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Josh Spare
3/10/14
War is never a convivial subject, but the 20th century poet Charles Simic adeptly
conveyed war as an everyday object such as a game of chess or a butcher shop. The application
of techniques and devices such as imagery and minimalism allows the reader to reach the
conclusions that Simic included themes about war. Through Charles Simic's use of devices and
techniques, themes of war and struggle became evident in the poems "Butcher Shop" and
"Prodigy.
Simic is a poet who throughout the earlier years of his childhood was profoundly
impacted by the World Wars. His earliest memories of his childhood were clouded by dark
memories of the war, and in the poem "Prodigy" he portrays the usually innocent game of chess
as blueprint of war. At the beginning of the poem "Prodigy" Simic describes a summer in which
most memories of a graveyard, planes and tanks were the most prominent rather than the games
of chess he had played during that summer as Simic represents chess as a metaphor for
metaphor, a scene of instruction in how creativity may enable the child to resist trauma through
displacement (Morris). The poem "Prodigy" derives predominantly of the poetic techniques of
minimalism and imagery. The technique of minimalism is best described as when an author
reduces their words, to include the least amount and it has also been noted that it is when an
author never really talks about a certain topic but through small hints the reader can find the true
meaning. Although a critic had thought the prodigy had spent his life, in many ways, is
probably spent lost in thoughts of chess (Hart), many view the mention of the tanks and planes
alludes to this German occupation" as a mention to war (Constantakis). During the primordial
read the reader attains assumptions that the poem is about a relatively innocent game of chess,
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but after researching information Simic was largely affected by World War I and World War II
as "the war directly influenced his family, as his brother served in the military" (Butcher Shop).
Minimalistic techniques of an author are mostly when an author writes about a subject such as
chess and then after further study the reader starts to notice hidden meanings in the text.
Simics poem is quite compelling to a reader with a strong historical recognition because
at first glance it appears the poem is about a childs summer that was spent playing chess but
rather, after Simic included the year 1944 it all became unambiguous. At that instance the reader
can assume the poem obtained references to one of the World Wars after the reference of roman
graveyards, planes and tanks. Simic as a boy lived in Yugoslavia and during World War I
Yugoslavia was invaded by the Germans so the mention of the tanks and planes alludes to this
German occupation" (Prodigy). Minimalism is a key device in this poem because Simic was
successful in getting across the themes of war without actually using the word war.
Charles Simics second poem Butcher Shop was derived from themes regarding war
and Simic compared Germanys invasions of Yugoslavia as a butcher shop. The author Simic
seems to be recalling the tragedy Yugoslavia went through during Germanys invasion as "the
poem begins and ends in darkness, the opening lines announce the time as 'late at night,' and the
last line intensifies this image to deep in the night (Butcher Shop). Butcher Shop incorporated
imagery primarily throughout as the reader can visualize the knives that glitter like altars, / In a
dark church as the milieu becomes clear that the poem is mentioning the Germans deadly
invasion (lines 9-10). The proper meaning of the poem takes a few reads and understanding of
Simics background to understand that Simic portrays Germanys invasion as a deadly butcher
shop.
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Imagery is one of the more prominent poetic devices embedded throughout the two
poems, the reader can clearly picture images that relate to the struggles Yugoslavia had faced
throughout the World War. Mentions of continents, oceans and rivers of blood shows that
Simics childhood was not the normal childhood but rather it consists of deeply tragic memories
of war. The imagery Simic included in the two poems, especially Butcher Shop allows the
reader to visualize just some of the smallest details of his life and in a way sympathize with
everything he had to go through. The devices Simic included in the two poems had a definite
impact upon the milieu of the poems because in both poems Simic never once mentions the word
war yet the reader still can see how ideas of war connect. Without Simics profound skills to
adeptly convey the technique of minimalism is essential to get his true meanings of war across.
In the poems Butcher Shop and Prodigy the little details the author shares with the readers
and the topics he writes about allows assumptions of war or struggle to become present.
Charles Simic was a twentieth century poet who excelled in the usage of techniques such
as minimalism and devices such as imagery to truly convey the true meaning throughout the two
poems. In the poems Butcher Shop and Prodigy Simic was able to truly express meanings of
war and struggle without saying those words exactly. Simic was a truly intriguing author
especially in these poems because it was amazing how a reader can read the poem once or twice
and are able to make assumptions that war and struggle were prominent topics in the poems. The
meaning is closely related to how effective an author can implement devices and techniques
throughout their poems. Charles Simic is an exceptional poet who excels in the usage of the
technique minimalism and the usage of imagery in the poems Prodigy and Butcher Shop to
portray meanings of war and struggle.

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Works Cited
Butcher Shop. Animal Advocate. Web. 12 March 2014.
"Butcher Shop" Poetry For Students. Ed. Mary Ruby. Vol. 7. Detroit: Gale, 2007. Gale Virtual
Reference Library. Web. 22 Feb. 2014.
Morris, Daniel. Poetry For Students. Ed. Sara Constantakis. Vol. 36. Detroit: Gale, 2011. Gale
Virtual Reference Library. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
"Prodigy" Poetry For Students. Ed. Sara Constantakis. Vol. 36. Detroit: Gale, 2011. Gale Virtual
Reference Library. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.


Butcher Shop
by Charles Simic (b. 1938)
Sometimes walking late at night
I stop before a closed butcher shop.
There is a single light in the store
Like the light in which the convict digs his tunnel.
An apron hangs on the hook:
The blood on it smeared into a map
Of the great continents of blood,
The great rivers and oceans of blood.
There are knives that glitter like altars
In a dark church
Where they bring the cripple and the imbecile
To be healed.
There's wooden block where bones are broken,
Scraped clean--a river dried to its bed
Where I am fed,
Where deep in the night I hear a voice.
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Prodigy
By Charles Simic

I grew up bent over
a chessboard.

I loved the word endgame.

All my cousins looked worried.

It was a small house
near a Roman graveyard
Planes and tanks
shook its windowpanes.

A retired professor of astronomy
taught me how to play.

That must have been in 1944.

In the set we were using,
the paint had almost chipped off
the black pieces.

The white King was missing
and had to be substituted for.
Im told but do not believe
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that that summer I witnessed
men hung from telephone poles.

I remember my mother
blindfolding me a lot.
She had a way of tucking my head
suddenly under her overcoat.

In chess, too, the professor told me,
the masters play blindfolded,
the great ones on several boards
at the same time.