The Good Life

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2011

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Form & Meter

Smith’s poem is composed of 10 lines—four lines short of sonnet length—of free verse. While the line length remains mostly consistent, the metrical length of the lines varies quite a bit, from the 7-syllable final line to the several 12-syllable lines. Smith’s poem isn’t structured by any traditional formal device, there is no rigid rhyme scheme or strict meter. However, like many poems composed in free verse, Smith’s “The Good Life” alludes to (and uses features from) traditional forms and metrical structures.

While the poem is not a traditional sonnet by any definition, it does model its rhetorical shape after the Shakespearian sonnet form. Like a traditional English sonnet, “The Good Life” is a single block of text, unbroken into stanzas, that sets out to make a poetic argument of sorts. The poem is written from the perspective of a single speaker who presents thoughts about a central topic or question, in this case the nature of the good life. The lines are not overly long or short, varying in length around a loose median of 10 syllables, the same as traditional sonnet pentameter (that is, verse with five poetic units of meter called “feet” per line). Perhaps most dramatically, the conclusion of Smith’s poem mirrors the typical ending of an English sonnet. After building a series of rhetorical steps toward making her “argument,” Smith ends her poem with a couplet that functions both as a turning point and a rhetorical conclusion. Her final two lines stand out, which Smith accomplishes by making them shorter, by opening them both with the same vowel sound (while all the other lines begin with consonants), and by contrasting the simple but sumptuous images with the images of hunger elsewhere. Even as they stand apart, they also conclude and wrap up the body of the poem. This relationship of a final couplet both standing apart from, and concluding the thought of, the body of a poem is one of the defining features of a Shakespearean sonnet.

In addition to this structural inspiration Smith borrows from sonnets, “The Good Life” makes use of poetic meter even though it does not commit to following one rigidly. Smith’s poem is attentive to how it sounds, using its musicality to propel the reader forward and unify itself. The poem flirts with two distinct meters, dipping in and out of each. The first meter to appear in the poem is anapestic, which is defined by two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable. The first line (with the exception of an implied but missing opening unstressed syllable which appears instead at the end of the final foot), is strictly anapestic. “Peo-ple-TALK” and “a-bout-MON” are both examples of typical anapests (Line 1). This bouncy, relaxed meter communicates a conversational tone here, inviting the reader to continue to the next line with its disarming musicality.

When the reader arrives at the second line, however, she is in for a surprise: instead of anapests, the line is composed of almost completely regular iambic pentameter. The standard unit of meter for English poetry and sonnets, iambs consists of an opening unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. “They-SPEAK,” “as-IF,” and “it-WERE” are all perfect iambs, and it isn’t until the word “mys-TER-i-ous” that the pattern is varied (Line 2). Unlike the casual, almost comical, musicality of anapestic, iambic meter drives the reader forward in a more businesslike fashion. The ticking clock of iambic only hesitates over the mystery of the metaphorical lover, emphasizing his unknowability.

Anapests continue to pop up throughout the body of the poem, including in the following line, which opens with the regular anapest “who-went-OUT,” followed by a similar “to-buy-MILK” (Line 3). From “all-the-TIME,” “(walk)ing-to-WORK,” and “or-two-NIGHTS,” to “(EV)ery-one-ELSE,” the poem is littered with anapests (Lines 6, 9). This rhythm is counterbalanced by the intrusion of iambic patterns, notably appearing in lines 2, 4, 5, and 6. Smith’s complex balance of these two meters creates a poem that both feels conversational (because it doesn’t obviously adhere to any one rhythm) and cleverly moves the reader from start to finish, modulating her reading speed and creating a sense of pleasant metrical unity.

Simile

Although Smith’s short poem is composed in simple language largely unornamented by flashy literary devices, it does make use of metaphor. Specifically, Smith’s poem uses a few extended similes, the literary device that compares two things using the words “like” or “as.” Unlike most metaphors, which compare two things by saying that thing “is” another, similes fit more easily into everyday speech. By writing similes, Smith is able to use metaphor without losing the conversational tone of “The Good Life.” The speaker reminisces about going to work on payday “Like a woman” questing for water (Line 7). The poem describes “some people” (Line 1) discussing money “as if it were” a lover (Line 2). This extra inclusion of the word “if” further emphasizes that a comparison is being made, instead of highlighting the two objects being compared. Even though it is not a simile, Smith uses the comparison word “like” in her concluding couplet: “like everyone else” (Line 9). The poem goes out of its way to emphasize that comparisons are being made, instead of simply stating them as a standard metaphor might (for instance, she might have written “money / [is] a mysterious lover”) (Line 2). By using similes and highlighting the comparison-words they use, Smith illustrates the relativity and comparison inherent to satisfaction, happiness, and the good life.

Alliteration & Assonance

Smith creates a sense of sonic unity in “The Good Life” by repeating word sounds. The first half of the poem makes liberal use of the hard “k” sound, particularly after the opening line. From the early “speak” (Line 2), and “milk” (Line 3), to the cacophonous “Came back,” “makes,” and, “nostalgic” (Line 4), the repetition of sounds ties the poem together in ways that aren’t always immediately obvious.

Smith ties certain phrases together, creating memorable and musical combinations of words that elevate her conversational tone to well-crafted poetry. For example, “walking to work” (Line 6) uses alliteration of the initial “w” sound (along with its allusion to Smith’s intermittent use of anapests) to distinguish itself from mere prose. The continued alliteration of “w” ties this musical phrase into the rest of the poem: “woman […] for water” (Line 7), “without a well” (Line 8), and even “One or two” (Line 9). This final example is an interesting variation, which uses the “w” sound without the letter in the word “One,” but the letter without the sound in the word “two” (Line 9). Though this isn’t as typical an example as the previous three instances of alliteration, its proximity to them and its unusual variation of visual and aural references to the letter still demonstrate a careful attention to alliteration and assonance in Smith’s poem.