While looking through various forms of poetic analysis, I came across a method known as "DIDLS." According to DIDLS, one analyzes the tone of the poem by focusing on diction, images, details, language, and sentence structure. This being said, I figured that I might be interesting if I apply the DIDLS technique to Li-Young Lee's work, "From Blossoms." Hobey ho, let's go!
DICTION: "From Blossoms," is a simple, lyric poem with a romantic diction. The narrator is thoughtful, and demonstrates his sensitivity in the last stanza of the poem, that "there are days we live as if death were nowhere in the background; from joy to joy to joy, from wing to wing, from blossom to blossom to impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom. Lee's particular choice of words in this piece, such as his decision to use the word "joy" rather than "contentment" or "happiness," evokes his attempt at a poem that is more whimsical in nature.
IMAGES: Lee presents the reader with vivid details in order to evoke each of the five senses. We can see the peaches that have been placed inside of a brown paper bag. We can hear the laughter and whimsy in the fellowship of eating peaches together. The idea of eating a fresh, juicy peach very strongly evokes the sense of taste. The smell of the blossoms and the juices of nature fill the reader's nostrils with sweetness and joy, enabling the reader to reach out and touch the soft skin of the peach. In short, this work is full of powerful images that help the reader to envision the blossoms.
DETAILS: Lee including all of the necessary details in his work, as to successfully evoke the senses of the reader. He omitted any unnecessary fluff that would take away from the simplicity of his work, and that would ultimately distract the reader from understanding the true importance of the work.
LANGUAGE: I would not classify Lee's use of language in "From Blossoms," as formal, clinical, or colloquial. It is simply personal. The language that he has chosen to use, is characteristic of himself as a writer and as a person. It is easy for one to imagine Lee speaking like this in daily life. He only used language that was common to himself.
SENTENCE STRUCTURE: The long, flowing sentences that make up "From Blossoms," create a dream like tone that allows the reader to float through the poem. The lines themselves are only made up of a few words, but the sentences draw on until the end of the stanza. It is quite a feat to achieve simplicity even though the sentences themselves are rather complex. But perhaps that was Lee's point.
