“Gouge, Adze, Rasp, Hammer”

In “Gouge, Adze, Rasp, Hammer,” Chris Forhan sets a heartbreaking and lovesick tone as he uses contrast, imagery, and syntax to articulate on his journey of getting over a loved one leaving. Forhan sets the human mind and body against the wonders of nature, explaining the beauty that the “scumbled clouds” don’t have any feelings or love lives to worry about. Nature is always beautiful, and it never has to worry about getting messed up. Forhan uses great detail and imagery to expound on the natural wonders of the world, emphasizing that the “pears, mellowed to a golden-green, glow like flames among the boughs.” His syntax is also very methodical. Every stanza is three lines, and that pattern does not break throughout the poem. Perhaps Forhan is sending yet another message that nature never changes, and also about how every day is the same without his lover. Finally, he contrasts nature with artificial tools, saying that they are forceful objects while plants and such are untouched, pure, and divine phenomena.