Poetry Glossary for 2/24

Addie Ramonda

Guilt- Rich Evans 

Right now, your guilt is heavy fruit,

Growing on your branches, bearing them down.

Your springy sapling strength is overcome.

You cannot keep your longest limbs

From bending with the weight.

They will brush their leafy ends

Against the the ground.

But do not ask too soon to be relieved of guilt.

If picked when green, this heavy fruit

Is hard , sterile and sour.

Let it grow til its season comes.

Let it ripen, sweeten, soften.

Then it will loosen its grip.

And drop of itself to the waiting earth,

Carrying seeds of a new resolve.

Title: I think this poem is going to describe the feeling of guilt

Paraphrase: In the first stanza the author is comparing the feeling of guilt to fruit growing on a branch and weighing it down. The author is describing the feeling that you feel when you are guilty. In the second stanza I believe the author is saying don't be too eager to get rid of your guilt. Wait until the right time to confess. 

Connotation: Allusion: By comparing guilt to fruit it creates an allusion of the Bible when Eve eats the apple from the apple tree. Metaphor: Comparing guilt to fruit the author is using a metaphor. Personification: The author gives human-like qualities to the fruit as well as guilt in line 13. 

Tone: The tone is informing. The author is describing the feeling of guilt in the first stanza, informing us what it is like. In the second stanza the author is informing us on what to do with that guilt. 

Shift: The main shift comes from the first stanza to the second stanza. The author goes from discussing the feeling of guilt to telling us what to do and not do when we feel guilty.