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Analysis Of American Sonnet For My Past And Future Assassin By Terrance Hayes

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"American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin" is a poem by Terrance Hayes. Hayes is an America poet and educator who has published numerous poetry worldwide. He was born in South Carolina. He received a B.A. from Coker College. He was a Professor of Creative Writing at Carnegie Mellon University until 2013. The main focus of this poem will be the depiction of coming of age and challenges each stanza represents by describing the use of metaphor, personification, and structure in the poem. According to Merriam-Webster, Metaphor is defined as a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them. Hayes begins his poem with a …show more content…

This describes the depth of the emotions he is writing about. This relates to a storm holding him back from growth and being able to flourish. Again a metaphor for having a storm being dramatized and an analogy of how far this difficulty is. Continuing with "Inside me is a huge black bull balled small enough to fit inside the bead of a nipple ring." (6-8). This is interesting because this is a contradiction. Hayes describes how big and huge the bull inside him is, but then describes the animal small enough to be the size of a nipple ring. Hayes portrays a bull as it is inside him, his emotions and struggles. The contradiction is inferring the line. Regardless of how strong and powerful a bull can be he still cannot seem to get past his struggles and ambitions. There is something in his path, that blocking him from achieving his purposes. In this next, "I mean to leave a record of my raptures." (9). Haynes is expressing the struggles and blockage of his life. Perhaps he wanted himself to be remembered as more than someone who struggled with obstacles in his life. He wanted to leave behind his joys, and release his inhibitions. "I was raised by a beautiful man. I loved his grasp of time. My mother shaped my grasp of space." (9-11). After Hayes describes all his hardships by using metaphors he starts writing a bit more realistic. Simply refers to his parents and not a specific

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