Poem Analysis: Hedgehog & Night of the Armadillo
A Tale of Two Mammals: The Analysis of How to Make it in Society
Connected by the delicate branches of the tree that sprouted from the constantly expanding lineage of the Mammalian family, the hedgehog and the armadillo are also separated by millions of years of evolution. The choice in animals for the poems did not fall under the laws of natural selection, they were hand selected to represent the separate, yet connected underlying messages. Paul Muldoon, author of “Hedgehog”, and Yusef Komunyakaa, author of “Night of the Armadillo”, both declare society as a negative parasitic being. Both mammalian protagonists bear suits of armor that barely suppress the impending offensive physical/social forces, all the meanwhile representing the average man due to the small figure compared to the overwhelming size of society, while the relation comes from not one excerpt of each poem, yet each line is an ingredient in preparing one single message. The authors argue that society is a cancerous force that contorts itself to reach under the shells of individuals, yet when approached by conformity-resistant armored personalities, it attacks and isolates the target. “The snail moves like a
Hovercraft, held up by a
Rubber cushion of itself, Sharing its secret
With the hedgehog. The hedgehog Shares its secret with no one.
We say, Hedgehog, come out
Of yourself and we will love you.
We mean no harm. We want
Only to listen to what
You have to say. We want
Your answers to our questions.
The hedgehog gives nothing
Away, keeping itself to itself.
We wonder what a hedgehog
Has to hide, why it so distrusts.
We forget the god under this crown of thorns.
We forget that never again will a god trust in the world”
In this poem, the snail stands for the conformists who have given into the cancerous ways of society. The spineless invertebrates are the bottom feeders of the world - the lower, more common species of the animal hierarchy. The author uses a mollusk to
Connected by the delicate branches of the tree that sprouted from the constantly expanding lineage of the Mammalian family, the hedgehog and the armadillo are also separated by millions of years of evolution. The choice in animals for the poems did not fall under the laws of natural selection, they were hand selected to represent the separate, yet connected underlying messages. Paul Muldoon, author of “Hedgehog”, and Yusef Komunyakaa, author of “Night of the Armadillo”, both declare society as a negative parasitic being. Both mammalian protagonists bear suits of armor that barely suppress the impending offensive physical/social forces, all the meanwhile representing the average man due to the small figure compared to the overwhelming size of society, while the relation comes from not one excerpt of each poem, yet each line is an ingredient in preparing one single message. The authors argue that society is a cancerous force that contorts itself to reach under the shells of individuals, yet when approached by conformity-resistant armored personalities, it attacks and isolates the target. “The snail moves like a
Hovercraft, held up by a
Rubber cushion of itself, Sharing its secret
With the hedgehog. The hedgehog Shares its secret with no one.
We say, Hedgehog, come out
Of yourself and we will love you.
We mean no harm. We want
Only to listen to what
You have to say. We want
Your answers to our questions.
The hedgehog gives nothing
Away, keeping itself to itself.
We wonder what a hedgehog
Has to hide, why it so distrusts.
We forget the god under this crown of thorns.
We forget that never again will a god trust in the world”
In this poem, the snail stands for the conformists who have given into the cancerous ways of society. The spineless invertebrates are the bottom feeders of the world - the lower, more common species of the animal hierarchy. The author uses a mollusk to
Cited: Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Komunyakaa, Yusef. "Night of the Armadillo." Editorial. The Paris Review. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Nov. 2012. <http://www.theparisreview.org/poetry/6136/two-poems-yusef-komunyakaa>. Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken.” Poetry X. Ed. Jough Dempsey. 16 Jun 2003. 01 Nov. 2012. <http://poetry.poetryx.com/poems/271/>. "Hedgehog" from Poems 1968-1998 by Paul Muldoon. Copyright © 2001 by Paul Muldoon. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, LLC. www.fsgbooks.com