Metaphor of the “Vacuum” Poem
“The Vacuum,” by Howard Nemerov is a poem about a widower who is saddened at the loss of his wife and misses her terribly. He pines over her while staring at the vacuum which once had life when his wife used it. He missed the years with her. The vacuum becomes one with her death as it is now as lifeless as she is. Each stanza represents more pain and loss. Nemerov uses personification, metaphors, and similes. Fractured rhyme schemes with his deep sorrow breaks in the poem. They are all the same length, representing the hum drum lifelessness of the entire situation.
The poem itself has many examples of personification as the vacuum is connected to the widower’s wife and he parallels his feelings to the useless
- Decent Essays
`` The Vacuum `` By Howard Nemerov
- 1066 Words
- 5 Pages
In poetry, not everything is exactly as it sounds. Sometimes things have a deeper meaning to them. Howard Nemerov wrote “The Vacuum” which portrays the love that he used to have for his wife. Throughout the poem, Nemerov tackles an issue that is important in the American society: grief of a loved one. Everyone had different ways of dealing with grief and for Nemerov, his grief was put into a poem. You must be willing to fully pay attention to the words and phrases in the poem in orderly to truly
- 1066 Words
- 5 Pages
Decent Essays