Elliptical

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2002

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Form and Meter

“Elliptical” is a free-verse prose poem with no particular rhyme scheme or meter. It is one stanza with nine lines but even more incomplete sentences. The use of the ellipsis at the end of each incomplete sentence is consistent throughout the poem to show the omission of words. The beginnings of the sentences show variety, giving the poem the form of a well-constructed essay with pronouns and transitional words and phrases. The words that are not transitions or pronouns in the beginning phrases often give clues to the content or emotional perspective of the speaker “we” toward “they,” such as “consequences” (Line 3), “simply refuse” (Line 6), and “feel entitled to” (Line 7). Because of these precise word choices, sometimes the poetic device of assonance, the repetition of vowel sounds, appears, as in the third line with “obvious” and “overall” (Line 3), giving the poem an open, confident sound as the “we” group provides commentary on how “they” are and tend to be.

Enjambment

Lines that begin a thought but roll over and complete it in the next line are enjambed. In this poem, none of the sentences are actually complete. At the same time, there is a pattern of beginning phrases and ending with an ellipsis, a pattern that often carries from one line to the next. The use of enjambment gives this poem the form of a well-structured paragraph that an author types on a word processing document that automatically ends at the default margins and carries on to the next line. If the reader were to fill in the part with the ellipsis, a complete paragraph with different ways of perceiving the issue would be present. Usually, enjambment can lead to surprises, with the beginning part of a phrase ending on a note that could take a variety of directions in the next line. Here, the surprises are not answers because the ends of the phrases are omitted. For example, at the end of Line 8, Mullen writes, “Nevertheless their” (Line 8), which leaves the reader wondering to what “their” refers. Line 9 fills in the wonder with “behavior” (Line 9), but the reader still has to fill in the gap about what the behavior is and how it makes people feel.

Juxtaposition

Contrast is a significant part of this poem, showing different viewpoints of “us” regarding “them.” Sometimes the contrast appears in a single line and other times in side-by-side phrases. In the second line, “They never…They always…” (Line 2) are side by side, showing the contradicting qualities of the “they” group of people. At the same time, both “never” and “always” have in common that they are absolute terms, showing what these people are like on a consistent basis. The end of Line 2 gives the “they” group” a less absolute description with “Once in a while they…” (Line 2), only to be immediately contrasted at the start of Line 3 with the confidently phrased “However it is obvious that they…” (Line 3). Because human beings are so complex, their reactions and feelings toward one another are equally so and, therefore, regularly change when they encounter different perspectives.