Hollow, Written By Elissa Soave Is A Poem Which Evokes

Hollow, written by Elissa Soave is a poem which evokes strong feelings of sympathy in me. The poem describes a girl or woman who is suffering from the mental condition, anorexia nervosa. The theme of this poem is the extreme mental and physical suffering endured by this girl due to this condition. The poet s successful use of many poetic techniques helps add to the dark mood of the poem which also compels us to feel understanding and sympathy towards her. The poet uses expert language to create a disturbing image of the emaciated body of the girl, causing us to feel deep sympathy towards her. We are told that she can t wear jewellery any more. The word choice of can t rather than won t lets us know that she has no†¦show more content†¦We also learn that Her limbs seem like stone. Heavy and so cold. These lines add to an almost deathly mood. This mood adds to the seriousness of the situation as we consider just how ill she is and how this is now life threatening. We are left with a feeling of deep compassion for the girl as we picture her wasting away with no control. (This is too much information for one paragraph but it has been left like this to emphasise to you that whatever you choose to write about her physical appearance should all be together in one paragraph.) The poet also evokes sympathy and compassion in us through her powerful descriptions of the girl s fragile state of mind. Her perceptions of how she looks and what is important have been warped by anorexia. We might conclude that perhaps her husband has left her as she used to wear a gold band and the final lines tell us that it ll be worth it to see his face. This causes us to consider that perhaps she wants the man in her life who has left her to see her now that she has controlled her weight. Her mental condition does not allow her to see that she is not attractive. She strives to have some kind of control over her life and thinks that controlling her eating is doing this, whereas the opposite is true. This idea is further developed by her use of personification in going where the wind dictates. This image emphasise just how powerless she is- she has no control over where she goes as she is so