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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO A SNAIL by MARIANNE MOORE

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

First Line: IF 'COMPRESSION IS THE FIRST GRACE OF STYLE'
Last Line: IN THE CURIOUS PHENOMENON OF YOUR OCCIPITAL HORN.
Subject(s): SNAILS;
If "compression is the first grace of style,"
you have it. Contractility is a virtue
as modesty is a virtue.
It is not the acquisition of any one thing
that is able to adorn,
or the incidental quality that occurs
as a concomitant of something well said,
that we value in style,
but the principle that is hid:
in the absence of feet, "a method of conclusions;"
"a knowledge of principles,"
in the curious phenomenon of your occipital horn.



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