Thoughts:
- This poem is a bit depressing. Apparently, the only feminine resistance (a theme we’ve seen several times in previous works) are the tigers Aunt Jennifer can conjure up with her fingers. It’s very interesting to me, and a testament to the poem’s speaker, that we feel the oppressiveness foisted upon the Aunt by the Uncle without there being any description of his actual deeds. In fact, we really only get 1 line: “The massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band.” Somehow, though, it is enough to convey the sense of dread. The use of “the wedding band” as a metaphor for oppression twists what is normally thought of as a hopeful symbol into a dark omen.
- I also like the line describing the tigers: “They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.” The alliteration in the last 2 words is effectively memorable, but, more subtly, the speaker also sticks together ‘sleek’ and ‘chivalric,’ both words ending in the same sound. Ironically, the tigers are the ones described as chivalric, whereas traditionally this was seen as the male’s realm.
- The mention of ‘wool’ and ‘ivory’ in such proximity made me think about sheep and elephants, two animals often exploited for their resources that are useful or desirable to us. Is Aunt Jennifer in the same predicament, an animal exploited for the sake of others?
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