A Smell of Cordwood (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto
- First Published: 1956
- Type of Work: Ode
- Genres: Free verse, Poetry, Ode
- Subjects: Nature, Trees, Senses or sensation, Night, Smell, Odors, Wood
The Poem
“A Smell of Cordwood” is an ode (a song of praise) in seven stanzas; it is written in free verse. The title is significant in that it states the rather unusual subject matter being praised: the smell of ordinary wood.
The opening stanza begins abruptly, in medias res (in the middle of things). The speaker of the poem describes the feeling of the cold and starry night as it rushes in through the door of his home “on an ocean/ of galloping hooves.” Night is personified as an invading presence.
In the next brief stanza, out of the darkness,...
[The entire page is 1265 words long]
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