I'm always drawn to humor in writing and that's why I enjoyed reading Donald Hall's "To a Waterfowl" very much. The first line was what hooked me in just because of the absurdity of the image "with hats like the rear ends of pink ducks". Having a hook is especially important in poetry because its condensed nature doesn't allow the poet to build up to one; the reader must be caught within the first few syllables. Hall's poem is interspersed with other ridiculous images to add to the humor: "they spank their hands, they smile like Jell-O", "watching Godzilla Suck Mt. Fuji, / addressing my poems, feeling superior", "with hints that I am a sexual Thomas Alva Edison". He also shows humor in his rapid switching of tone such as in the line "returned to the l'eternel retour of the Holiday Inn / naked, lying on the bed".
Hall intentionally leaves most formal styles at the door. He pokes fun at common poetry techniques, "crooning, 'High on thy thigh I cry, Hi!' -- and so forth", and common poetry rules, "'My goodness, Mr. Hall, / but you certainly do have an imagination, huh?' / 'Thank you, indeed,' I say; 'it brings in the bacon.'" in order to prove his point about the high intellectual expectation most people have about poets. The latter quote in particular is very hilarious considering how sinful it is to use tired, old saying in poetry. He also makes the poem more informal by giving it conversational tone and using lots of dialogue. The kicker, or what Kizer called "The Counter-Turn", is in the fifth stanza, when Hall uses an unflattering depiction of himself to show the readers that he's more ordinary than extraordinary. He then turns to us, the readers, who are born from this tradition of supposed high class as shown in the lines "You, in the bluejeans, / laughing at your mother who wears hats, and at your father / who rides airplanes with a briefcase watching his grammar?", and accuses us of being just like the people that we thought were humorous. He mocks us in his last line.
Hall shows his satire like a wet slap to the face and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
I really like how you analyze the humor here. It can be difficult to pick apart why something is funny, at least in my opinion, and to explain why humor work, but I think you have an extremely thorough breakdown of how Hall accomplishes what he does and you even bring it back that in the end it is mocking the reader.
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