chainsaw vs the pampas grass

summary

• speaker mows down some ornamental grass in his garden

• personifies chainsaw w rage + violence

• hacks at and burns plant

• speaker feels satisfied but then it grows back

themes

• human technology vs nature

• rage

• violence vs quiet persistence

human technology vs nature

• Humanity might enjoy a brief fantasy of dominance through technology, but technology can never defeat nature

• saw has one job—to saw—and it’s terrifyingly good at it. All this power is a little scary, but it’s also seductive.

• poem thus makes some wry fun of humanity’s illusions of control

rage

• personification and projection of violence + anger onto chainsaw

• destructive + violent

violent force vs quiet persistence

• symbolic fight between passive + gentle persistence of p.g and aggressive display of c’s force

• perhaps tale of stereotypical masculinity vs femininity, w male dominance ultimately losing out to female persistence and patience

form

• irregular stanzas of free verse → lack of rhyme/ meter allows poem to develop in a loose + organic way; perhaps irratic nature of speakers calculated violence

cortaderia

native description of grass derived from ‘cortadera’ meaning ‘cutter’ (finely serrated leaves)

invasive plant