Good Times-Lucille Clifton-209

Speaker:
The speaker of this poem is the author, Lucille Clifton. Though the poem speaks of her childhood days, she is telling it from an older perspective, like a reflection. She tells the story of her family having "good times" as if she is in the present. By the last two lines though, it becomes evident that she is telling it looking back on those days. She says, "oh children think about the good times." She ends the poem in such a manner to remind the reader to focus on the good in life, and not the bad. Good times can make the bad times seem more bearable. Before the last two lines, the purpose of her poem is unclear, but by reading those last two lines, it is evident that the poem is intended to teach, or advise.

Rhyme:
This poem does not have a structured rhyme scheme, though two lines do ryhme.
"...and the insurance man is gone
and the lights is back on"
She rhymes the words "gone" and "on", two seemingly contrasting words if not considered in context. If analyzed alone, these two words seem to be opposites. She intentionally rhymed them to accentuate this. She emphasizes the words "gone" and "on" particularly to show that good times come and go, without warning. She places emphasis on these words to say: Appreciate the good things that happen to you, because nothing is certain.
Other than that, there are no other rhymes. The structure and wording of the sentences reminds me of a slave speaking. The language is unsophisticated, and the grammar is poor. She writes in such a style to imply that she had bad times too, the good times were temporary.

meter:
This poem uses accentual meter. The accents are placed on the fifth and last syllables of each line, except for the two word lines. The way that makes this poem flow is very repetetive, almost forced. The accents give the poem a slightly bouncy feel, but not in a happy way. The "bounce" is consistant and ongoing, symbolizing her life. Her life just kept on going, through the good and the bad. Since she is telling this story from a younger perspective, perhaps she structures it like this to make her sound naive.

Repetition for effect:
Repetition for effect is used in this poem. Obviously, "good times" is repeated five times, six if you include the title. This is done to tell the reader to focus on the good times, Clifton's main theme of the poem. By repeating it, it seems more important. Also, the word "kitchen" is repeated twice in a row. Kitchen makes the reader think of food, it is easily identifiable. By repeating "kitchen", she was trying to convey to the reader how exactly how dire her situation was; her family struggled to afford food much of the time.

Allegory:
Clifton uses the word drunk to convey two things: First, her family is drunk. Literally, they are drunk. But the connotation that is attached to that word is negative. "Drunk" makes people think of stupidity and disallusion. By using that word to describe her family, it takes on dual meanings. Sure they are drunk, but they are also naive and blind to the seriousness of the situation. By making use of a word's connotation and denotation at once, Clifton made use of allegory.

Reaction:
This poem affected me personally, because I often find myself taking life for granted. I wallow too deeply in the things that trouble me, without devoting enough thought to the good things that happen to me. My negative experiences often cast a dark shadow over my positive experiences. This poem helped me to be more aware of this, so hopefully I can overcome it. If I follow the advice of this poem, I"m certain it will have long term benefits for me personally.