Dear HusbandOnce your name was Bimbircokak
And everything was fine. They you became Victor-Emile-Louis-Henri-Joseph And bought a dinner set. I used to be your wife. Now you call me spouse. We used to eat together. Now we’re separated by a table. Calabash and ladle, drinking gourd and couscous are banished from our daily fare by your paternal order. We’re modern now, you say. The tropic sun is hot, hot, hot! But your cravat never leaves the neck it nearly strangles. You frown when I mention it, never mind, I’ll say no more. But husband, look at me! We eat grapes and milk that’s pasteurized and imported gingerbread from France and don’t get much of any. Isn’t it your fault? You used to be Bimbircokak and everything was fine. Becoming Victor-Emile-Louis-Henri-Joseph as far as I can see doesn’t make you kin to Rockefeller! (Excuse my ignorance, I don’t know much about finance.) But can’t you see Bimbircokak —because of you-- once I was underdeveloped now I’m undernourished, too! |
Analysis + Literary DevicesThis poem tells the story of a woman, the speaker, whose husband has assimilated entirely to French culture and started abandoning their original ways. The husband, in his quest to westernize has forgotten key things about his culture and would endure anything to stay under his facade. He gets angry at his wife for voicing her opinion on the crazy dress he wears and the nasty food he buys and she says she'll stop but in an overtly sarcastic way implying that he won't hear the end of the matter any time soon. This poem uses the literary devices Cliche or a trite or obvious remark in the lines "Victor-Emile-Louis-Henri-Joseph" which are very common and non unique French names. The device Irony or an expression that usually would have the outcome of one thing, but the opposite happens. In example the line, "once I was underdeveloped now I’m undernourished, too!" is ironic because western civilization is supposed to be abundant, but instead it has made the wife weak. Pun is also used in the lines "Rockefeller! (Excuse my ignorance, I don’t know much about finance.)" because it exploits the word Rockefeller into meaning finance!
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