We Have Been Friends Together by Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton

The Bagel

David Ignatow

I stopped to pick up the bagel
rolling away in the wind,
annoyed with myself
for having dropped it
as if it were a portent.
Faster and faster it rolled,
with me running after it
bent low, gritting my teeth,
and I found myself doubled over
and rolling down the street
head over heels, one complete somersault
after another like a bagel
and strangely happy with myself.

There are many literary elements in this poem that help contribute to its overall meaning: anyone can feel like a child at times. The speaker's perspective in this poem is one of the literary elements that contribute to the poem's meaning. In the beginning of this poem, the speaker says, "annoyed with myself for having dropped it as if it were a portent (Ignatow)." Through this quotation we learn that the speaker is annoyed at the situation he is in and is looking at dropping his bagel as a warning sign for more misfortunes to come. At the end of the poem the speaker's oppinion changes when he says, "one complete somersault after another like a bagel and strangely happy with myself (Ignatow)." Through this quote we learned that the poet is no longer annoyed with himself for initially dropping the bagel; he is showing a more childish part of himself in finding the joy and entertainment in the situation. The diction of this poem also contributes to the overall meaning of this poem. Through the connotation of the repeated use of the word rolling, the reader gets a sense of something that is out of the speakers control. The bagel just keeps rolling and it is unstoppable. Eventually the speaker begins to roll and he speaker begins to go with the flow and find the joy and humor in this situation. The diction in this poem also contributes to its overall meaning.

Although this poem is relatively short, the images it does have in it really help to contribute to the meaning. This large image shows the speaker's frustration and determination to retrieve the bagel, "Faster and faster it rolled, with me running after it bent low, gritting my teeth, and I found myself doubled over and rolling down the street head over heels, one complete somersault after another like a bagel and strangely happy with myself, (Ignatow)." You can tell that the speaker is frustrated by how he is gritting his teeth and that he is determined by how he is bent low and somersaulting just to receive a bagel. The figurative language in this poem also helps contribute to the meaning of this poem. The speaker even relates himself somersaulting to the bagel, "I found myself doubled over and rolling down the street head over heels, one complete somersault after another like a bagel, (Ignatow)." This simile shows the speakers childish humor which contributes to the meaning of this poem: anyone can feel like a child at times. There are many literary elements that contribute to this poem's meaning.