Poetry Analysis

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An American Beast

Original Poetry

Translation

An American Beast

There’s a pair of cowardly yellow eyes staring out of the heart of the darkness.

There are cowardly yellow eyes looking out from the darkness.

Staring up at the moon like a baleful werewolf,

They gaze up at the moon like a threatening werewolf,

Keeping to the shadows

Staying hidden in the shadows

Well away from the water lest he catch a glimpse of his own bestial reflection.

Far from the water to avoid seeing its own animal-like reflection.

He licks his lips and drools his greed onto his matted stained hair

It licks its lips and lets its greed drip onto its dirty, tangled hair.

An American beast is hungry for the lives of our children

An American beast is hungry for our children's lives.

He only feasts on promises as the truth twists his stomach sick.

It only eats promises while the truth makes it feel sick.

An American beast charms the habits off of nuns and desecrates their crucifixes to hang burning bodies from.

An American beast can charm nuns and ruin their crosses to hang burning bodies.

An American beast prowls the suburbs at night

An American beast roams the suburbs at night

Spilling the trash cans filled with hypocrisies all over their emerald sprinkler lawns

Spilling trash cans full of lies on their green, watered lawns.

There is no half way between lies and facts.  There is no halfway between discourse and violence.

There is no in-between for lies and facts.

There is no middle ground between democracy and fascism. 

There is no in-between for talking and violence.

No soul is beating within the American beast

There is no middle ground for democracy and dictatorship. No soul lives inside the American beast.

Explanation

The poem 'An American Beast' uses vivid imagery and metaphor to critique the moral and political state of America. The 'beast' represents a corrupt and greedy force, lurking in the shadows, avoiding self-reflection, and preying on innocence. The beast's hunger for children's lives symbolizes the exploitation of the future generation. It feeds on empty promises, suggesting deceit and betrayal. The poem highlights the absence of moral and ethical middle ground, emphasizing that there is no compromise between truth and lies, peace and violence, democracy and fascism. The beast's soullessness underscores the loss of humanity and conscience in the face of power and greed. Through this metaphor, the poem critiques societal hypocrisy and the destructive nature of unchecked power.

Word Dictionary8

Word	In English	Plain (English)	Pron.
cowardly	fearful	afraid and lacking courage	cow-ard-ly
baleful	threatening	menacing or harmful	bale-ful
bestial	animal-like	savage or brutish	bes-ti-al
desecrates	violates	treats something sacred with disrespect	des-e-crates
hypocrisies	pretenses	claims to have moral standards that are not actually followed	hy-poc-ris-ies
emerald	green	bright green color	em-er-ald
fascism	authoritarianism	a political system with dictatorial power	fas-cism
prowl	sneak	move around stealthily	prow-l

Poet & Context

Poet—

EraContemporary

The poet of 'An American Beast' is currently unknown. The poem appears to be a contemporary work reflecting on societal issues.

WhenUnknown, likely contemporary

WhyThe poem seems to critique societal and political issues in America, using the metaphor of a 'beast' to symbolize corruption, greed, and moral decay.

FormFree verse

Themes & More

Themes

CorruptionGreedMoral decayPolitical critiqueHypocrisy

Literary devices

Metaphor: The 'American beast' symbolizes corruption and moral decay.Imagery: Vivid descriptions of the beast's actions and environment.Alliteration: 'cowardly yellow', 'matted stained hair'.Juxtaposition: Contrasting democracy and fascism, lies and facts.