| | Sign Up

Keeping Things Whole

by Mark Strand

Home Poetry Keeping Things Whole Analysis Symbols, Imagery, Wordplay

Intro The Poem Summary Analysis Themes Quotes Study Questions Quizzes Best of the Web How to Read a Poem

Symbolism, Imagery, Wordplay
Absence
Nature Imagery

Advertisement

Table of Contents

group rates for schools and districts

ADVERTISEMENT

Keeping Things Whole Symbolism, Imagery & Wordplay

There’s more to a poem than meets the eye.

Absence

Not showing up is our speaker's favorite pastime. No matter where he goes, he's not there. And not only that, but his presence interrupts the "wholeness" of wherever he happens to be. The speaker i...

Nature Imagery

"Keeping Things Whole" isn't the most flowery poem in the world. In fact, it's the opposite. It uses a minimal amount of words, few adjectives and almost no detail whatsoever. Well, there's detail,...