Explorations of the text 1-6 poem: Preface to a Twenty Volume of Suicide Note

What is the mood of the speaker in the opening lines? What images suggest his feeling?

The speaker mood in the first stanza is hopeless and monotony. He did not really enjoy his life. The images that represent his feelings like “I’ve become accustomed to the way the grounds opens up and envelopes me”. The walking of the dog is such a daily chore, as is running to catch the bus. These activities are mundane, and make the speaker feel hopeless.

2.      What is the significance of the daughter’s gesture of peeking into “her own clasped”?

The significance of the daughter’s gestures with “peeking into her own clasped hand” is she is praying to God. She might pray for her father safety because her father has an intention to commit suicide. He might be too stressful to handle the life of his own and his family.

3.      What does the title means? How does it explain the closing line?

I think the title means the pre-thought and phase before someone commits suicide. He thinks all the same things that he had done that makes him feel tired and sick of his life. “I’ve accustomed to the way the ground opens up and envelops me”. “Clasped hands” can symbolize how the pressure and the gravity of life had brought him to the preface of commit suicide.

4.      Why does Baraka have three short lines that separated as stanzas? How do they convey the message of the poem?

They are facts, though they seem to be more reflective and meant to help connect with the audience rather than simple statements. But the third one is not stand alone but it is a continuation of a sentence above.

5.      Why does Baraka begin stanzas with “lately”, “and now” and “and then”? What do these transitions word accomplish?

It accomplished the timeline of the speaker. It shows how he going through his life before he realize that he cannot commit suicide because there is something that still need him. It use the word transition “and now” to show that he had gained his spirit back to live. It also accomplished that had going through the phase of commit suicide preface.

6.      How does the speaker feel about his daughter? What does she represent to him?

The speaker feels that his daughter still needs him so much. She is someone that has faith in God because with her gestures I assume that she is praying to God to protect her father and her family. She represents the spirit and courage for the speaker to live his life again.