On Not Shoplifting Louise Bogan’s The Blue Estuaries
Connecticut College, 1968 by Julia Alvarez
Your book surprised me on the bookstore shelf —
swans gliding on a blueblack lake;
no blurbs by the big boys on back;
no sassy, big-haired picture
to complicate the achievement;
no mentors musing
over how they had discovered
you had it in you
before you even knew
you had it in you.
The swans posed on a placid lake,
your name blurred underwater
sinking to the bottom.I had begun to haunt
the poetry shelf at the college store —
thin books crowded in by texts,
reference tomes and a spread
of magazines for persistent teens
on how to get their boys,
Chaucer-Milton-Shakespeare-Yeats.
Your name was not familiar,
I took down the book and read.Page after page, your poems
were stirring my own poems —
words rose, breaking the surface,
shattering an old silence.
I leaned closer to the print
until I could almost feel
the blue waters drawn
into the tip of my pen.
I bore down on the page,
the lake flowed out again,
the swans, the darkening sky.
For a moment I lost my doubts,
my girl’s voice, my coming late
into this foreign alphabet.
I read and wrote as I read.I wanted to own this moment.
My breath came quickly, thinking it over —
I had no money, no one was looking.
The swans posed on the cover,
their question-mark necks arced
over the dark waters.
I was asking them what to do . . .The words they swam over answered.
I held the book closed before me
as if it were something else,
a mirror reflecting back
someone I was becoming.
The swans dipped their alphabet necks
in the blueblack ink of the lake.
I touched their blank, downy sides, musing,
and I put the book back.
Summary of On Not Shoplifting Louise Bogan’s The Blue Estuaries
- Popularity of “On Not Shoplifting Louise Bogan’s The Blue Estuaries”: This beautiful free verse poem “On Not Shoplifting Louise Bogan’s The Blue Estuaries” by Julia Alvarez, a Dominican American poet, novelist, and essayist, is rather a long poem. It first appeared in her collection The Other Side / El Otro Lado in 1995. And after its publication, it still appears on websites as the poem of the day. Its beauty lies in the artistic expression in the praise of art. She has beautifully praised the poetry of Louise Bogan, the first American woman poet laureate. The popularity of the poem lies in the unrestricted praise of her book, The Blue Estuaries.
- “On Not Shoplifting Louise Bogan’s The Blue Estuaries” As a Representative of Poetic Excellence: The poem is actually the praise that Julia showers on the book of Louise Bogan as given in the title, The Blue Estuaries. The poet first describes the blurb and the title page in descriptive language, showing positivity through double negatives. Although the swans painted on the title page are just in images, Julia makes them appear in almost every other stanza until the end of the poem it seems that they are going to fly away. She then begins to shower huge praises on her poetic excellence, saying that she herself used to be haunted in the college years and ran after her books. During their college years, the students used to read every other classic writer, but Julia says that she did not find Bogan among them. Yet, her poems were an inspiration for her after “breaking the surface.” She used to experience the blue waters, the swans, the darkening sky, and the girlish voice. This proved an inspiration for her to become a poet. She, again, thought about her book, her penury, and then started writing poetry as though words were coming to her automatically. By the end of the poem, it seems that swans that she has witnessed on the title page of Bogan’s book are now alive with their necks dipped in ink and writing alphabets in the sky that make up her poetry.
- Major Themes in “On Not Shoplifting Louise Bogan’s The Blue Estuaries”: Creativity, creative relations, and power of words are the major themes of this poem. It is not clear whether Julia Alvarez met Bogan. Yet, it is clear that she praises her much and thinks that she is related to her in creating poetry out of words. She is absorbed in her book so much that she sees the swans painted on the title page flying in the air and writing alphabets in the skies. These creative relations continue to mesmerize the readers until the end when she states that it seems that the power of words has overpowered her and the book seems to answer her tricky questions about poetry and creativity.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “On Not Shoplifting Louise Bogan’s The Blue Estuaries”
literary devices are literary tools essential for poetic or prose writing used to make the text beautiful and worth reading. The analysis of these devices in the poem as given below shows this fact.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /o/ in “Your book surprised me on the bookstore shelf —”, /a/ in “swans gliding on a blueblack lake” and the sound of /i/ in “you had it in you.”
- Alliteration: It is the use of successive consonant sounds in the initials of the successive words such as /b/ in “book back.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /b/ and /s/ in “Your book surprised me on the bookstore shelf”, /b/ and /s/ in “I touched their blank, downy sides, musing” and the sound of /l/ and “I leaned closer to the print.”
- 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;
The swans posed on the cover,
their question-mark necks arced
over the dark waters.
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. The poem shows the use of imagery such as “The swans posed on a placid lake”, “thin books crowded in by texts” and “were stirring my own poems.”
- 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 the metaphors of poems, books, and swans as they are compared with living things.
- Personification: The poet has shown the use of a book, poems, texts, and words as if they are living things. Julia has personified them.
- 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 college, writers, books and words to show the creativity of poetry.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “On Not Shoplifting Louise Bogan’s The Blue Estuaries”
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.
- Free Verse: The poem does not follow any rhyme scheme. Therefore, it is a free verse poem.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are five stanzas in this poem with each having a different number of lines.
Quotes to be Used
These lines from “On Not Shoplifting Louise Bogan’s The Blue Estuaries” are relevant to use when telling about some curious moments about poverty and hunger.
wanted to own this moment.
My breath came quickly, thinking it over —
I had no money, no one was looking.
