Mika Harrison

Queen Curmano
Honors English
13 February 2015
The use of theme and tone
The writing of Marge Peircy is mainly inspired by her mothers family. Marge
Peircy grew up during the Great Depression and was very close with her mother and her
grandmother. Her family taught her to enjoy good things in life and to make sure she
knows what the good things are. These family values inspired Marge to write about the
struggles of life and focus on good things rather than live in the bad things. The poem
To be of use by Marge Peircy reveals a powerful theme, everyone can live to their full
potential and shows an admiring and reverent tone creating a strong meaning throughout
the poem.
The Poetic devices used in this poem are metaphor, simile, enjambment, and
personification which help us understand the theme by adding poetic devices which helps
the reader, interpret as more suspenseful and with more emphasis on the writing. Simile
and metaphor is used throughout the entire poem but one specific line is The work of the
world is common as mud. Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust. But the thing
worth doing well done has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident (To be 20-23). This
metaphor is saying, people work hard all the time and it may be hard to see but once you
finish the job with great expectation it is clear and noticeable. The simile is comparing
hard work to mud, meaning hard work isnt obvious but a job well done can draw
attention. Enjambment is shown in the poem especially lines 1 through 4 The people I
love best jump into work head first without dallying in the shallows and swim off with
sure strokes almost out of sight (To be 1-4). The meaning of the enjambment in these
lines is so the speaker can get their point across in the stanza. Enjambment is also used
because it helps the reader interpret and better understand the meaning in these lines

Mika Harrison
Queen Curmano
Honors English
13 February 2015
which is people who work the hardest are more loved. Personification is used in the last
stanza of the poem Hopi vases that held corn are put in museums but you know they
were made to be used. The pitcher cries for water to carry (25-27). The speaker of this
poem is trying to say everything has a purpose and can be used in some way. The
personification helps understand this meaning by saying a vase or pitcher cries to fulfill
its purpose and humans should do the same because we all have a destiny or purpose.
Metaphor, simile, enjambment, and personification all work together to create theme
through the poem by adding more depth into the way the poem can be read and how the
poem sounds and looks.
Reverence, dignity, and light-heartedness all help establish this poems tone of
admiration. The people I love the best jump into work head first without dallying in the
shallows (To be 1-3). This example connects reverence to admiration because the
speaker is saying she loves the people that work hard the most. In the poem the speaker is
saying they have a deep respect for people that work hard which gives this poem an
admiring tone. The speaker gives a dignified aspect to the admiration tone when she says,
I want to be with people who submerge in the task (To be 14-15). The word dignified is
used to describe admiration in this line because the speaker is trying to be dignified by
being with people who Submerge in the task. The speaker of the poem wants people to
understand the concept that admiration should be dignified. I love people who harness
themselves an ox to a heavy cart (To be 8-9). The word light-hearted is referenced to
admiration here because the speaker is showing kind admiration to the people they love.
The speaker is also showing love toward people who work hard which gives the tone of
admiration. Dignified, reverent, and light-hearted are all words, when combined with a

Mika Harrison
Queen Curmano
Honors English
13 February 2015
tone of admiration rendering a stronger theme; People who try and live to their full
potential are loved by because of their will to work hard.
To be of use by Marge Peircy shows that everyone can live to their full potential
and everyone who tries to succeed at doing so are greatly admired. Through Marge
Pericys experience in life her poems have taught us to value everything in life. To be of
use by Marge Peircy teaches everyone to live to their full potential and to work for great
expectations in their lives.