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Tomorrow By

Dennis O'Driscoll

I

Tomorrow I will start to be happy.
The morning will light up like a celebratory cigar.
Sunbeams sprawling on the lawn will set
dew sparkling like a cut-glass tumbler of champagne.
Today will end the worst phase of my life.

I will put my shapeless days behind me,
fencing off the past, as a golden rind
of sand parts slipshod sea from solid land.
It is tomorrow I want to look back on, not today.
Tomorrow I start to be happy; today is almost yesterday.

II

Australia, how wise you are to get the day
over and done with first, out of the way.
You have eaten the fruit of knowledge, while
we are dithering about which main course to choose.
How liberated you must feel, how free from doubt:

the rise and fall of stocks, today’s closing prices
are revealed to you before our bidding has begun.
Australia, you can gather in your accident statistics
like a harvest while our roads still have hours to kill.
When we are in the dark, you have sagely seen the light.

III

Cagily, presumptuously, I dare to write 2018.
A date without character or tone. 2018.
A year without interest rates or mean daily temperature.
Its hit songs have yet to be written, its new-year
babies yet to be induced, its truces to be signed.

Much too far off for prophecy, though one hazards
a tentative guess—a so-so year most likely,
vague in retrospect, fizzling out with the usual
end-of-season sales; everything slashed:
your last chance to salvage something of its style.

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"Examine the suggested meaning,
By breaking it down (into stanzas or groups of
line numbers).
refer to specific words the author uses to indicate how you know what you know.

Stanza 1- The overall tone of the first stanza is the author trying convey hope for 'tomorrow' that in the morning the next day everything will start to get better. By indicating this he uses words and phrases to prove so.
Line 1- This line is very straight forward is is bluntly giving the first statement that tomorrow he will start to be happy.
Line 2- When he wakes up (The morning) it will light up like a celebratory cigar. This line gives an explanation of what he will feel in the morning (lit up) considering into account that the word celebratory means- the feeling of happy or pride.
In lines 3 and 4 he uses descriptive imagery and certain words to describe the lawn or outside. 'sunbeams' sprawling (all over spread out) and 'dew sparkling' like a cut-glass tumblr (A glass to hold 'champagne' those words give the tone of light beauty and happiness as well as hope.
Line 5- This line is very straight forward 'today will end the worst phase of my life' this could also be intending that up to that point his life has been 'the worst' and that he is hoping for the better. Which is also proven in the next stanza as he says
Line 1: I will put my shapeless days behind me
Line 2: Fencing off the past as a golden rind
This is indicating that his past has been trouble considering that he wants to put them behind him. As well as fencing them off "forgetting" them trapped in a golden rind.
The 4th stanza is still continuing to talk about Australia and comparing it to the things they do at the same time and how Australia does it before they can even comprehend. I can infer that he is talking about the timezones, and how Australia's time zone is ahead of where he lives. "Rise and fall of stalks revealed before we have begun" "Gather in while we still have ours to kill"
Line 5: "When we are in the dark we have sagely seen the light" That he wants to get the day over with and that he envies that Australia's days are done with before they just begin it. Giving that dark means night time and light means morning or daytime.

Analysis of any
allusions you identified previously should also be included here."
- The fruit of knowledge - Allusion to the bible ( Adam and eve story in the garden where they may eat the fruit of many trees but are forbidden by God to eat from the "Tree of knowledge of good and evil" ) This could be an indication that Australia has "eaten the fruit of knowledge" while they are dithering.

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Stanza 5 line 1: "Cagily presumptuously I dare to write 2018" He is beginning to be hesitant and (Presumptuous: of a person or their behavior) failing to observe the limits of what is permitted or appropriate" Also can mean cocky or arrogant. -Cagily: (cautious, wary, or shrewd: a cagey reply to the probing question.)
That he ''dares' to predict or think about 2018 which is the intended future of his time.
Line 2: Believing that it will not be any better than the present.
That the overall year or future of 2018 will have no character (nothing interesting no events or anything important) or tone (no meaning or significance to it) Lines 3,4,5 are giving comparisons to babies, songs, and interest rates, are yet to be revealed and a tone of anticipation as well.
Stanza 6
Predicting that the year is going to be 'so-so most likely"
The 6th stanza has a tone of disapointed as he explains how is retrospect it will be fizzling out 'as usual' as to seem like a common disappointment.
Using words like 'slashed' (reduce (a price, quantity, etc.) greatly.)
5th line: your last chance to salvage something of its style.
The last line
Salvage: rescue (a wrecked or disabled ship or its cargo) from loss at sea.
Meaning that its the last chance to rescue something of style. Could infer that he wants the future to be different than what he is predicting.

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In this poem, the speaker is talking in first person. He tells how feels and what he thinks. Starting in the third stanza he starts having similar to a conversation with "Australia".

The speakers attitude begins to be hopeful. Hopeful that tomorrow will be a good day and determined as he mentions that he will be happy more than once. Also a sense of guilt or regret because he explains how he wants to put his past behind him and look to the future.
Once the poem starts talking about the future he begins to shift his perspective. He looks specifically to the year 2018 and sees it as an overall disappointment. "A date without character or tone. 2018." Towards the 3rd and 4th stanza he beings to feel envious of Australia. As he uses contrast to compare how they get the day over and done with and are revealed things before they even started where he lives.

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"The Sounds Of Words"

Euphony: A series of musically pleasant sounds, conveying a sense of harmony and beauty to the language.

Stanza 2: Line 3
"of sand parts slipshod sea from solid land."
This line uses words that have the letter "s" in it to create a pleasant and musical sound to the line. It creates beauty because you can also determine an image of the sea and its sand parts. The words are spread out so that it is simple but the word choices 'sand' 'slipshod' 'sea' 'soild' all have the 'S' in common tying it together. The overall effect of using those words is a sense of beauty in that line to create a tone and mood of relaxing and calm.

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"The Meanings of Words"

Simile: A direct comparison of two unlike things using “like” or “as.”

Stanza 1 Line 2
"The morning will light up like a celebratory cigar."

This line compares the light of the morning to a celebratory cigar.
(Celebratory: feeling or expressing happiness and pride.)
It can determined that feeling happy or pride can relating to "lighting up" or being bright which is what the line is trying to convey. You also light cigars which is another comparison that the line makes. He could have also used the word celebratory instead of just using cigar to signify the happiness and highlight the feeling as well. The overall jist of the line is giving imagery in the form of a simile to have a direct comparison to how the waking up 'the morning' will be happy and light up like a celebratory cigar. This creates the effect for the reader to see the author as being hopeful and happy for the morning.

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"The arranging of Words"
Stanza: A division of a poem created by arranging the lines into a unit, often repeated in the same pattern of meter and rhyme throughout the poem; a unit of poetic lines (a “paragraph” within the poem). The stanzas within a poem are separated by blank lines.
- In this poem there are 6 stanzas. It is organized so that there are 3 groups of 2 stanzas talking about different things. For example, the first 2 stanzas are giving a somewhat introduction and a start up view onto what the writer is trying portray. Also briefly revealing the mood of the poem. The next two stanzas are comparing his life to Australia as well as envying it with a mood. The last 2 stanzas are giving insight on him 'rewriting' the future "2018" we know this is the future because this poem was written in 2004. Concluding how he believes the future will be even worse.

Point of View: The author’s point of view concentrates on the vantage point of the speaker, or “teller” of the story or poem. This may be considered the poem’s “voice” — the pervasive presence behind the overall work. This is also sometimes referred to as the persona.

1st Person: the speaker is a character in the story or poem and tells it from his/her perspective (uses “I”).

Stanza 2 Line 5
" Tomorrow I start to be happy; today is almost yesterday."

The writers point of view is in first person, he is telling a story from his own perspective and uses the word "I" often in the poem. The point of view never changes he only starts comparing his life to another.
The use of point of view in this line highlights the importance of the poem as a whole. This particular line highlights the main point of view in this poem. It is that he is the one talking about his life and why he feels this certain why. This affect of the reader can have it so they can really jump into what the writer is feeling and can understand more in depth the writers thoughts and mood. It is a very direct poem and bias, however the mood changes many times in his point of view.