May Swanson

Throughout May Swenson’s poem, “The Centaur”, the use of imagery, detail, and metaphor is evident in showing the carefree independence and uninterrupted happiness that comes with imagination. The poet uses a young girl’s fantasy of riding and eventually becoming a horse to show the whimsical innocence that comes with childhood. The tone engaged by Swenson is intricately woven with an element of imagery and surprise to develop a powerful statement about the power of women and their expectations in a society; a strong message conveyed through the games of a young child.

May Swenson leads the reader into her world through painting a beautiful picture; by reflecting on a specific moment in her childhood as a young girl, “The summer that I was ten” (line1) she says, as someone older reflecting on an earlier time. Indeed, one needs to decipher the imagery to experience the mystery & surprise, which is prevalent through out the poem.

Original text-

The summer that I was ten--

Can it be there was only one

summer that I was ten?It must

have been a long one then--

each day I’d go out to choose

a fresh horse from my stable

At the very beginning of the poem, there is a struggle between the reflective voice of an adult and a child’s point of view, “Can it be there was only one summer that I was ten?”(line 2). The adult’s perspective vanishes quickly and the child’s point of view takes control when the narrator says, “It must have been a long one then”--(line 4). The reader begins to lose sight of the narrator being an adult and the child’s imagination comes into stronger focus while leading the reader to see through the child’s eyes and escape to a whimsical land.

Original text-

which was a willow grove

down by the old canal.

I’d go on my two bare feet

But when, with my brother’s jack-knife,

I had cut me a long limber horse

with a good thick knob for a head,

and peeled him slick and clean

except a few leaves for the tail,.

and...