Link to poem: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/179678
Link to Poet's biographical page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Yezzi
The Good News
By David Yezzi
A friend calls, so I ask him to stop by.
We sip old Scotch, the good stuff, order in,
some Indian—no frills too fine for him
or me, particularly since it's been
ages since we made the time.
Two drinks in, we've caught up on our plans.
I've sleepwalked through the last few years by rote;
he's had a nasty rough patch, quote unquote,
on the home front. So, we commiserate,
cupping our lowballs in our hands.
It's great to see him, good to have a friend
who feels the same as you about his lot—
that, while some grass is greener, your small plot
is crudely arable, and though you're not
so young, it's still not quite the end.
As if remembering then, he spills his news.
Though I was pretty lit, I swear it's true,
it was as if a gold glow filled the room
and shone on him, a sun-shaft piercing through
dense clouds, behind which swept long views.
In that rich light, he looked not like my friend
but some acquaintance brushed by on the train.
Had his good fortune kept me from the same,
I had to wonder, a zero-sum game
that gave the night its early end?
Nothing strange. Our drinks were done, that's all.
We haven't spoken since. By morning, I
couldn't remember half of what the guy
had said, just his good news, my slurred goodbye,
the click of the latch, the quiet hall.
This poem originally appeared in the June 2007 Poetry Magazine
In this poem, two men who once had a close friendship have drinks together. The narrator says that it had "been ages since we made the time." This indicates that their friendship was not as strong. At the end of the poem, the friend tells the narrator the good news he has. The next morning, the only thing the narrator can remember is the good news, even though he was hungover. In the poem, Yezzi uses a suave tone as well as slant rhyme. For example, in stanza four he uses "news" and "views". Yezzi uses these literary techniques to convey the overall idea that friendships are not always strong, but one night can be enough to satisfy.
In this poem the author uses language to describe the scene and convey the mood and meaning throughout his writing. “While some grass is greener, your small plot/is crudely arable, and though you're not/so young, it's still not quite the end.” Showing how they are both reminiscent of old times and memories and they may not have exactly what they want all the time but they have enough to work with. He uses very melancholy language to convey a more or less sad mood “piercing through dense clouds” and “my slurred goodbye, the click of the latch, the quiet hall.” Add a sentimental feel as well to the poem and show how much they will miss one another. The author also uses a slant rhyme scheme, in the poem rhyme the first and last line of each stanza and the middle three lines in each 5 line stanza to draw a commonality between the two men and show the connection. Yet he chose to use slant rhyme to express how the connection is missing something and not quite perfect.
ReplyDeleteThe poem is about two old friends where one's happiness and the other's unhappiness separates them. It starts out where the speaker feels his friend is his equal and is happy that there is someone as miserable as he is. He explains this when he says, "good to have a friend who feels the same as you about his lot". All of this changes when the speaker's friend shares his good news which makes the speaker feel worse about himself and can't be happy about his friend's happiness. He says, " in that rich light, he looked not like my friend but some acquaintance". He didn't see them as equals anymore, and out of the entire reunion, one of the only things he could remember was his friends good news and the silence that followed.
ReplyDeleteThe speaker uses a lot of drawn out language to describe the way he is feeling about his situation, and also the feelings he has towards his friend. He says "We sip old Scotch, the good stuff," which is interpreted to not only describe the scotch, but his relationship with this man. It was an old friendship, and a good one. The speakers mood changes after the third stanza when the good news is shared. He begins by saying "It's great to see him, good to have a friend who feels the same as you about his lot—
ReplyDeletethat, while some grass is greener, your small plot is crudely arable, and though you're not so young, it's still not quite the end," the speaker likes having a friend no worse off than him and also no better off, it's an even playing field. Then, as his friend shares the good news, his view of his friend literally changes instantly. He says "it was as if a gold glow filled the room and shone on him, a sun-shaft piercing through dense clouds," his friend and his good fortune "changed" him in the speakers eyes. He ends this opinion with "In that rich light, he looked not like my friend."
In the poem "The Good News" by David Yezzi, Yezzi uses imagery and line breaks to show the relationship between the speaker and his friend.
ReplyDeleteYezzi uses the line "We sip old Scotch, the good stuff, order in,
some Indian". This is the beginning of the speaker and his friend reconnecting. People usually have a meal and drinks together when they have not seen each other in a long time. It is odd that it has been so long that they have not seen each other and they are ordering in dinner instead of going out somewhere, showing how they once were very close.
Yezzi also uses line breaks to show the relationship between the speaker ad his friend through the line "
In that rich light, he looked not like my friend
but some acquaintance brushed by on the train."
The speaker has just found out his friends "good news" and realizes that this is some news that he would have known sooner if they were as close as they used to be. He sees the distance between him and his friend and it hits him hard.