https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/detail/57378#poem
The poem, "Alms for the Beekeeper" by John Ashbery, begins with the line "He makes better errors that way." This seemingly random start to the poem sets up the description of a lawyer in a later part of the poem. However, the next line jumps to describing a breakfast of the family of that lawyer. The description of this breakfast and the passing of what seems like honey based on the title. Ashbery uses this to present the man as a lawyer, and describes him as languid. He shows how being languid is helpful because it "beat out other options"
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"Soonest Mended," by John Ashbery, is a poem that is highlighting our conformity to society's rules. It also highlights the uselessness of learning, although it also points out that learning is a never-ending endeavor. It is this learning that gives people "a delusion" (57) of self confidence, and it is this confidence that pushes us to conformity to become "good citizens" (66). Ashbery is trying to show that people are more alike than most people think, although we may look extremely different from each other.
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Bryce ThompsonArchives
March 2017
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