Poem Analysis
Poem: tenorman
poet: Jack Kerouac
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/tenorman/
In the poem "tenorman" the poet talks about the life of this trumpet player.He is a sweet person however he is unhappy mostly about his race. According to the text it says " Sweet sad young tenor/Horn slumped around neck/Bearded full of junk/ slouches waiting/ For apocalypse/ Listens to the new Negro raw trumpet kid."From this quote one can picture the emotional stage and how abject this trumpet player is. He is probably being replaced in a band with a new trumpet player. "Tell him the wooden news;/And the beat of the bass/The bass—drives in/Drummer drops a bomb/Piano tinkle tackles" This is when the band performs with their new trumpet player and the boy just goes to a corner away from the band and plays his trumpet to himself.
Literary Devices
In the poem " tenorman" there are many literary devices one such as onomatopoeia. An example of this is ''piano tickle tackles" this is onomatopoeia because it has words that represent sound which are "tickle" and "tackle."Also another literary device is an idiom. An example of an idiom is "drummer drops a bomb" which is a phrase that is not taken literally. The drummer didn`t actually drop a bomb he just hit the drums really hard. An Allusion is a literary device used in this poem also. An example of an allusion is "Slouches waiting/For Apocalypse." The poet refers to an apocalypse because it represents an events involving destruction ,which the trumpet player feels as if his music career is being destroyed. This is an allusion simply because the poet refers to a subject matter as a reference for something else.