Blackout Poem – “Where the Sycamore Grew”

The poem “Where the Sycamore Grew,” written by Carrie Richards is about a person who previously owned a house where a small sycamore tree was growing and the speak is remembering all the good and bad memories that was carried with the speaker. The general message that this poem is trying to give is that, “you can’t change events that happened in the past but you can keep them with you forever.” The significance of this poem is that, many people are moving houses each year and each the owner creates good and memories with the house, until the house is being sold then memories are no longer created, which allows those people to easily relate to the speaker in “Where the Sycamore Grew.” Many poetic devices are used within the poem, “Where the Sycamore Grew.” Such as imagery, a example would be, “the streets seem narrower and the trees are taller.” this is able to allow our imagination to picture the aging process that his yard and house went through. Another poetic device would be the use of a end rhyme scheme, the example of the end rhyme would be, “…Our first Christmas tree… Our first anniversaries…” This is clearly showing the two sounds that sound the same while being placed at the end of each line. Lastly, this poem contains hints of Euphony, a example would be, “I’m still glad it’s still yellow… Still wearing the face of the war summer sun.” It may not sound nice by just reading it, but if read slow and calm, it will bring the tingles in the skin. making the reader of this line feel relaxed.