Poetic Precis: "A Primer of the Daily Round"

Howard Nemerov, in “A Primer of the Daily Round,” discusses in a slightly humorous tone the importance of unity and remembering how we are all connected through an allusion to an elementary style of teaching used in pre-school. In Kindergarten and first grade, teachers teach students the ABCs through coupling the letters with keywords that are easy to remember, like A is for apple. Throughout this poem, Nemerov uses the same style but connects each letter to the following one. In line nine, he says “R lies to S, but happens to be heard By T…,” which shows how each letter of the alphabet is connected. Additionally, this message becomes more clear at the end of the poem, when he says “Who happens just now to remember A.” Nemerov brings the reader back to the beginning of the poem to remember how even A is connected to Z. The point of using this allusion is to depict how each letter is followed by another one, but still together as one unit. Howard Nemerov accomplishes his goal by showing how people can be one unit as well through his allusion to the ABCs.

Poetic Precis: "Biscuit"

In Jane Kenyon’s “Biscuit,” she explains in a powerful tone the importance of not becoming too dependent on someone else through her antithesis and simile. Throughout this poem, a dog and an owner have an encounter at feeding time. In the first stanza, there is a simile where Kenyon compares feeding the dog to a “priest offering the host.” This makes the reader feel as though the owner is at the mercy of the dog. However, this idea is contrasted in the second stanza where the owner has “power” and could have given the dog a “stone.” Kenyon contrasts the word “bread” and “stone” to highlight the power the owner has through his choices for the dog’s meal. It can be seen that the dog is at the mercy of the owner and has too much faith in him/her. Jane Kenyon conveys the idea that over dependence can be detrimental through antithesis and an important simile.