sp09250phill

="To Television" by Robert Pinsky (1988)=
 * Paul Hill**

"To Television" by Robert Pinsky

Not a "window on the world" But as we call you, A box a tube

Terrarium of dreams and wonders. Coffer of shades, ordained Cotillion of phosphors Or liquid crystal

Homey miracle, tub Of acquiescence, vein of defiance. Your patron in the pantheon would be Hermes

Raster dance, Quick one, little thief, escort Of the dying and comfort of the sick,

In a blue glow my father and little sister sat Snuggled in one chair watching you Their wife and mother was sick in the head I scorned you and them as I scorned so much

Now I like you best in a hotel room, Maybe minutes Before I have to face an audience: behind The doors of the armoire, box Within a box--Tom & Jerry, or also brilliant And reassuring, Oprah Winfrey.

Thank you, for I watched, I watched Sid Caesar speaking French and Japanese not Through knowledge but imagination, His quickness, and Thanck You, I watched live Jackie Robinson stealing

Home, the image--O strung shell--enduring Fleeter than light like these words we Remember in, they too winged At the helmet and ankles.

Way 1: First Impressions
The very first thing I notice, when I looked at the poem "To Television" on the printed page was that the poem gets wider as it moves down the page. The stanzas go from thin and short to wide and long. Then I looked at the poem's title it read "To Television," that brought up questions like is the poem directed to the television? It seems ood to talk to a television.

As I started to read the poem I saw many words and names that I didn't recognize such as "Raster","Sid Caesar", and "Jackie Robinson". And others that I did remember at least hearing about, names like "Tom & Jerry," and "Oprah Winfrey." There other words that i will need to look up are "Homey" and "Acquiescence" as well as "Cotillion."

Some phrases made me wonder what the poem was really about. The poet wrote of the mother who was sick in the head, did the television make her go insane? The first line in the poem read "Not a window on the world," could this possibly lean towards saying that television shows are not a true view of the world. Another interesting image is that of the Greek god Hermes as its patron of the television, as well as the reference to the winged helmet and sandals of Hermes in the last stanza of the poem. There are many questions to answer about this complex poem.

Way 2: Engaging with the Text
As I read the "To Television" out loud and had my mother read it aloud, I noticed that it was just as confusing to read aloud as when I first read it to myself. There did not seem to be any rhyme or rhythm to the poem. As for alliteration, assonance, and even consonance, there was none that I could hear.

The sounds of the poem were for me quite harsh to hear. I also found that the poem's pace seemed to speed up as we read further into the poem. It felt almost as if the information was coming faster and faster like the quick commercial on television today. This could mean that television doesn't have too much of a coherence either. It is as if the more you watch the faster the programs and commercials go, the more they blend away to make a mess of nonsensical mush.