You Take My Hand

In the poem, You Take My Hand, poet Margaret Atwood utilizes the stylistic device of hyperbole in order to effectively illustrate the speaker’s relationship with her.

The speaker’s critical outlook upon the relations is revealed as she sarcastically exposes her feelings. “You take my hand and/ I'm suddenly in a bad movie…” The speaker deliberately exaggerate the situation, when “[she] waltz[s] in slow motion/ through an air stale with aphorisms”. Atwood uses hyperbole in a line such as “we meet behind the endless potted palms/you climb through the wrong windows”, implying her pessimistic attitude to the romance. In fact, the idea of unbreakable attraction is suggested by a metaphor “Other people are leaving/ but I always stay till the end/ I paid my money, I/ want to see what happens.” The mixed emotions about this particular relationship are evident when the speaker “[has] to peel you off [her]/ in the form of smoke and melted/ celluloid” and “[has] to face… the smell of popcorn/ and worn plush/ lingers for weeks”. The reality of unfulfilled relations is revealed when the speaker accepts that she is finally addicted to the existence.

I think it is fascinating how Margaret Atwood utilizes poetic devices to disclose her unhealthy relations and to pass an essential message to the audience. No need to mention that she is able to reveal the reality through her personal experience. The poet uses modern language, sarcastically saying that she is addicted to her partner like to “the smell of popcorn and worn plush”.