To A Steam Roller
The illustration
is nothing to you without the application.
You lack half wit. You crush all the particles down
into close conformity, and then walk back and forth on them.
Sparkling chips of rock
are crushed down to the level of the parent block.
Were not 'impersonal judgment in
aesthetic
matters, a metaphysical impossibility,'
you might fairly achieve
it. As for butterflies, I can hardly conceive
of one's attending upon you, but to question
the congruence of the complement is vain, if it exists.
-Marianne
-Moore
Stephen R. Covey once said, “Most people do
not listen with the intent to understand; they
listen with the intent to reply”. This quote relates
to the poem To A Steam Roller, by Marianne
Moore because he doesn’t listen to what
anyone has to say and he lacks wisdom. He is
also very defiant to any instructions given to
him. He is very stubborn and acts as if he
doesn’t need anyone. In the poem, Moore is
expressing how his self-sufficiency ruined their
relationship.
I believe that in this poem she is talking about a
person who she had a relationship with. In the
first line she says “the illustration is nothing to
you without the application. I think that what she
means by this statement refers back to a man
she was dating and she is saying how seeing
something means nothing to him unless it is
shown through actions. In the second line “you
lack half wit. you crush all the particles down
into close conformity, and then walk back and
forth on the, she is saying that he is stubborn.”
He also doesn’t follow rules and doesn’t
appreciate anything. In another line, Moore
says “were not impersonal judgment in
aesthetic matters, a metaphysical impossibility
you might fairly achieve it. She is explaining
how he doesn’t understand different aspects of
what she is trying to show him. He doesn’t listen
to what anyone is trying to tell him. he just does
what he wants. She is basically saying how he
doesn’t realize how his selfishness affects her.
-Azaria Johnson
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