The house is quiet now
[The
vacuum cleaner is not being used anymore, so the house it quiet]
The vacuum cleaner sulks in the corner closet
[Sulks: to be in a mood. But in here it means that the vacuum is again not being used]
Its bag limp,
as a stopped lung, its mouth
[Bag: the material bag
that collects the dust.
Limp: lacking rigidity. ‘The bag as a lung’ is a simile]
Grinning into the floor, maybe at my
[The bottom of the vacuum
there is an opening that looks like a mouth.
‘Mouth grinning’ is a metaphor]
Slovenly life, my dog-dead youth
[Slovenly: Stinky and
messy. His youth is as dead as a dog. In other words he is old]
I’ve lived this was long enough [again old]
But when my old woman died, her soul
[Refers to his wife]
Went into that vacuum cleaner, and I can’t bear
[He believes the vacuum
cleaner possesses his wife’s soul]
To see the bag, swell like a belly, eating the dust
[Swell: expand, get
filled. He doesn’t wan to see the vacuum working.]
And the woolen mice, and begin to howl
[Woolen mice: Large dust balls. When the vacuum works it makes this loud noise like howling]
Because there is old filth everywhere
[The place is consumed
with dirt]
She used to crawl in the corner and under the stairs
In other words, she
cleaned everything!]
I know now how life is cheap as dirt
[Is a simile for: life has
no meaning now he lost his wife]
And still the hungry, angry heart
[Hungry cause he miss and long for her, and he’s angry at the loss. When you loose something often you are angry]
Hangs on and howls, biting at air
[His heart howling and biting, is a metaphor. When he says bites the air he’s thinking of the vacuum since it does that too]
Tone: Anger
Subject: The vacuum cleaner
Theme His wife as a vacuum cleaner
Poet: Howard Nemrov
Speaker: The husband of the dead wife
A little Description of the poem: this man was married to a woman who loved cleaning. He’s not young anymore when his wife dies, leaving the house as dirty, messy and filthy as ever. Despite the mess, he doesn’t want the vacuum cleaner to start working because it reminds him of his wife’s energetic life. So he keeps it not working in a corner closet, to represent the stillness of his wife’s death. He gives the vacuum cleaner a lot of human characteristics to gain this prospect.
Style of poem: It has 3 versus, and the lines don’t rhyme. It’s a mixture of personification, similes and metaphors.