egg horror
By Laurel Winter
Small
White
Afraid of heights
Whispering in the cold, dark cartoon
To the rest of the dozen.
They are ten now.
Any meal is dangerous.
but they fear breakfast most.
They jostle in their compartments
trying for tiny, dark-veined cracks-
not enough to hurt much,
just anything to make them unattractive
to the big hands that reach in
from time to random time.
They tell horror stories
that their mothers
the chickens,
clucked to them-
meringues,
omelettes,
egg salad sandwiches,
that destroyer of dozens,
the homemade angel food cake.
The door opens.
Light filters into the cartoon,
“Let it be the milk,”
they pray.But carton opens,
a hand reaches in-
once,
twice.
Before they even jiggle,
They are alone again,
In the cold, in the dark,
New spaces hollow
where the two were.
Through the heavy door
They hear the sound of the mixer,
Deadly blades whirring.They huddle,
the eight,
in the cold
in the dark,
and wait.
Summary of egg horror
- Popularity of “egg horror”: The poem ‘egg horror’ was written by Laurel Winter also known as Laurel Anne Hjelvik, a Montana-born American poet and fantasy writer. The poem is written an interesting free verse recitation of a dozen of eggs and their musings about their disappearance one by one. The poem recounts the story of a carton of eggs. The uniqueness of the popularity of the poem lies in this recounting of the tale of eggs and their feelings about each other.
- “egg horror” As a Representative of Human Rapacity and Food Scarcity: The poet recounts the story of eggs saying that they are not only small and white but also alive and thinking about their fate in the dark, cold carton. Ten of the total dozen eggs suddenly realize that they are ten and two of them are missing, which means that they are now ten. They are thinking about the dangerous meal ahead which is a routine, and they are sparingly used in breakfast. On the other hand, they also live in dark and dingy places, seeing outside only darkness. They also feel that they are not attracted to the hand of mothers who cook them, while they are busy recounting stories of their mothers, hens, chickens, their youthful period, and the types of food in which they are changed. The eggs, which are personified, also recount the foods, meringues, omelets, sandwiches, and food cakes they turn into. Suddenly amid this musing, the carton door opens, they pray about milk, and they see that two of them are gone and see the mixer mixing them into cakes. The rest of the eight huddle together in fear. This shows the poet’s thinking about food, its importance, and food scarcity.
- Major Themes in “egg horror”: Human excessive consumption of resources, food scarcity, and second point of view are three major themes of this poem. Through the tales of eggs, their fearful life, their musings, and their lifestyle, the poet, Laurel Winter, shows that she is much concerned about food scarcity and the relative carelessness on the part of human beings in excessive consumption without requirements and hunger. This also shows the point of view of the eggs in case they are alive and the thinking of how they face an uncertain future in the world.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in egg horror
literary devices are unique tools essential for poetic or prose writing. They make readers aware of the poet’s objectives. The analysis of these devices in the poem is as follows.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /uh/ in “not enough to hurt much”, the sound of /a/ in “egg salad sandwiches” and the sound of /i/ in “Light filters into the carton.”
- Alliteration: It is the use of successive consonant sounds in the initials of the successive words such as the sound of /th/ in “that their.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /m/ in “from time to random time”, the sounds of /t/, /r/, and /f/ in “but they fear breakfast most,” and the sounds of /r/ in “They tell horror stories.”
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;
Through the heavy door
They hear the sound of the mixer,
Deadly blades whirring.
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. The poem shows the use of imagery such as “Before they even jingle;”, They hear the sound of the mixer” and “They huddle.”
- Juxtaposition: The poem shows the juxtaposition of opposing ideas in the poem such as cold and warm, light and dark.
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between the objects that are different. The poem shows the use of eggs as a metaphor for human consumption.
- Personification: The poet has shown the use of eggs as if they have life and emotions of their own. It means the poet has personified eggs.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from literal meanings. The poem shows the use of the symbols of food items to show human greed and waste of food.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in egg horror
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction and Tone: The poem shows figurative diction with a serious tone.
- Free Verse: The poem does not follow any rhyme scheme. Hence, it is a free verse.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are three stanzas with each having a different number of words.
Quotes to be Used
These lines from “egg horror” are relevant to use when teaching about the situation of immigrants fleeing a country or narrating the story of some person in the rainy season.
They huddle,
the eight,
in the cold
in the dark,
and wait.