You fit into me
Like a hook into an eye
A fish hook
An open eye.
Four line poem is shortly revealing basic structures. The situation is established then later there is a shift bringing in another insight, then resolution arises. The first line introduces a positive feeling of love and affection. She compares this fitness like a hook into an eye suggesting their relationship is secured and real. That they are fit for each other. However, second stanza,”A fish hook in an open eye” shows how persona feels helpless and is in pain after realizing the love she thought is real is not and would wish to leave but she can’t. As much as the hook in the eye is painful, removing it would be more painful. To mean, breaking up would be more hurting than staying enduring the pain. It’s a reflection of what most women experiences in relationships.
Post Modernism is depicted in various ways. To begin with, LENGTH used is short and with little content just like the relationship. Readers can quickly grasp what the poet is saying in the short possible way through metaphors (Atwood, 1987). The first stanza,” you fit into me like a hook into an eye,” the readers can see the image of some two people happily in love. The last stanza,” a fish hook in an open eye,” brings in the picture of someone in pain due to a breaking relationship. The length is short, but metaphorically communicating. The few words used to enable readers to take every word as extremely important. As per the poem, the little content shows how the relationship had no future and just like that; the persona seems to be is giving up.
Formlessness: an artwork unlike as it was perceived by the traditionalist, is stronger when shapeless, indefinite and coherent (Hönnighausen, 2000). The poem is just comprised of two stanzas of which each consists of two lines. However much the poem is short, it describes the persona’s love experience just in two stanzas. Formlessness allows poets express themselves in any way possible. Not rigidly restricted to any length but rather freed to describe the world as preferred.
Populism, a feature employed appealing words that are familiar to the readers. Similes used are comprised of things known to the audience. “You fit into me,” is a statement mostly relating to love or sexual relations,” as a hook into an eye,” people know how eye and hook are attached in clothing hence can easily relate this to love affairs termed as real.” A fish hook in an open eye”, when a fish hook points into an open eye, it’s always painful. This is precisely relating to pain, similar to a relationship that never worked. However, the persona is finding it hard to break free.
Punctuation: Lack of punctuation indicates the feeling of not caring or unhappiness contributing to the overall meaning of the poem. “You fit into me like a hook into an eye,” reveals closeness and attachment just like the hook and eye fits fastened a dress.However, the second stanza,” fish hook into an open eye,” shows how the relationship wasn’t of happiness but rather was that which brought pain and unhappiness. Use of “You’ is a useful feature used by the poet to make audiences feel like the persona is communicating with them hence creates a bond. Use of quotes (“), to avoid the multiple lines that could have been used instead. The lines are in quotes and short making them appear like sentences hence considered significant.
References
Atwood, M. (1987). Selected Poems, 1965-1975. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Hönnighausen, L. (2000). Margaret Atwood’s Poetry 1966-1995. Margaret Atwood Works and Impact.
