The Planners Flashcards
“Even the sea draws back / and the skies surrender.”
Cheng exclaims that the power of humans was able to defeat nature. The words “draws back” and “surrender” are often associated with war, insinuating that city building is a war between humanity and nature. While it could be argued that Cheng is criticizing humanity’s invasion of nature, it could also be argued that Cheng is celebrating humanity’s victory and marveling at the strength of humankind.
Sibilance: “sea… skies surrender”.
Enjambment.
“They plan. They build.”
This quote is very short, which is different to other quotes in the poem, making it very impressive at first glance. The planners are also regarded as “they” in this quote, which creates ambiguity to the readers.
Structure
3 stanzas. The third stanza is very short compared to the other two.
Form
“All gaps are plugged / with gleaming gold.”
Enjambment: stresses “gleaming gold”. Perhaps to criticize the city for its extravagance.
“Gleaming gold”: guttural sounds alliteration. Suggests that gleaming gold is too fancy to the extent that it is becoming disgusting.
“Plugged”: squeezed in? Gives an unpleasant and forced feeling.
“Anesthesia, amnesia, hypnosis. / They have the means. / They have it all so it will not hurt.”
Anesthesia: insensitivity to pain.
Amnesia: loss of memory.
Hypnosis: loss of consciousness.
Cheng could be suggesting that erasing history does not hurt because people decided to forget about it to numb the pain.
Amnesia is a sickness, perhaps Cheng is deliberating using this to insinuate that forgetting history is wrong.
“Not a single drop to stain the blueprint of our past’s tomorrow.”
The oxymoron past’s tomorrow seems to remove the present from the timeline. Perhaps highlighting how the fast pace of development makes the change in the country seem instant, sudden, and unnatural.
This ending also subverts some readers’ expectations.
“All spaces are gridded, / filled with permutations of possibilities.”
“gridded”: implies that “all spaces” are neatly planned out.
Juxtaposing with “permutations of possibilities”. Perhaps underlining the immense potential of diversity in the seemingly planned-out city.
“all spaces”: the dominance of humanity over the world.
