1. 210185159385Grapes by Tomihiro Hoshino<br />Let it be, when I would be eaten <br /> Let it be, when I would be mashed<br />Let it be, when I would be dried<br />I will die when I became the sweetest<br />Structure:<br />In English translation, it seems like there are not any rhyme in this poem. However, in Japanese, there is the rhyme of “Let it be.” (Sentences are reversed when they are translated.) Therefore, the rhyming pattern of this poem is “a-a-a-b.” The author creates the first three lines as rhyme, in order to emphasize or let reader focus on a fourth line, the most important part of this poem. Also, this poem is collaborating with a drawing which is drawn by the author of this poem. (This is the special feature of the author, and he always does this in every poem that he writes.) Form this picture, it can be predicted that “I” in the poem refers as grapes. <br />Imagery:<br />If there is not any picture in this poem, there is no imagery in this poem. However, the picture of grapes let reader feel the visual sense of when grapes are eaten, mashed, and dried. Also, it let reader feel the taste of sweet graphs. Although there is little imagery in this poem, it tells enough for readers to understand the theme of this poem. Moreover, most of Japanese poem, including haiku and tanka, does not have much imagery because Japanese people do not like detailed explanation.<br />Tone:<br />This poem has very tolerating, calm tone. This tone is created by the repetition of a phrase, “Let it be.” However, it can be said that this phrase is emphasizing a “giving up” tone, which kind of makes sense if grapes are let everything be because they will be cut off from a tree when they will become sweetest and die, anyway. Still, it is unlikely that this poem has such negative tone because of the picture of grapes which author wrote. In the picture, warm and bright color has been used. Therefore, this poem focuses on more positive tone, accepting every bad circumstance, and his death. <br />Other Stylistic Devices:<br />The most important stylistic device in this poem is the symbol of grapes. To understand about this theme, reader should know about the author of this poem. The author of this poem has Spinal Cord Injury and he cannot move his body below his shoulder, thus, his is writing his poems with his mouth. He became Christian while he was hospitalized and started to write poems at the same time. With this information, it can be said that the symbol of grapes represent the author himself. Eaten, mashed, and dried grapes illustrate his injuries. However, he did not give up his hope, and accepted his bad circumstances. Also, there is a metaphor “sweetest” in fourth line. The job of grapes are nourishing itself and becoming sweet. After they became the sweetest, then they will b eaten by human. Therefore, “when I became sweetest” refer to a time when grapes or the author finishes his job as a human.<br />Theme: <br />What the author tries to convince though this poem is “people do not die when they are suffered; they rather died when they finished their duty as human.” The author has done a good job to emphasize this theme by creating the poem with his own experiences, and let the symbol of grapes talk about his experiences rather the author talking by himself. If the author has being the narrator of this story, and tells his own story by himself, the readers cannot read into this poem because then the poem would not mean anything to the reader. Thus, he rather makes grapes speaking as the narrator of this poem and makes the theme of this poem tie to the readers.<br /> Personal Reflection:<br />I am a big fan of Tomihiro Hoshino since I was young. I always wonder how he could be so optimistic while he was hospitalized. However, this is one of my favorite poems of his works. For me, I can get many powers from this poem when I am depressed. I always suffer from little conflict and every time I suffer I feel like it is the end of the world. Yet, this poem urges me to accept those conflicts and keep trying to do my best. I neither know how long should I continue to do my best, nor when would I finish my job as human, nor will it really come or not. Still, when I read this poem, I feel like I should not stop hoping in the future. I do not know why, but maybe it is because I can feel that the author of this poem is trying hard to live in this world. <br />