The Spirit Is Too

Blunt An Instrument
By Anne Stevenson
 Stanza 1 – Lines 1 to 9
The spirit is too blunt an instrument
to have made this baby.
Nothing so unskillful as human passions
could have managed the intricate
exacting particulars: the tiny
blind bones with their manipulating tendons,
the knee and the knucklebones, the resilient
fine meshings of ganglia and vertebrae,
the chain of the difficult spine.
Task 1: Answer the questions in your
book and be ready to discuss with a
partner in 5-10 minutes:
1. What do you think the poet is
referring to by “the spirit”?
2. Why does Stevenson write that
“human passions” are “so unskillful”?
3. Why do you think there is a full stop
at the end of line 2 but then no more
end stops until the end of the stanza?
4. What do you think is the stanza‘s
message?
 Stanza 2 – Lines 10 to 18
Observe the distinct eyelashes and sharp crescent
fingernails, the shell-like complexity
of the ear, with its firm involutions
concentric in miniature to minute
ossicles. Imagine the
infinitesimal capillaries, the flawless connections
of the lungs, the invisible neural filaments
through which the completed body
already answers to the brain.
Task 2: Answer the questions in your
book and be ready to discuss with a
partner in 5-10 minutes:
1. Which images stand out to you the
most in this stanza?
2. The ossicles are the smallest bones in
the body – in the ear. Why mention
these before a full stop caesura?
3. What do you notice about the
rhythm/sound of the words in this
stanza?
4. What kind of shapes jump out at you
in this stanza?
 Stanza 3 – Lines 19 to 27
Then name any passion or sentiment
possessed of the simplest accuracy.
No, no desire or affection could have done
with practice what habit
has done perfectly, indifferently,
through the body's ignorant precision.
It is left to the vagaries of the mind to invent
love and despair and anxiety
and their pain.
Task 3: Answer the questions in your
book and be ready to discuss with a
partner in 5-10 minutes:
1. Habit, indifference and ignorance are
hailed as the brilliant creators of life.
Explain what the author means here.
2. Vagaries = quirks. What has the mind
invented, according to stanza three?
3. Why is the oxymoronic “ignorant
precision” such an interesting and
insightful concept?
4. Why do you think the final three
words have their very own line? What
is the message here?
 Vocabulary Describing The Baby

Stanza 1: Stanza 2:

Line 4/5: the intricate exacting particulars Line 10: the distinct eyelashes
Line 5/6: the tiny blind bones Line 10/11: sharp crescent fingernails
Line 6: manipulating tendons Line 11/12: the shell-like complexity of the ear
Line 7: the knee and knucklebones Line 15: infinitesimal capillaries
Line 8: the resilient fine meshings of ganglia and vertebrae Line 15/16: flawless connections of the lungs
Line 9: the difficult spine Line 16: invisible neural filaments
Line 18: the brain

Task 4: The poem could be read as a celebration of life, and the wonder of ourselves, and all living beings. Which phrases here evoke the most
magnificent images, and why? Discuss with a partner and be ready to share.
 Copy and complete:

Stanza 1: Stanza 2:

Line 4/5: intricate suggests… Line 10: distinct suggests…

Line 5/6: tiny implies… Line 10/11: sharp shows me…
Line 8: resilient juxtaposes... Line 11/12: complexity implies…
Line 9: difficult makes me think… Line 15: infinitesimal evokes an image of…

Task 5: Write a few words about what each word Line 15/16: flawless implies…
suggests, implies, or juxtaposes. Feel free to alter Line 16: invisible makes me think…
the sentence verb. Work in pairs and get ready to
share your answers.
 Task 6: What is the effect of the consonance here? Read
aloud pronouncing the c like a k. What sounds does

Sound Imagery
Keywords: consonance, alliteration, assonance, syllables.
your mouth make? What do these sound like in relation
to a growing baby?

Task 7: What is the effect of the alliteration here?

Again, how does the sound of the line reflect the
t ct
Line 4/5: the in ri a e exa cting particulars baby growing?

n n
Line 7: the k ee and k ucklebones

e
Line 11/12: the sh ll-like compl xity of thee ear Task 8: What is the effect of the assonance here? How
does the sound of the line reflect the image or shape of
the ear?
Line 15: infinitesimal capillaries

Task 9: What is the effect of the having so many syllables (10)

packed into these two words? Relate your answer to the meaning of
the two words.
 How does Stevenson convey an understanding of beauty in her
poem: The Spirit Is Too Blunt An Instrument ?

Task 10: If you were faced with this essay question, how might you break it down?

Structure Stream of Which words and descriptions How does she

evoke a sense of wonder, criticise
Consciousness
Visual amazement and awe? humankind‘s
inability to create
Imagery beauty?

Contrast How does Stevenson convey an understanding of beauty in her

poem: The Spirit Is Too Blunt An Instrument ?
Which body parts
has she chosen to
focus on, and
Adjectives Which phrases show how might this be
admiration for the natural
Sound process of human biology?
connected to
beauty?
Imagery
 How does Stevenson convey an understanding of beauty in her
poem: The Spirit Is Too Blunt An Instrument ?

Introduction and Thesis

Anne Stevenson presents the human body as mysterious, contemplating where we came from and how we
were designed; her conclusion seems to be that we are the product of a magical, magnificent, inexplicable
indifference. She, therefore, subverts our understanding of indifference and presents it almost holy,
evidenced in its ability to effortlessly create complex life. She sees this effortless skill as beautiful. In doing
this, she presents us with a new perspective on the intricacies of human biology – and biological life in
general – and we are made to wonder at the power of nature. Stevenson expresses that the spirit is “too
blunt” a thing to create the “intricate” perfection that is a human baby. Stevenson suggests that no amount
of passion could help an artist design life, which she describes through vivid imagery. There is a tone of awe
as the speaker looks at her baby as a miraculous phenomenon. She seems to be stunned by the beauty of
nature’s seemingly effortless creativity and power in forming her baby.
 How does Stevenson convey an understanding of beauty in her
poem: The Spirit Is Too Blunt An Instrument ?

An Example of an Analytical Paragraph

This creativity and power is celebrated by Stevenson throughout the poem. She describes the biological make-up of the
small baby through an abundance of imagery, such as “the resilient fine meshings of ganglia and vertebrae” which focuses
our attention on the body’s internal complexity, especially through the oxymoronic stacked adjectives, “resilient/fine” which
suggests the body is contradictorily strong and robust, but also delicate. The admiration for the baby’s complex biological
make-up is also revealed as she describes the “infinitesimal capillaries.” Here, I understand her to be in utter amazement at
the vastness of the detail that makes up the human body. Capillaries are the smallest blood vessel in the body, exchanging
substances and functioning all the time, keeping us alive, yet we are indifferent to the process. Stevenson chooses to focus
also on the smallest bones in the body, the “ossicles”, which are tucked away deep in “the shell-like complexity of the ear.”
Here, the circular shapes and patterns of the ear are mirrored through the assonant sounds produced by the repeated
vowels. Stevenson is a master of synesthetic imagery, blending sound and shape here to create the complex and wonderful
image of the human ear. Furthermore, she describes the neural filaments as “invisible,” supporting the thesis that our
physical make-up is nothing short of magical. She draws our attention to something in our every day lives and holds it up to
us in celebration as magnificent, deeply complex, and beyond holy.
How does Stevenson convey an understanding of beauty in her
poem: The Spirit Is Too Blunt An Instrument ?

Final Task: Have a go at writing your own analysis of stanza three.