Poetry Explication
Option
by Robert Morgan
Written in free verse, this poem dramatizes the chance confrontation of a groundhog and terrier.
As the speaker relates the setting, the poet uses the design of the groundhog den to provide an
alternative, "option", to the latent conflict.
Morgan, asserts the layout of the groundhog den "always has a back door", and in doing so
introduces the option to conflict. The vocabulary, "confronted", used to herald the terrier's
presence, suggests the potential for conflict. The tone the speaker uses with the word "tearing" in
the line "Tearing at the aproned entrance" confirms the potential for violence.
When the woodchuck exits out the back, the poet utilizes the "option" inherent in the den to allow
the animal to flee the confrontation. As the woodchuck surfaces in weeds or a thicket, the poet's
rhetoric could imply the choice is cowardly.......
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Approximate Word Count: 416
Approximate Pages: 2 (260 words per double-spaced page) |