ader. Updike does this, not through the meaning of his words, but their sounds when read aloud. When reading a passage of this poem, the readers mind and mouth are sent spinning through the use of common letters and sounds within the words. Updike writes, Whirl, whorl or wharve! The world / Whirls within solar rings / Which once were hotly hurled / Away by whirling things! (p. 296) When a person experiences an emotion or sensation so powerful that their world seems out of control, there comes a sense of freedom. This passage, like the remainder of the poem, causes the readers tongue and mind to flow so freely, that they forget about trying to decipher the meaning of the poem and truly experience the meaning. This is one of the most effective poems that I have ever read, because without giving an ounce of thought to the meaning of the poem, it is instantly conveyed. Like this last poem, Updike uses sounds in many of his poems to enhance the messages of his poems. In the poem, Sonic Boom, Updike ends every line with words that end in resounding syllables. The poem is expressing the excitement and fear that a family feels when hearing a sonic boom. The sheer force of this fear is conveyed to the reader by the power of words which are used in the poem. The words are not powerful, however, due to their meaning, but rather because of the resounding sounds that they command. By ending his lines in words such as boom, doom, clap, snap, nap, boom and doom, Updike enhances the feeling of every line. The speaker says, The ceiling shudders at the clap... (p. 305) and although shudders is a strong verb in itself, the use of a thunderous word at the end of the line drives his point into the readers mind and body. We can all, when reading this poem, not only hear the sound that the plane makes when it passes overhead, but we can actually feel it reverberating through our bodies. John Updike uses many different techniques in his poems to...
