paradox of water held in a sieve. This concept of greed, typically reserved for humans, is unfamiliar to animals. Through the personification of the river, the narrator crafts a vivid parallel between it and Jennifer, weaving a narrative thread from the poem’s very inception.

Sound

Hugo skillfully weaves an auditory tapestry within his poem, accentuating the river's movements and the pivotal role of language as a thematic element. His arsenal of sonic techniques encompasses consonance, assonance, and alliteration. Consonance emerges through the repetitive dance of consonants, as demonstrated by the recurring "r" in the phrase "Riverbeds are where we run to learn." Assonance, on the other hand, arises from the echo of vowel sounds, evident in the same line with the resonant "e." Alliteration involves the repetition of consonant sounds, often at the start of words. Hugo masterfully blends alliteration with assonance in "brings out the beaver’s greed," where the "b" and "e" sounds resonate, creating a melodic harmony.

Audience

The notion of audience encompasses those real or imagined individuals for whom the poet crafts their verses. Clues from the poem's title and its lines reveal that the speaker addresses a young girl named Jennifer. Yet, the true audience stretches beyond, inviting all who delve into the poem’s depths. Jennifer serves as a narrative device, conjuring vivid imagery in the minds of readers. The poem's tone and intricately woven language suggest it is penned for Jennifer, not as a dialogue between them, but as a crafted address. Such a direct communication to an absent presence is known as an apostrophe—a technique famously employed in John Keats’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn” and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Recollections of Love.”

1970s: Heralding a new era in technology, the floppy disk makes its debut in 1970, swiftly followed by Intel's revolutionary microprocessor, famously known as the "computer on a chip." The dawn of a new age is further underscored by the arrival of the first "test-tube baby," marking significant strides in human innovation and altering the delicate dance between humanity and nature forever.

Today: As genetic engineering reaches new heights and the digital realm becomes inseparable from daily life, Americans tirelessly forge novel paths in their interactions with the natural world and diverse cultures across the globe.

1970s: Prior to the passing of the Clean Water Act in 1972, just a third of America's waterways invited safe fishing and swimming. Alarming rates of wetland destruction saw over 4.6 million acres disappear each year, while sewage treatment facilities catered to a mere 85 million citizens.

Today: Fast forward to a time where two-thirds of the nation's waters beckon anglers and swimmers alike. Wetland losses have plummeted to an estimated 70,000 to 90,000 acres, and wastewater plants now serve an impressive 173 million people.

1970s: The world witnesses a pivotal moment on April 22, 1970, as the inaugural "Earth Day" ignites the burgeoning environmental movement, capturing hearts and minds globally.

Today: The tug-of-war between environmental advocates and developers rages on. The latest flashpoint arises from the Bush administration's controversial proposal to unlock Alaska's pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil exploration—a move that has ignited fervent debate in Congress and among the public.

New Letters on the Air offers a captivating audiocassette titled Richard Hugo (1980), featuring Hugo's own voice as he breathes life into the verses from his 1979 poetry collection, White Center. This auditory experience is enriched by reflections from poet William Stafford, shared in 1983, following the poignant passing of Hugo.

The Media Project presents the evocative 16 MM film, Kicking the Loose Gravel Home (1976), skillfully directed by Annick Smith, which delves into the world of Hugo and his poetic journey.

Sources

Allen, Michael S., We Are Called Human: The Poetry of Richard Hugo, University of Arkansas Press, 1982, pp. 92–113.

Dennis, Carl, Poetry as Persuasion, University of Georgia Press, 2001.

Driskell, Leon V., “What Thou Lovest Well, Remains American,” in Survey of Contemporary Literature, Vol. 12, edited by Frank N. Magill, Salem Press, 1975, pp. 8205–208.

Gerstenberger, Donna, Richard Hugo, Boise State University Press, 1983, pp. 30–34.

Group, Bob, “Richard Hugo,” in Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. 5: American Poets Since World War II, First Series, edited by Donald J. Greiner, Gale Research, 1980, pp. 369–74.

Holden, Jonathan, Landscapes of the Self: The Development of Richard Hugo’s Poetry, Associated Faculty Press, 1986, pp. 113–34.

—, The Old Formalism: Character in Contemporary American Poetry, University of Arkansas Press, 1999, p. 7.

Hugo, Richard, “Nuts and Bolts,” in The Triggering Town: Lectures and Essays on Poetry and Writing, W. W. Norton & Company, 1979, pp. 37–53.

—, “The Real West Marginal Way,” in The Real West Marginal Way: A Poet’s Autobiography, W. W. Norton, 1992, pp. 3–19.

—, “The Triggering Town,” in The Triggering Town: Lectures and Essays on Poetry and Writing, W. W. Norton & Company, 1979, pp. 11–19.

—, “Writing off the Subject,” in The Triggering Town: Lectures and Essays on Poetry and Writing, W. W. Norton & Company, 1979, pp. 3–11.

Mundinger, John, and Todd Everts, A Guide to the Montana Environmental Policy Act, Legislative Environmental Policy Office and the Environmental Quality Council, 1998, pp. 1–10.

Further Reading

Gerstenberger, Donna, Richard Hugo, Boise State University Press, 1983. Gerstenberger’s pamphlet on Hugo’s writing is a good introductory resource for students who want a quick overview of Hugo’s poetry. Gerstenberger also includes a useful bibliography of secondary sources.

Hugo, Richard, The Real West Marginal Way: A Poet’s Autobiography, W. W. Norton, 1992. The Real West Marginal Way: A Poet’s Autobiography is not a conventional autobiography but a collection of essays that Hugo wrote over his life, addressing topics such as his trip to Italy, how he never met Eudora Welty, and his history of drinking and self-loathing.

Morris, Patrick, Anaconda Montana: Copper Smelting Boom Town on the Western Frontier, Swann Publishing, 1997. Hugo loved to visit and write about the small, often abandoned towns of rural Montana. Morris’s social history of Anaconda, Montana chronicles the founding and growth of this smelting town in Montana’s Deer Lodge Valley. Among other topics, Morris focuses on the industrial development of the town, examining it in relation to the labor movement in the western United States.

Simic, Charles, “The Bombardier and His Target: Two Poets and a Powerful Coincidence,” in Chronicle of Higher Education, Vol. 47, Issue 10, November 3, 2000, pp. 12–14. Simic, a noted poet and friend of Hugo, recounts a poem Hugo wrote to him, acknowledging that he bombed Simic’s town while in the air force during World War II.

Young, William, “Traveling through the Dark: The Wilderness Surrealism of the Far West,” in Midwest Quarterly, Vol. 39, Issue 2, Winter 1998, pp. 187–202. Young analyzes the writings of Western poets Richard Hugo, Gregory Corso, and William Stafford, exploring how 1960s literary surrealism influenced their representations of the American West.