I fount the poem “Schizophrenia” by Jim Stevens to be a very interesting and moving piece. The poem is based on a house that was filled with conflict and the effects the conflict had on the house.
I believe that one of the main resons that I found this oem to be so interesting and moving was the effictive use of figures of speech. Poet Jim Stevens used many different kinds of figurative language in this poem; however, I found his use of personification to be most moving. The house was personified throughout the entire poem. this showed the reader the effects that the conflicts among the residents of the house had on the house, through the “eyes” of the house – so to speak. The poem is introduced and closed with personification. “It was the house that suffered most.” The poem goes on to show how badly the house was affected by the chaos that took place therein – from the slammed doors and scuffed carpets to the cracked paint and broken windows when it was finally left deserted.
Among other figures of speech used in the poem were metaphor, synechdoche and metonomy. An example of a metaphor used in this poem is in line 19 where the house was compared to an asylum, “the neighbors said it was a madhouse.” In line 6, Stevens used “feet” as a synechdoche in which “feet”, parts of a person(s), were used to represent the person(s) as a whole. The poet uses metonomy in line 13 where it is said that “some rooms declared their loyalties.” “Rooms” are used to represent the people that live in the house since people are associated with living in rooms in a house.
All things considered, I found this poem to be quite interesting, especially for its use of figurative language.
