Telephone Poles- John Updike

p.415



Two literary devices John Updike employs in "Telephone Poles" are simile and figuritive language. The use of these tools is what ultimately gets his point across.

Updike makes many comparisons in his piece. He devotes much of it to comparing telephone poles to trees, giants, and monsters. He says that telephone poles are "like a race of giantsthat have faded into mere mythology", and each is like "a Gorgon's head, which, seized right, could stun us to stone." By comparing the telephone poles to these sort of magical giants, he is making them seem greater and mightier than humans. This connection is necessary in conveying his next point; despite these "creatures" being so mighty, they are man-made, and we use them for our purposes. Another important simile is at the end, in the last two lines: "These giants are more constant than evergreens/by never being green." Here he is saying that the telephone poles, symbols of man-made technology, are in some ways greater or hold more power than some of nature's natural elements, such as evergreens.

Figurative language is utilized throughout the piece, in phrases such as "What other tree can you climb where the birds' twitter, unscrambled, is English?" Here updike is referring to the conversations of humans that are carried through the wires. This phrase contributes to the meaning of the piece as a whole in that it helps convey the takeover of nature by humans. There is also figurative language present in "But then again there is not that tragic autumnal castig-off of leaves to outface annually." This is another example of the somewhat sarcastic tone that seems to mean that man-made technology is better or more efficient than nature.

Personally, I found this poem interesting in how it combined elements of nature with elements of harsh, man-made technology (it literally mentions bolts, nuts, and insulators). I really like the comparisons made of the telephone poles to trees and giants, and how the poet makes the reader think of telephone poles in these ways. It's interesting because telephone poles are something that have always been around us and we never really notice them or think about them at all. I also really liked the line "What other tree can you climb where the birds' twitter, unscrambled, is English?"