Analysis of Kay Ryan

Poetry is a form of writing that is much more passionate and real then just writing a book. Poets need to first find something that they are passionate about and care about that they can write about. Whether is is love or war, it becomes a recurring subject they write about that they feel strongly about and this becomes their sore subject. Kay Ryan is a prominent poet with her own beliefs and passions. The core subject of Kay Ryan's poetry is that of her opinions of society and the change of civilization which she shows using symbolism.

Upon reading Kay Ryan's poetry for the first time it seems very confusing with sort words and sentences. However once you reading through it and look at it the real meaning is it is easy to see what she is really writing about. In most of these cases Ryan writes a lot about issues that she cares about. In the poem “Sharks Teeth” there is the issue of people becoming almost too civilized and not caring about the simple and the quiet anymore. Each part of the shark represents peace that is not found in the busy lives of people in this day and age and that is what Ryan is trying to get across. One of the things that is important to Ryan is being great as America and civilization which is disrupted by business of everyday. J.D. McClatchy said "Her poems are compact, exhilarating, strange affairs.” By this he means that Kay Ryan has a view that focuses on subjects that she finds important that not many write about. For example the line from “Sharks Teeth” that says, “Sometimes a bit of a tail or fin can still be sensed in park” shows how she is speaking about the quietness of simplicity that is only left inside certain places in civilization. These simple parts are shown using the symbol of the shark.

Which brings the next piece of her core subjects. Mostly to show the subject she uses great symbolism to give her intangible idea something tangible for the audience to understand it by. In “Sharks Teeth” she uses the shark, its teeth and other body parts, to get her point of simplicity of life across to the reader. This is not really a type core subject of her but it is a repeated pattern that she uses to get her point across to her readers. An example in “Sharks Teeth” is “Noise gets its zest from the small shark's-tooth-shaped fragments of rest angled in it.” where it is clear to see the symbolism used. It can also be seen in her poem “Nothing Ventured” with this example, “Nothing exists as a block

and cannot be parceled up”.  Many people have written on this and commented on it. Critic Meghan 

O’Rourke has written this of her work: “Each poem twists around and back upon its argument like a river

 retracing its path; they are didactic in spirit, but a bedrock wit supports them.” This is very  true of her

 writing that it is an argument where Ryan states her opinion and tried to get her audience to understand. 
Along with her subject matter of going back to the simple in life she also carries a great theme of 

keeping our ties with earth and nature and the consequences of that. This is the more social problems of

 her poetry. These poems are more the side of her poetry where she discuses what she sees in the world

 and how we as one race are treating it. In her work “Nothing Ventured” this point is made very clear. 

She writes, “How they'll drain the big tanks down to slime and salamanders and want thanks?” This 

line from her poem really shows her point of view and how she uses her words to tell her opinions 

about societal issues like draining lakes in this example. There are many other poems were she states 

her opinions which become most of her subject matter. Another great one is “A Certain Kind of Eden”

 where she makes this statement, “It seems like you could, but you can’t go back and pull the roots and

 runners and replant.”. In this poem of hers she is speaking about taking over the land and people

 needing to go back to original land. She wants the earth to be clean and in its best state. She cares 

about the environment and states this in many of her poems. 
 Kay Ryan is a award-winning poet who has many great poems that she has written. Many of them are

 about her opinion on many subjects. These subjects are talked about in her poems and are talked about

 using useful metaphors and similes to allow her audience to understand her point. Her subject matter 

mostly consists of her opinions on social and civilization and it influence on the world and the earth.