Question

In at least 150 words, explain how the use of specific poetic devices makes “Counting Small-boned Bodies” satirical.

Answer 1

Robert Bly in this poem uses very specific imagery that helps convey the satire of his meaning. The three main images he evokes are: a plain in the moonlight, a desk with "awards" on it, and a ring. All three of these images are romantic in nature, especially the plain in the moonlight. Using beautiful, celebratory imagery helps convey the satire because bodies and bones are not typically linked to peaceful or beautiful imagery. Repetition is also used to make the satire stand out, because Bly is focusing on the wish that the bodies could be smaller so that they could increase numbers. Instead of repeating a wish of higher numbers, the poem focuses on something not under anyone's control thereby making the repetition seem more out of reality by the end. This repetition combined with the imagery shows how much greedier the speaker is becoming through the poem as well. It starts by desiring a whole body to be the size of a skull--and the number of bodies could fill a plain. The second image decreases the size even more, so that a year's worth of bodies could fit on a desk. The third image makes the bodies even smaller than that, having a whole body fit inside a ring. This heightening of size decrease again just makes the sentiment more unreasonable and emphasizes the satire as the poem goes on.