Ghosts by Mary Oliver

 Stanza 2 

The golden eagle, for instance,

has a heaviness in him 

moreover the huge barns

seem ready, sometimes, to ramble off

toward the deeper grass. 

 

What does the poet gain from using "for instance" and "moreover?"

 1. the 2 are more appropriate in prose. In many ways, Ghosts is a prose poem. In addition, the 2 are denotative language, which ground the reader in prose. The 2 prepare the reader for the later beautiful metaphors.

2. the two set off the assonance of the "seem ready, sometimes, to ramble off."