Poetry Explication of Charles Simic’s Butcher Shop Essay Example

violence. The first line in the third stanza states, "There are knives that glitter like altars"(9). This simile has opposing views being that knives create a cruel image whereas glistening altars make one think of holiness. Violence is highlighted several times, exaggerating the knives to glow in a dark church, shedding a light on brutality.

The next lines use "they," a pronoun referring to a person of unspecified sex.

The poem says, "The cripple and the Imbecile / to be healed" (1 1,12). Whoever "they" are, Intend to bring pain, suffering, and possibly even death upon the two. This simile draws upon the theme of darkness and the constant peril of violence. Similar to prior stanzas, Simi uses certain objects to exemplify his meanings.

The final object "a wooden block," is suggestive of torture in which "bones are Rosen" (13). In the last stanza, the speaker shifts from using the third person pronoun to the first person. Where I am fed / where deep In the night I hear a voice" (15,16). The usage of "l" was unexpected for a poem that contains so much mystery. This poem proclaims, however, that the butchers shop's bloody emblem of violence provides for and sustains the narrator.

Lastly, the speaker hears a voice, but from what or whom it is from is uncertain.