St Francis And The Sorrow Poem Analysis

American based poet, Galway Kinnell was born in the year 1927 in Providence, Rhode Island. Growing up Kinnell was a very shy and introverted child who often turned to American literature and poetry to escape daily life (Poetry Foundation). Kinnell, who spent two years in the United States Navy then went on to receive a Bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a Master’s degree from The University of Rochester. During the times of when he was most active writing poetry was during and after the civil rights movement in America. Kinnell was also part of many groups that supported voting rights of blacks…”in the 1960s, Kinnell joined the Congress for Racial Equality (CORE), registering African American voters in the South. Many of his experiences—world travel, city life, harassment as a …show more content…
It is a very relatable poem that can still be relevant today even though it was written in 1976 in the midst of his popularity (The Poetry Foundation). This poem is definitely a dramatic lyric poem because it is telling a story you can follow from the beginning to the end. There is no apparent literary elements that first jump out at the reader but you can pick it apart to see the message clearly. The speaker of this poem is from the outside reminiscing on something. While reading you can start to see the imagery of the sow that Kinnell talks about and how it regains its love for its self (Poetry Explication). It only seems appropriate that Kinnell use St. Francis because he is the saint of animals (St. Francis of Assisi). When he speaks of “the bud” in the beginning of the poem it is almost like he is talking about all things that grow. All things start out small and have to grow up or bloom at some point, with potential of things to come (Saint Francis and the Sow). When he references “loveliness” in line six it is foreshadowing to the end when the sow finds her loveliness. In lines