Poem found here: "To the Mannequins" by Howard Nemerov "Mannequins," I feel, automatically hold a symbolic quality -- aren't they just the physical representation of a human being to show something off? So when I read this poem, I automatically was trying to figure out what the "mannequins" represented and in what context. The first stanza's shift in perspective brings the idea of symbol to the forefront. "Adorable images, / Plaster of Paris / Lilies of the field" Note how these descriptions start out general "adorable images" then to something put on a higher level, "Lilies of the field" -- but these are just another names for mannequins which are promptly brought down with the concept of, "You are not alive, therefore / Pathos will be out of place." Emotion -- we look at these figures without them and just look at them physically, but also note if we go along this thought train, should we look at these f...
Formerly the RetailMFA, This is the Poetry Blog of Darrell Dela Cruz