Lucia Perillo
“The Canticle from the Book of Bob" Here is a link to the poem: http://walkingwithghosts.blogspot.com/2007/06/canticle-from-book-of-bob-lucia-perillo.html In Lucia Perillo’s poem “The Canticle from the Book of Bob,” she writes about the funeral of a loved one. She takes an interesting spin on the normal idea of what a funeral is. Perillo puts emphasis on the fact that everything must be “hired” through an extensive use of anaphora. “We hired” shows up in nearly every line, stressing the importance of the fact that the speaker has to hire quite literally every person and item for the funeral. Perillo writes, “then we hired our grief” showing that even mourning the dead comes at a cost. If one wants a nice funeral and memorial for a loved one, it comes at a high price, when a higher price (this person’s death) has already been paid. This poem was striking and deep to me. Although the speaker (along with whoever else may be “we”) has to pay all these expenses just to bury a loved one, she does not seem bitter; instead she seems to accept the costs as a necessity. I particularly liked that Perillo includes, “money changed hands and the process was brief,” which makes the funeral sound more like a business deal than anything else. With this, Perillo effectively takes the emotion out of death and treats death as just a mundane occurrence. “And we hired some tears because our own eyes were tired.” The speaker does not necessarily pay others to cry; however, it must seem like this because enough has already been paid and everyone at the funeral must naturally be crying. The fact that the speaker's “eyes were tired” shows the emotional toll the death and funeral has put on her. Although sad and still mourning, she is unable to cry, thus leading to the “hiring” of others to do it for her. The title of the poem leaves room for speculation. Is “Bob” the person who has died? Bob is never mentioned in the actual poem and neither is the name of the deceased. Perhaps the author left it this way on purpose so as to not take away from the emotion of the poem. Meanwhile, the “canticle” is obviously referring to the song that is sung by the “woman to sing in our stead.” But on second thought, the whole poem might have been written as a canticle itself. It certainly does have a sort of chanting quality to it. -Steven
6 Comments
Austin from Chapmanville
10/6/2016 08:23:39 am
You have an amazingly detailed analysis of this poem. One thing I would like to build off that you already mentioned is the title, specifically the idea of "Bob." I think "Bob" is supposed to be universal, so that this poem can speak to a wide variety of readers. "Bob" is a very well-known and used name, which is what leads me to this conclusion. Maybe the author is trying to write her sorrows out, but also try to speak to someone going through the same sorrow.
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My poem was also about death, so I enjoy this analysis of another poem regarding death. I love the idea of taking the emotion out of death and you really did a wonderful job of analyzing that. I think that question of "who is Bob?" allows everyone to be connected to this poem and I think that's a wonderful thing about poetry. We all have can be connected to the poem.
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Aisha
10/7/2016 06:32:26 pm
Hi! I'm a student from charLIT, NC. I think you did a good job analyzing this poem, because it was honestly a confusing one for me. Your description was very thoughtful and well-written. I loved the way you came to the interpretation where Perillo was trying to say that it takes so much money and effort to bury a loved one, even though the price of their death had already been paid. Very strong statement, great job!!
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Kelsey
10/9/2016 12:24:54 pm
I really like your analysis behind the anaphora used within the poem. The idea that funerals are costly despite the higher price death was really interesting to me and I'm totally behind it. After reading the poem myself, I definitely agree that Perillo isn't writing about the heartbreak involved with funerals, but instead the sort of "business" side of it. The narrator does not appear to be broken up about the death, but more so accepting of what it will cost.
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Kelsey L.
10/9/2016 08:43:01 pm
You did a really nice job breaking down this poem and analyzing each of its meaningful aspects. The way you discussed the phrase “We hired” really helped me get a better understanding of what the poem is about before I even read it for myself. Your analysis of how one’s grief comes at a cost is so deep and well written. Then, once again I liked how you took the line “eyes were tired” and said that it represented the emotional toll of death because from personal experience, I can attest to that being true. Nice job!
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This was an excellent breakdown of this poem, Steven. Lucia Perillo's poem has a very heavy tone to it, and you captured how the repetitive elements ("We hired...") detaches the individuals involved from the actual funeral experience. It seems like a funeral is just a social norm or obligation to fulfill after a person passes, even though the loved one has probably grieved on their own long before the event. Perillo makes funerals seem like a series of multiple transactions, and reiterates how money may not buy happiness, but it can sure be used to buy sadness and mourning.
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