Sign Inventory, week 3

"It Is This Way with Men", by C.K. Williams, Contemporary American Poetry, p. 425:

• What is the "It" in line 5? If the text is referring to men, then why does the speaker say, "And men, they too are wounded" in line 9?
• The word "ripen" is repeated in line 8, giving a feeling of perptuation.
• The word "soften" is also repeated in line 12. It is emphasized by bookcasing the line and enjambing "The core" in line 11.
• Unlike the spiny fruit, men do not "ripen and ripen." They "end," as is indicated in the final line.
• The seeds of men are "dark."
• The text lacks specificity. Other than "spiny fruit," both men and fruit are defined by "they" and "it."
• The word "sore" personifies the earth, giving it a visceral feel.
• "There" is repeated in line 13, giving the poem an even greater cyclical feel.
• "Softening" is emphasized in regards to humans, while hardness is stressed in reference to the fruit with words like "nails," "spiny," "pounded,"and "driven down again." These words also containg hard sounds.
• "Being raised and eaten" is preferred to constant ripening.