In August Houseplant, Denise Levertov describes a philodendron houseplant and its relationship with the speaker. The speaker ponders whether to bring the plant inside and ultimately decides against it after realising that the plant cannot thrive indoors. The poet grants human qualities to the plant through extensive use of personification, illustrating her emotional attachment to it. Moreover, a stark contrast between the interior of the speaker’s room and the organic structure of the plant is created to emphasize the speaker’s dilemma.
The poem’s stanza structure is unorganised with no rhyme scheme and and regular rhythm. The poet uses enjambment to achieve the disarranged structure that is representative of the structure of an actual philodendron plant.
Aside from addressing the philodendron with the personal pronoun “you” throughout the poem, the poet also creates a vivid imagery of the houseplant to illustrate its expansive nature. From lines 10 - 12, the plant is described to be “summering on the deck, touching the floor of it, feeling the chair.” Through this, the poet gives the…show more content… The speaker speaks of the “long, ever longer, reaching arms” of the plant, and how the plant would not fit through the door. This demonstrates that the plant is constantly growing and expanding in size, and will consume the fixed parameters of the room. Moreover, The speaker recognises that the plant will “lean over human shoulders” and will be “obscuring books and notepads,interrupting trains of thought”, suggesting that plant, once inside the room, will become obstructive.She also believes that the plant would have “questions” and would “inquire about the walls” , adding further personification and implying that the plant would not adapt to the restrictive environment of her
