Gliding On A Lake By Toni Alvarez

In her poem, Alvarez conveys the speaker’s discoveries by employing connecting imagery with the use of juxtaposition and personification, and detailed descriptions. The speaker strongly tries to transmit the splendid and candid vision she sees in the book she discovered in a college store. In the poem, the speaker’s curiosity and desire to possess the discovery is palpable in her passionate use of visual descriptions. With the use of imagery, it is transmitted the vivid image of “swans gliding on a lake” and how repeatedly it is highlighted in each stanza (2). This encounter awakes in the speaker the need to steal the book, but fortunately, she controls her corrupt thoughts. At first, the speaker had no intention to find this book she was simply surprised by its uniqueness and beauty. The tone of the poem is of total astonishment, enthusiastic, and contemplative every time when she approaches the book she could “almost feel/the blue waters” taking control of her (28-29). However, her desire for the book arose in her immoral thoughts. This shift in the poem is merely elaborated by selection of detail by portraying the dilemma of the speaker. For a moment, she wants to steal the precious book because “[she] had no money, and no one was looking” (40). …show more content…
What she thought she has understood it almost felt as odd and incomprehensible. Her desire to read the peaceful book is also influenced by the speaker's intrigue and inspiration. In the last stanzas, the speaker concludes with more personification “the words [they] swam over answered” that comes back again to the powerful vision of the swans in the lake (45). One last time the speaker mused herself with the last appreciation of the masterpiece in front of her eyes before “putting the book down”