Happiness By Jane Kenyon Essay

The poem I chose, “Happiness” by Jane Kenyon, describes what happiness truly is. It tells a story of who it comes to, and how happiness comes to everyone no matter what the situation is. The poem says in the beginning 2 paragraphs how happiness is always there and that it “saved its most extreme form for you alone”. I believe what the Kenyon is trying to say at that moment is that you have the power to be happy, even when you are alone. The poem also has very specific examples of who happiness comes to. Some of these examples include “the monk in his cell” or “the woman sweeping the street” or “to the child whose mother passed out from drink”(21-24). All of these examples that are described in the passage are people or things that work for something or put effort into something whether that's a job or even a person. In the very last paragraph, it even starts using inanimate objects to show that even happiness comes to things that aren't even living. I definitely agree with the point the poet is trying to get across to people. I think it was beautifully written in a …show more content…
She uses imagery in a random run-on sentence about an uncle who “flies a single engined plane”, “hitchhikes into town” and “inquires at every door until he finds you asleep midafternoon as you so often are during the unmerciful hours of your despair.”(14-20) And then she continues to listen random things and people that happiness comes to such as, “the lover”, “the dog chewing a sock”, “the pusher”, “the basket maker”, and finally, “the clerk stacking cans of carrots in the night” (25-28) The poet is showing variety, and that is what makes the poem so unique but easy to understand. Kenyon even uses personification when saying that happiness even comes to “the wineglass, weary of holding