232. Snow White and the Seven Deadly Sins

Too long to type but an interesting poem...

-The rhyme scheme in this poem is simple; your common A B A B. Although simple I think it fits the poem very well because I think it's supposed to sound like a nursery rhyme or a children's story... even the title "Snow White and the Seven Deadly Sins" is a play off "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". The poem is about a loss of innocence and although the rhyme of it sounds somewhat... childish, the poem has a much deeper meaning. The speaker may be the poet or it may be anyone who has witnessed the loss of innocence in a girl and the overall corruption of innocence in people. Although the poem focuses on a female, the loss of innocence is not solely limited to women.

-One literary technique that Gwynn uses effectively is the personification of the seven deadly sins. Although they are comparable to the seven dwarfs from the title the personification is more meaningful than simply connecting them with an innocent childhood story. The seven deadly sins are able to exist because they can live through her; she personifies them in a sense. This makes the poem's meaning much deeper because as she cries after seeing who she's become, it is really because she has been able to be manipulated by Gluttony, Avarice, Envy... etc. Capitalizing each one, along with Male and Handsome Prince represents the fact that this woman's husband has also been some of the reason for her corruption. She associates the destruction she sees within herself, the seven deadly sins, with the male sex.

Another device the author uses very well is allusion. Not only is there the one in the title, that being "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," but also a few biblical references as well. As I mentioned before the title of the poem being so similar to the child's tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs reflects the message of the poem and that is the loss of a young girl's innocence by the corruption of society. The biblical references are also important to the poem. As the poem progresses we see that the woman stays at home and takes care of the house, while she awaits for the arrival of her husband, a daily process not uncommon for when the poem was written. In the beginning of the poem when the young woman questioned her faith she was referred to "Peter's First Epistle, chapter III". In this section of scripture it relegated women to a lower level than men, and basically set the guidelines for a patriarchal society. Because her youth as well as adulthood was set by following men, it may have led her to her leaving at the end of the poem. St. Anne, another religious reference was the mother of Mary. Anne promised to dedicate Mary to God's service. Like St. Anne doing such with her daughter, she is the one who calls back the woman in the poem, returning her to religious service.

-I liked this poem because of how the seven deadly sins were used to show the loss of innocence. I think that the poem is strong in it's message, and I think that the loss of innocence is a completely real and somewhat tragic level of human behavior. Corruption can be seen in today's society in those that are most innocent... children. Images of children holding automatic weapons not only make me question where our ethics have gone, but it also makes me fear of what the world is becoming. Even though Gwynn wrote the poem 60 years ago, innocence lost is still prevalent, and quite possibly worse in today's society.