The Good Life

Tracy K. Smith’s “The Good Life” is a short poem composed in simple language, eschewing uncommon or striking imagery and diction. The images it does deploy, then, are especially potent against a background of pared-down language. While this guide has already touched on the pervasiveness of hunger and its relation to wealth in the text, it is worth noting the particular focus on beverages (and, to a lesser extent, food) by the poem. From a formal perspective, the recurrence of various kinds of potable liquids acts as a useful structural device. The pervasiveness of the motif creates an imagistic and evocative unity to the poem that reinforces its thematic consistency. Like the repetition of colors in a painting or a series of notes in a song, the appearance of beverages neatly punctuates the poem, creating a sense of symmetry.

The “milk,” “coffee,” “water,” and “wine” (Lines 3, 5, 7, 10) appear in the poem at almost consistent intervals, especially considering the brevity of the text. They remind the reader of the tangible importance of money to both survival and the small sensory pleasures of eating and drinking.