19 Varieties of Gazelle (Section 2): Constancy

     For Section Two, the two poems I chose to compare/contrast were "The Tray" (p. 105) and "Ducks" (p. 110-111) due to the shared theme of constancy. Both poems discuss heavy issues of sorrow and war, but at the close of each work a bit of hope is sprinkled in to show that even when there is individual pain, the companionship of others will provide a gateway to better times.
    In "The Tray," the structure of the poem differs from "Ducks" in that it is one long sentence broken down into a stanza of eleven lines. Although the couplets do not rhyme, there is a fluidity in the structure that is less choppy than in "Ducks." I think that the fluid structure is mirroring the constancy and comfort Nye is trying to express as she describes how the presence of tea in their culture is always something one can count on. She uses simple language to further illustrate the beauty of shared silence and the unity felt among the drinkers of the tea. This simple expression is one also portrayed in "Ducks," just to a different degree.
    "Ducks" represents the theme of constancy in a slightly different way than the first poem. In "The Tray," that sense of unchanging comfort is present throughout the poem without hesitation or conflict. However, in "Ducks" the main character, a young girl, discusses how when she is worried or has questions about her life she always goes back to the ducks in a nearby pond (as mirrored in the structure made up of several stanzas). Despite her worry and questions for the ducks themselves, "She stayed quiet with the ducks/Some days they huddled among reeds/or floated together" (l. 22-24) for she saw hope in their existence. In much the same way the tea and social support soothed the character of the first poem, the reader was able to get that sense of ease when the character of "Ducks" noted that the three ducks in the pond were starting to build a nest. Whether solace is an inherent part of a culture or it must observed from an outside source, Nye was able to show how, no matter the situation, one can always find something to count on.