'Shut Up And Eat Your Toad' by James Tate


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The disorganization to which I currently belong
has skipped several meetings in a row
which is a pattern I find almost fatally attractive.
Down at headquarters there's a secretary
and a janitor who I shall call Suzie
and boy can she ever shoot straight.
She'll shoot you straight in the eye if you ask her to.
I mow the grass every other Saturday
and that's the day she polishes the trivets
whether they need it or not, I don't know
if there is a name for this kind of behavior,
hers or mine, but somebody once said something or another.
That's why I joined up in the first place,
so somebody could teach me a few useful phrases,
such as, "Good afternoon, my dear anal-retentive Doctor,"
and "My, that is a lovely dictionary you have on, Mrs. Smith."Still, I hardly feel like functioning even on a brute
or loutish level. My plants think I'm one of them,
and they don't look so good themselves, or so
I tell them. I like to give them at least several
reasons to be annoyed with me, it's how they exercise
their skinny spectrum of emotions. Because.
That and cribbage. Often when I return from the club
late at night, weary-laden, weary-winged, washed out,
I can actually hear the nematodes working, sucking
the juices from the living cells of my narcissus.
I have mentioned this to Suzie on several occasions.
Each time she has backed away from me, panic-stricken
when really I was just making a stab at conversation.
It is not my intention to alarm anyone, but dear Lord
if I find a dead man in the road and his eyes
are crawling with maggots, I refuse to say
have a nice day Suzie just because she's desperate
and her life is a runaway carriage rushing toward a cliff
now can I? Would you let her get away with that kind of crap?
Who are you anyway? And what kind of disorganization is this?
Baron of the Holy Grail? Well it's about time you got here.
I was worried, I was starting to fret.

Editor 1 Interpretation

Shut Up and Eat Your Toad: A Bizarre yet Captivating Collection

Okay, let's talk about James Tate's poetry collection, Shut Up and Eat Your Toad. Firstly, can we just appreciate the title? It's weird, it's funny, and it immediately sets the tone for the bizarre journey that lies ahead.

The collection is made up of 45 poems, each with its own unique flavor. Tate's writing style is often described as surreal and absurd, with a healthy dose of wit and humor thrown in. And this collection is no exception. But amidst the absurdity, there are also moments of real beauty and insight that catch you off guard.

So let's dive in and take a closer look at some of the poems in this collection.

"The Wheelchair Butterfly"

One of the standout poems in Shut Up and Eat Your Toad is "The Wheelchair Butterfly." The poem opens with the line, "I saw a butterfly / in a wheelchair today." And right away, you know you're in for something unexpected.

The imagery in this poem is both strange and poignant. The butterfly is described as having "weak and shriveled wings," and yet it still manages to fly. The speaker wonders if the butterfly is "happy" and if it knows "what's happening to it."

The poem ends with the line, "I can't get that butterfly / out of my mind." And neither can we. This poem is a prime example of Tate's ability to take something seemingly trivial and turn it into something profound.

"The Lost Pilot"

Another standout poem in the collection is "The Lost Pilot." This one is a bit longer and tells the story of a pilot who goes missing during a mission. The poem is written in a series of short, fragmented lines that create a sense of urgency and confusion.

The speaker of the poem is the pilot's son, who is trying to make sense of his father's disappearance. He imagines his father floating in space, "his face / lit by the cold electric moon," and wonders if he'll ever come back.

The poem ends with the lines, "But my father is a simple man. / He likes the weather, and the color blue, / and the quite of his dreamless sleep." These lines are both heartbreaking and beautiful, and they leave us with a sense of both loss and peace.

"The Lost Pilot" (Again)

Okay, I know I just talked about "The Lost Pilot," but there's another aspect of this poem that I want to focus on. Namely, the way it plays with time.

Throughout the poem, the speaker jumps back and forth between the past, present, and future. He remembers his father's stories about his own father, he imagines his father dying in space, and he wonders what will become of his own children after he's gone.

This fluidity of time is a common theme in Tate's work. He often plays with our sense of linear time, and this poem is a great example of that. By blending memories, imaginings, and predictions, Tate creates a sense of timelessness that feels both disorienting and liberating.

"Ode to the Onion"

Let's lighten things up a bit, shall we? "Ode to the Onion" is a hilarious poem that celebrates the humble onion in all its stinky glory. The poem opens with the lines, "How easily happiness begins by / dicing onions."

From there, the poem takes us on a journey through the many uses of onions. We learn that onions can be used to ward off evil spirits, to cure headaches, and to make people cry. And of course, there's the famous onion dip that everyone loves.

But beyond the humor, there's also a sense of reverence for this everyday vegetable. The speaker describes the onion as having "a purity / buried deep beneath the layers / like holy incense." And for a moment, we can't help but see the onion in a new light.

"The Wheelchair Butterfly" (Again)

Okay, I know I already talked about this poem, but it's just too good not to mention again. And this time, I want to focus on the title.

"The Wheelchair Butterfly" is a perfect example of Tate's ability to take two disparate things and make them work together in a way that's both weird and wonderful. A butterfly in a wheelchair? It's ridiculous, and yet it somehow makes sense.

This is a theme that runs throughout Shut Up and Eat Your Toad. Tate takes everyday objects and situations and twists them in unexpected ways. And in doing so, he creates a sense of whimsy and wonder that is truly captivating.

Final Thoughts

So there you have it, my thoughts on James Tate's Shut Up and Eat Your Toad. This is a collection that is both strange and beautiful, funny and sad, absurd and profound. Tate's writing is like nothing else out there, and that's what makes it so special.

If you're looking for poetry that will challenge and delight you, then you can't go wrong with Shut Up and Eat Your Toad. It's a journey that you won't soon forget.

Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation

Shut Up And Eat Your Toad: A Masterpiece of Surrealism

James Tate's "Shut Up And Eat Your Toad" is a poem that defies easy categorization. It is a work of surrealism, a genre that seeks to express the irrational and the unconscious through dreamlike imagery and unexpected juxtapositions. But it is also a work of humor, a satire of the absurdities of modern life. And it is a work of social commentary, a critique of the conformity and complacency that can stifle creativity and individuality.

At its core, "Shut Up And Eat Your Toad" is a poem about the struggle to find meaning and purpose in a world that often seems meaningless and purposeless. The speaker of the poem is a young man who has been told by his parents to "shut up and eat your toad" – a bizarre and grotesque command that seems to symbolize the senseless and oppressive nature of the world he inhabits. The toad is a creature that is often associated with ugliness and repulsiveness, and the act of eating it is a violation of the natural order. Yet the speaker is powerless to resist – he must obey his parents and consume the toad, even though it fills him with disgust and despair.

The poem is full of surreal and absurd images that reinforce this sense of disorientation and alienation. The speaker describes a world where "the sky is a giant blueberry muffin" and "the trees are made of rubber." He encounters a man who "has a tree growing out of his head" and a woman who "has a bird in her chest." These images are unsettling and disorienting, but they also suggest a world that is full of possibility and wonder. The speaker is struggling to make sense of this world, to find a way to navigate its strangeness and complexity.

One of the key themes of the poem is the tension between conformity and individuality. The speaker's parents represent the forces of conformity – they want him to "shut up and eat your toad" because that is what everyone else is doing. They are afraid of anything that deviates from the norm, anything that challenges their comfortable and predictable way of life. But the speaker is a rebel at heart – he wants to break free from the constraints of society and explore the unknown. He is drawn to the strange and the unconventional, even though it frightens him.

This tension between conformity and individuality is reflected in the poem's use of language. The speaker's parents speak in a flat, monotone voice that is devoid of emotion or imagination. They repeat the same phrase over and over again, as if they are programmed robots. In contrast, the speaker's voice is full of passion and energy. He uses vivid and colorful language to describe the world around him, and he is constantly searching for new ways to express himself.

Another important theme of the poem is the idea of transformation. The speaker is constantly changing and evolving, both physically and emotionally. He describes himself as "a toad, a bird, a tree, a man" – he is a shape-shifter who is never quite sure of his true identity. This sense of fluidity and mutability is both liberating and terrifying. On the one hand, it allows the speaker to explore new possibilities and escape the limitations of his old self. On the other hand, it leaves him feeling lost and adrift, unsure of who he really is.

The poem's final lines are both enigmatic and haunting. The speaker says that he is "a toad, a bird, a tree, a man" – but then he adds, "but still I am me." This line suggests that the speaker has finally found a way to reconcile his conflicting identities and embrace his true self. He has learned to accept the strangeness and complexity of the world around him, and he has discovered a sense of purpose and meaning in his own unique identity.

In conclusion, "Shut Up And Eat Your Toad" is a masterpiece of surrealism that explores the themes of conformity, individuality, transformation, and identity. It is a poem that challenges us to question our assumptions about the world and ourselves, and to embrace the unknown and the unconventional. It is a work of humor, satire, and social commentary that speaks to the universal human experience of searching for meaning and purpose in a world that often seems senseless and oppressive. And it is a testament to the power of poetry to capture the complexity and richness of the human experience in all its strangeness and wonder.

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