In Marianne Moore’s “no swan so fine,” everything feels very artificial, like the swan isn’t even alive, but somehow that makes it more perfect. It’s made of china, decorated, and pre-owned to purposely show whose bird it was.” I think beauty here depends on control. The setting is overdone, with all of the details piling up, almost overwhelming . I especially liked that last line, “the king is dead” because it drops in and reminds you that all this elegance is sitting on top of decay or maybe denial or both.
I think there is a notable similarity between all of Demitrus’ poems. The common factor is that all these poems are suspicious of beauty, and they don’t trust it. Like the swan for example, can be perfect and lifeless at the same time.
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