The Partial Explanation

“The Partial Explanation” by Charles Simic is a narrative poem of 18 lines in four stanzas, two of which are quatrains (four lines) and two of which are cinquains or pentains (five lines). The poem is written in free verse, meaning it employs neither formal meter nor rhyming pattern. The language of the poem is simple and accessible to a broad reading audience. Simic uses both complete grammatical phrases and fragments. Tonally, the poem feels less like a conversation and more like the speaker is talking to themself. The combination of complete phrases and fragments, plus the largely informal word choices, juxtaposes the choice to capitalize each new line—a choice that lends a certain formality to the structure and appearance of the poem.

At the end of the third stanza, the phrase “[u]pon entering” (Line 13) introduces a higher level of diction that serves to create some distance between the speaker and their emotions. The line is a turn, or even a precipice, indicating the speaker’s decision to enter into their gloomy situation. The poem then pivots into the emotional swan-dive and shorter lines of “a longing / Incredible longing / To eavesdrop” (Lines 14-16). As for “the conversation / of cooks” (Lines 17-18), the hard “c” sounds provide a very concrete quality, distinguishing the chitchat of the kitchen workers as a solid point of reality in an otherwise surreal environment.