Campbell Cornelson
11/10/14
Prof. Rosko
ENG 220
Peer Response: Kadie Huey
Kadie’s poem “Play it Again By: The Piano” is a poem told from the point of view of a piano, and how a pianist makes the piano feel. First off, I’d like to say that I think the piano was a really cool persona to take on, probably because I play the piano quite regularly. I like how she personified the piano and its relationship with the player as a romantic relationship. When I read it, I did not necessarily see somebody sitting down and playing a piano, I pictured a couple lying in bed together and I saw the player as a man and the piano as the woman. This was probably my favorite aspect about the poem; how she took a seemingly lifeless object and was able to personify it so well. Examples of personification were obvious with lines like “tickle my ivories, baby” and “oh my, oh my how you seduce me”. I also like how she put her interest as a musician or fan of music in the poem by talking about Elton John and saying “mhmm, hold me closer tiny dancer”; it was a good thing to throw in because it gave the poem a real musical quality and Tiny Dancer was a good song choice because that song is about a man’s love for his woman.
The poem also works well because of her references to the piano itself. The line that sticks out most to me is “When you take that leap from D to D sharp”. I’m not sure why but this is my favorite line in the whole poem. The piano is talking about how its relationship with the player is elevating its spirit, going up half a step from D to D sharp. She also references the piano’s legs, a double reference between an actual piano as well as the personification of a woman’s legs. The legs trembling is a good reference because as the piano is played, the object itself will naturally shake, but since it’s personified here, you can picture a woman’s legs trembling as she and her lover are intimate with each other.
I really enjoyed this poem. I liked how it was written from the piano’s perspective and I liked how simple yet complex it was. The double meanings featured in the poem are the key to what makes it work, words like “harmony” and “hold each note a little longer” work both for the music of the piano and the love for a man and woman. The poem was well crafted and spoke not only to musicians but to all readers because of the “love” between the piano and player. All in all, this was a really good poem and it is my favorite that I have responded to for the duration of this class.