William Jay Smith
"Seals"
The imagery used in "seal" paints a clear scene in the readers mind of a seal swimming and diving around the ocean He uses simple but descriptive words like "Down he plunges/and sweeps away" and "back up he swims/past sting rays and shark. it is carefree and lyrical and shows Smiths mastery over many styles of poems. Smith also uses onomatopoeia, such as "zoom, whoop, and bark. An example of alliteration in this poem would be "A flip of the flipper, a flip of the wrist".
Authors Bio...
William Jay Smith has enjoyed a long and distinguished career as a poet and translator. Fluent in French and Italian, Smith also reads Spanish and Russian.
Born in Louisiana in 1918, Smith spent most of his youth at Jefferson Barracks, near St. Louis, Missouri, as his father was an enlisted man in the U.S. Army. According to a Virginia Quarterly Review contributor's discussion of Smith's memoir, few poets' backgrounds "have ever been so unpromising."
he has had a very busy life--teaching college students, writing poetry and essays, translating Russian and French, and even serving in the Vermont State Legislature.
Many of Smith’s poems are made for young people and can be described as being pure, simple, and fun.
The poem seals is one of smiths poems for children it rhymes every other line. He uses phrases such as "Dill pickle" and "apple butter" to appeal to younger audience and which also creates a playful mood to this poem .The poem itself was written in a flowing shape that reminds the reader of a seals movments, which is a example of concrete poetry.