ENG-215 Essay #2

W. D. Snodgrasss Leaving the Motel relies heavily on tone, language, and symbolism, as well as other devices to convey the notion of love as transitory and businesslike. The poem describes the activities of a two people at a motel after a clandestine sexual encounter. The two have to keep their affair a secret and Snodgrass uses devices such as language, tone, and symbolism to express the formality and routine that must envelop their relationship to keep it secret. There are indications of intimacy and tenderness between the two, but these and the act of love, which isnt described, are overshadowed by the disciplined thinking and actions of the two when preparing to leave the motel. The tone of the poem is methodical and direct. The poem is a checklist of things that must be done, the speaker even says Check, before describing tasks to perform (5,15). The poem differs from most love poems in this respect, the speaker does not embellish the feelings of love between the two, describe how one pines for the other, or express the strength of the love between the two. In fact, the feelings the two have for each other are not described at all. The only indications of affection the two feel for each other are offhand mentions of taking small keepsakes (which they cant do), and leaving flowers behind, which they probably wont see again (11-12, 21-28). The tone emphasizes the fleeting nature of their meetings; by switching so quickly from what must have been passion between the two to the emotionless description of tasks, we get a feel for their relationship, amorous and then necessarily indifferent. The language used is straightforward and practical. The descriptions are ostensibly for the speakers sake as he or she goes over the tasks to perform before leaving. The description of

their activities in cleaning up show the furtive nature of their relationship and their concern over the possibility of being caught using straightforward terminology: Pick up the towels; fold your collar Out of sight. Keep things straight: dont take The matches, the wrong keyrings (3-4,9-10) The words used imply the secretive nature of their encounter and the systematic execution of tasks to preserve this secrecy, but they seem to imply also a desire to extend the emotional part of their encounter. The unemotional description of the keepsakes they cant take and the flowers they cant come back to gives the reader the impression that they would like to preserve and reminisce on their rendezvous, but this idea is overcome by the practical realization that they cant or mustnt. This practicality is reflected in their care not to rumple the second bed in the room. They cant afford to be too recklessness or unrestrained, they have to think about the potential consequences as the speaker notes: Unrumpled, as agreed? Landlords have to think ahead In case of need, Too. (6-9) Symbolism plays heavily on the nature of the poem. Symbols are used to represent the meetings between the two. The flowers seem to represent the love they share. They describe them as our lilacs (22). They attempt to preserve the flowers by adding an aspirin to the water as they wish they could extend and preserve their time together. They leave the flowers, even though they know they cant come back to them, in the same way they know they cant relive their encounter or express their feelings for each other when they go back to their regular lives.

The keepsakes they cant take represent the secretive nature of their relationship; they represent not only a remembrance of their encounter, but potential discovery of their secret. The speaker notes Weve nowhere we could keep a keepsake- / That sooner or later others / Would accidentally find (11,13-14). There is no safe place for a keepsake, just as there is no place for their relationship in their regular lives. The unrumpled second bed, as previously noted, represents the need for rationality and cautiousness in their relationship (6). The hollering kids at the pool represent the real world that they must return to and an end to their world, within the motel room. The fact that the speaker chose to describe the actions the two must take upon leaving to represent the relationship between the two, emphasizes the idea that their relationship, while loving at times, feels like a business transaction. A poet describing a romantic or sexual relationship between himself or herself and a loved one, would traditionally tend to focus on the feelings between the two or at least actions that imply intimacy. In this case the speaker, while implying that the relationship is emotionally intimate, uses only matter-of-fact terminology to describe the pragmatic actions the poet and lover must take to conceal the relationship. Traditionally love poetry is used to openly and unabashedly proclaim love for another, but in this case it is secret and anonymous. The poems abab, cdcd, rhyme scheme also suggests the formal and almost robotic nature of the part of the relationship described. This is a pretty standard rhythm in poetry giving the meter an unadorned quality that seems to highlight the practical and unemotional actions the two take to clean up after themselves and leave. The rhyme scheme that steadily progresses forward, not hearkening back to earlier stanzas reflects the way the lovers must carry out actions

necessary to keep their relationship a secret without emotion and go back to their regular lives without looking back. Though the two lovers share an intimate relationship for a short period of time, this is surpassed by the poems illustration of the formality of the actions they must take to keep their relationship secret and the need to remain detached so they can return to their normal lives. The tone is devoid of real emotion, as the lovers must be to keep their secret. The speaker chose to describe the dispassionate checklist he or she must run though to represent the relationship. The only implications of warmth and affection are the flowers they leave and keepsakes they must remember not to take, which, like everything else in the poem, are described matter-of-factly.