Poetry Analysis "Avocado Lake"

      " Avocado Lake"

       By: Gary Soto

    Based off the title of the poem I predict the poem would be about a lake that is surrounded by Avocado plants and how the avocados always roll into the lake. In stanza one lines 1-2 talks about a body that is seen in the lake and lines 3-5 describes the type of body that is floating which is described as a child. In stanza two lines 6-8 talks about the dead body of the child has been there for a while and how even trying to revive him would not even make a difference because his lungs are full of water and lines 9-10 describes how the skin of the body was peeling and how the dead child's finger was curled up. Stanza three lines 11-12 describes how it is a new day and a girl that is at the shore by the dead body and lines 13-15 talks about how the dead body was a friend of the girls and how the dead body has gone down to the bottom of the lake; also in line 14 it describes how the girl through pebbles into the lake over the body's remains. The last two lines 16 and 17 in stanza three describes how the cold dead body was drifting down to the surface of the lake and this description is being compared to the child's life.

    A metaphor found in this poem is in line 2 "The throat is a tube of water" in this metaphor the throat of the dead body is being compared to a tube of water. In lines 11-12 a personification is found "And now, at daybreak, the willows once again hold the heat" in this personification the willows are given human qualities of being able to hold. The tone of this poem is tragic because the poem was about death of a child. At the end of the poem there is a shift in tone in lines 11-12 the tone shift from tragic to peaceful the key word to note this tone is daybreak but after line 12 the tone shifted back to tragic when the friend of the dead child appeared at the shore. After examining the title again I can say that the title is a description of how the body was drifting on the lake. The poem "Avocado Lake" is about a child who was found dead in a lake and was a friends with a girl who later saw his body drifting down the lake. The theme of the poem is that death of a friend can be tragic.

"Avocado Lake"

A body moves under the dark lake-
The throat is a tube of water, the hands
Are those of a child reaching for his mother.
It may be hours before the body rises
To the surface.

It is even longer before the body is found.
To blow breath in him is useless-
the lungs need to be wrung like a sponge.
The grey film peeled like tape from the eyes.
The curled finger rubbed and kissed.

And now, at daybreak, the willows
Once again hold the heat, and a young girl
On the shore where a friend has gone under,
Skims pebbles across the lake,
Over what remains of him-
His phlegm drifting beneath the surface,
As his life did