Masked Woman’s Song
Before I saw the tall man Few women should see, (2) Beautiful and imposing Was marble to me. (4) And virtue had its place And evil its alarms, (6) But not for that worn face, And not in those roped arms. The language in this poem by Louise Bogan is figurative. An example of this can be found in line 4. “Marble” the dictionary definition would show the meaning of marble as “a form of stone or rock” however; the term marble in this poem reflects the type of beauty the man is imposing upon this woman.