Poetry Day 4

In Sharon Olds' I Go Back to May 1937, the speaker uses diction to create an atmosphere that would suggest a bright future. Olds introduces her parents when she writes, "I see them standing at the formal gates of their colleges [...] they are about to graduate." Recent college graduates are typically optimistic and hopeful regarding their future. Her parents have just completed a major milestone in their lives and are looking forward to the next stage. The speaker is setting her parents up to fail. She later reveals that her parents' marriage eventually falls to pieces and they lead a miserable life together. Olds describes the colleges she sees: "ochre sandstone arch, [...] pillars made of tiny bricks, [...] wrought iron gates." Her language is meant to emphasize the prestige of the colleges and point out the expected bright future ahead. The speaker creates the serene and hopeful image of her parents' graduation to wildly contrast their disaster relationship that is to come.