SOAPS--A Method of Analysis?

Keeping with the previous theme of poetic analysis, I decided on apply the use of the SOAPS method in order to further my understand of "From Blossoms."  According to SOAPS, one must discover the subject, occasion, audience, purpose, and speaker of the poem, in order to form a substantial foundation of knowledge for analysis.  This being said, I am ready to analyze!

SUBJECT:  In the case of "From Blossoms," the subject takes the form of a peach blossom.  The blossom is understood as the source of the peach, and in the moment is seen as the creator of this delicious beautiful piece of nature. 

OCCASION:  The narrator reflects on a time in which he drove to a stand and bought a bag of peaches.  The particular occasion in which the speaker does reflect, is not necessarily important to the collective understanding of the poem.  Perhaps Lee intentionally left out any indication of the occasion, as to show that one needs no reason to reflect on the beauty of life and the source in which life and beauty is born. 

AUDIENCE:  Lee attempts to target every person who is willing to listen to his account of beauty.  He wants to share his knowledge and understanding of the world with everyone, so that he may provoke a deeper sense of understanding or inquiry in the minds of those who are willing to listen. 

PURPOSE:  Through "From Blossoms,"  Lee attempts to emphasize the importance of miniscule things in life.  He has attempted to illustrate the wonderful moments in life, regardless of their simplicity.  We all in our life where we wish that we could just freeze time, causing that moment to last for an eternity.  This desire was illustrated as the purpose in the third and fourth stanzas in the work, in the hopes that this message would leave a lasting impact on the reader. 

SPEAKER:  It is safe to assume that the speaker of "From Blossoms" is in fact Li-Young Lee.  Either way, the identity of the speaker is about as important as one's knowledge of the occasion--it's not. 

DIDLS: The Tone Acronym?

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.

Why I Hate Poetry but Love Li-Young Lee

Whenever I think of poetry, I imagine a person sitting at a small table in the candlelight, thinking, "Now is the time for me to be all emo and write about my feelings, blah blah blah."  Don't get me wrong, I love modern poetry and sarcastic poetry, and I have a dream of becoming a rapper during my years in university, but I am honestly unable to sit down and enjoy reading a compilation of poems.  This being said, I wanted to focus on a poet that I knew very little about, so that I would have to preconceptions prior to reading his work.  Li-Young Lee has, surprisingly enough, stolen my heart.  I never imagined that I could read a poem about eating dinner or making a bed, and enjoy it.  Aqua Man must have drowned, because even I didn't expect this.

The first piece that I came across, was "From Blossoms," a little diddy that Lee wrote in response to peach blossoms.  Obviously there is more meaning to this poem--something that I will cover during a later entry--but it had a strange, cosmic affect on me.  It was simple, philosophic, and reminded me of my Asian homeland--all things that I complete adore.  After my reading of "From Blossoms," I sat at my computer and contemplated the meaning of life.  Once I realized that my contemplation just left me with more questions, I dove back into Lee's work.  I read a few more of his poems, and decided that I must drive to the library and grab a few of his compilations.  I ended up borrowing the lot, running back to my house and locking myself in my room.  I read his autobiographical work, Winged Seed: A Remembrance, and felt immensely closer with Lee as a person.  He bears his soul for the world to see, and that is why I am in love with him.  He is the bravest man that I have even encountered. 

After getting an understanding of Lee, I began to read his poetry.  I believe that I enjoy his poetry, in comparison to other works that discuss feelings and things that I personally do not care about, because I became aware of his life.  Every experience had affected him in such a way, that he was capable of recounting it through the written word.  He found solace in an art form, which I find to be beautiful.

In summation, I genuinely enjoyed getting to know Li-Young Lee.  There were no secrets or uncertainties in his works.  They are taken as what they are--beautiful accounts of life. 

From Blossoms

From blossoms comes
this brown paper bag of peaches
we bought from the boy
at the bend in the road where we turned toward
signs painted Peaches.

From laden boughs, from hands,
from sweet fellowship in the bins,
comes nectar at the roadside, succulent
peaches we devour, dusty skin and all,
comes the familiar dust of summer, dust we eat.

O, to take what we love inside,
to carry within us an orchard, to eat
not only the skin, but the shade,
not only the sugar, but the days, to hold
the fruit in our hands, adore it, then bite into
the round jubilance of peach.

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.

- Li-Young Lee