poem, he relates to the reader, what the speaker is feeling. The spea

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 530
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)