Farm Implements and Rutabagas in a Landscape Transformation Quotes

The "emergence" of a Chinese puzzle called a tangram is the first transformation in the poem. The image of a "country" seems almost to come in through the window, past the curtains. The poem is like a half-completed transformation, because the messages are never decoded, the puzzle never solved.

This sentence marks the start of the middle section of the poem, when all the characters begin to voice their gripes and dissatisfactions. Once the site of a pleasant vacation, the apartment becomes cramped and thunder-filled.

Swee'pea's note announces – out of the blue – that things will never be the same. Thunder and tears have failed to achieve something, and now the apartment is a space that people can only "remember." It doesn't matter what state the apartment is in anymore.

After the reading of Swee'pea's note, Olive comes to announce her news. She, too, remarks that things will never be the same. Sunshine and green, growing things have transformed into "immaculate" or perfect darkness that is filled with thunder. The orderly sequence of the "arpeggio" of years has been disturbed forever. But, in that case, why do none of the characters seem particularly upset?

Once Olive leaves to take Swee'pea to the country, the apartment returns to a state of relative normalcy. The Sea Hag enjoys the peace and quiet, and apparently she doesn't mind the whole world-turned-to-darkness thing, either. The Sea Hag is the most complacent character in the poem.