Point of View

“Try to Praise the Mutilated World” is written in the second person and first-person plural from the perspective of an empathetic observer. The speaker urges readers to expand their consciousness in order to find beauty in a broken world. Depicting general scenes of suffering, war, and displacement, the speaker adopts the persona of a witness. The world may be inherently fractured, but it is balanced by mundane beauty. The speaker repeats (with slight modifications) the poem’s title as a refrain for how to overcome despair. Cultivating gratitude while maintaining awareness of traumatic events may not be an easy skill, but the speaker insists that honoring the wounded world is the optimal path forward.

The use of second person creates an intimate and universal connection. The speaker elicits the responsibility of readers in actively witnessing occurrences ranging from wild strawberries to refugee crises. The speaker...