18 pages • 36 minutes read
Naomi Shihab NyeThe Art of Disappearing
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1994A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Literary Devices
Free Verse
“The Art of Disappearing” is written in free verse, which means the poem uses a conversational tone and style that mimics typical speech, including the use of dialogue to create hypothetical scenes, characters, and examples of the things the reader can say to avoid social interactions and “disappear.” The stanza breaks the Shihab Nye uses help to separate each scene and each piece of advice and create space where the reader can pause to consider what is being said. This creates a rhythm to the poem, albeit one that is irregular.
Direct Address
Instead of utilizing direct address, the speaker addresses a hypothetical listener without naming or identifying them directly. The speaker only calls them “you” (Line 3). This might be the universal “you.” It applies to everyone. However, the speaker uses some specific examples that seem unique to herself. When she says that parties mean “[s]omeone telling you in a loud voice / they once wrote a poem” (Lines 6-7), the reader can infer she is drawing from her own experience. Using a direct address and framing the poem as a list of pieces of advice allows the speaker to talk about her own experiences but also help the reader learn something they can apply to their own lives.
Metaphor
While most of the poem uses ordinary spoken language, it isn’t until the last two stanzas that the speaker utilizes more “poetic” devices, specifically metaphor. Metaphor is a figure of speech wherein symbolism or representation are applied to a word or phrase. In “The Art of Disappearance,” the speaker tells the reader to “become a cabbage” (Line 19) and to avoid “singing [an old friend] all your new songs” (Line 22). She also uses the metaphor of the “leaf” (Line 24) to discuss mortality. The way that metaphor appears in this poem may indicate the way metaphor appears in the imagination of the poet. She cannot conceptualize in metaphor when she is at a party or with a large crowd but must distance herself from the public in order to speak poetically. Use of metaphor is a way of talking to others on a deeper level, and it takes a degree of privacy for the speaker to reach this depth.
Related Titles
By Naomi Shihab Nye
