6th Grade English Poem Response

The poem, “Simile: Willow and Ginkgo” by Eve Merriam is filled with many examples of personification and similes. The poem is based on the comparison of a peaceful and beautiful willow tree with the harsh, tough ginkgo tree. You can see that in the poem, the author is suggesting that the willow tree is a more countryside, peaceful, flowing work of nature, while she refers to the ginkgo as the city, tough, crude, not important, stubby tree. Examples of similes joined to the willow tree can be found in lines 1, 5, 9, 11, 13, and 16.
The personification of the willow tree is presented in lines 5, 15, and 16. In lines 3, 7, 10, 12, and 18, similes are present, enhancing the words and description of the city ginkgo tree. Of course, personification is also thrust upon the small ginkgo tree in lines such as 7, 17, 18, and 20. Imagery is also present throughout this poem, for example the author uses this line to create a picture of the willow tree; “ The willow is like an etching, fine-lined against the sky.” Similes enhance this poem in many ways; the weeping willow is compared to various calming things, such as etchings, sopranos, a velvet-nosed calk, silken thread, a nymph, and a king’s favorite daughter, while the ginkgo is contrasted to different, harsh things, some of these are, a crude sketch, a chorus, and old bull, stubby rough wool, and a city child growing up in the street. The willow is like a person when the author states that it dips to the water and it is like a king’s favorite daughter. The author also brings person-like qualities to the ginkgo tree when she says things like, the ginkgo tree is like a chorus, that it forces its way up, it grows up in the street and is a city child, and when she says that it survives and even thrives somehow. Without similes, personification, and imagery, this poem would be as bland as a soup without spices. These characteristics make this poem worth reading and very interesting.