The Bagel

David Ignatow

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1968

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Form and Meter

“The Bagel” is a written in free verse with 13 non-metrical and nonrhyming lines. The line lengths and beats vary and do not employ a consistent pattern. This was common for Ignatow, who modeled his work after the work of Imagist William Carlos Williams, famous for writing meditations on everyday objects using colloquial diction. Writing in formal diction or strict form would not have served the poem since its subject is really about the speaker’s flexibility through identification with the bagel. The absurdity of the rolling action might have been diminished by the use of evenly metered lines or predictable rhyme which could have created a sing-song quality. In turn, this may have pushed the scenario from its meditative quality of assimilating qualities of the bagel and blunted the surprise ending.

That surprise ending is also well served by Ignatow’s clear tonal division of the first five lines in contrast to the second eight. Lines 1-5 comprise a realistic and negative description of the speaker’s problem—the loss of the bagel by accidentally dropping it into the street and the speaker’s subsequent annoyance. The dropped bagel becomes a “portent” (Line 5), creating a bleak outlook for the future. Through the realistic description of the first sentence, emphasized by free verse, the reader trusts the speaker’s observations. Therefore, the reader is wholeheartedly ready to believe the second section, engaging in its action, despite it resulting in an absurd metaphor. The realistic chase after a literal roll suddenly transforms to the speaker somersaulting down the street, body bending “head over heels” (Line 11)—but the reader buys it. Invested in the speaker’s story, the reader feels lighter as the speaker transforms to become like a bagel. This element of surprise for the speaker is equally enhanced for the reader just by the division of realism in the first section and absurdity in the second. The contrast in the structure of the poem maintains the reader’s investment.

Consonance of “L”

Ignatow deliberately employs repetition to increase a sense of unity. He uses alliteration—the repetition of letter sounds in nearby parts of a poem—in two key notations in the poem. The bagel rolls “faster and faster” (Line 6) and the speaker falls “head over heels” (Line 8). Both of these phrases add to the musicality of a poem that at first might seem to lack it because of the informal diction. Musicality is also added by Ignatow’s constant use of the consonance of “l,” predominantly in the second half of the poem. The repetition of a lateral consonant like “l” is said to have the effect of creating a dreamy, introspective state, which is appropriate to the second half’s fantastical absurdity. The sound is predominant in Lines 8-13 in words like “low” (Line 8), “myself” (Line 9), “doubled” (Line 9), “rolling” (Line 10), “heels” (Line 11), “complete” (Line 11), “somersault” (Line 11), “strangely” (Line 13), and the word “bagel” (Line 12) itself. The use of “l” becomes more frequent as the vision of becoming a bagel grows.

Kinetic Imagery

Kinetic imagery occurs when poets use images of movement to enliven their writing. Ignatow uses kinetic imagery in “The Bagel” to show how the bagel moves on its own volition, nearly personifying it as a sentient being. It seems to be deliberately “rolling away” (Line 2) from the speaker, intentionally going “faster and faster” (Line 6) out of reach. This creates tension in the poem as the desperate speaker tries to catch the errant roll, which becomes a kind of antagonist. This makes the reader wonder who will win the race and drives them to keep reading.

The second sentence of the poem, Lines 7-13, uses an abundance of kinetic description to enhance the shift in the speaker’s ability to move first as a human and then as a life-size bagel. The reader can also relate to how the speaker is “running after” (Line 6) the bagel, “bent low” (Line 7), exerting effort to stop its trajectory to the point of being “doubled-over” (Line 9). It is through the accuracy of these kinetic images that Ignatow suspends disbelief, which is necessary for Lines 10-13. The bending elasticity of the speaker is treated with the same previous logic. The fantastical circular motions of the speaker “rolling” (Line 10) along the street in “one complete somersault / after another” (Lines 11-12) seem entirely possible. These familiar kinetic movements help the reader to readily believe that the speaker is actually moving “like a bagel” (Line 12).