The Meaning Behind the Doughnut
Eric Liaw


In the sonnet Ode to the Doughnut, the author wrote about the wonders of the doughnut. Doughnuts may seem a trivial subject for a work of literature but, in fact, there is much to discuss about one of the world’s most recognizable pastries.
Numerous interpretations of the poem can exist and coexist. First, the poem can be read as humor. The humor arises from the way the language in which the poem is written in reflects the personality of the author or character that narrates it. The character can be seen as a childish, quirky, and affable person who has a particular weakness for doughnuts. He thus is sharing and joking about his love for doughnuts, and we laugh at the character’s character. What you get out of reading the poem is the impression that people have weaknesses or idiosyncrasies, and that unique personalities make humorous characters in literature.
The doughnut is sometimes associated with the modern American pop culture and its wealthy lifestyle and fast food. It joins French fries, burgers, potato chips, and soda in the spotlight of the rising obesity epidemic in America. Partly because of this, the reference to doughnut lovers is seen throughout American culture as the stereotypical, antiheroic average Joe. For example, the doughnut appears in police jokes, and the most well-known doughnut fan is probably Homer Simpson of The Simpsons. In this regard, the sonnet can be read from a dubious point of view, and it becomes a slightly sarcastic jest of the American lifestyle. The poem, especially the title, suggests that Americans, youth especially, pay to much homage to trivial aspects of life like entertainment, fashion, and video games and remain ignorant of aspects like geography and history, classical art, the economy, and global issues. The silliness of the poem and the character’s unabashed addiction to costly and fattening snacks brings alarm along with laughs.
The third interpretation of the poem is that the Ode to the Doughnut is what it says it is: a poem in praise of the doughnut, except here the doughnut represents the simple things we encounter in daily life. The message is that the simple life is the good life. The Irish author Oscar Wilde once wrote, “I adore simple pleasures. They are the last refuge of the complex.” Unfortunately, we often take simple, harmless pleasures for granted. We overlook the things that are good in our lives and are not grateful for them. Instead we focus on negative things: our fears, troubles, conflicts, stress, and unsound desires. If we allow ourselves to become entangled in these corrupting thoughts and habits, then happiness is hard to find and life becomes long, complicated, and full of disappointment. The simplicity of the poem tells us to remember the simpler parts life. The purpose of the doughnut is neither to provide nourishment nor just to taste good, but to make people happy. What can be wrong with happiness? It may seem strange or childish that a sonnet is dedicated to the now mass-produced bulk of sugar-covered starch, but in reality, the poem targets precisely those who doubt the poem and is a sincere message to find solace within oneself.

There were many literary tools used in the poem that helped form the humor of the sonnet. If the humor and actual text was the bread of the poem, then the devices constituted the butter on top. Rhyme was one of the methods that helped the poem sparkle. Normally, the rather straightforward and simply structured sentences in the sonnet would be boring and slow. However, rhyme allows the silly language of the poem to flow and not bore readers.
The upbeat voice of the poem would be lost if it didn’t have rhythm and meter. If the sonnet was not written in iambic pentameter, some lines would stick out and it would not be as fun or easy to read. Although more upbeat meters exist (for example, the anapestic foot of limericks), iambic pentameter is considered “standard” because most sonnets—at least those that are mutually agreed on as classic masterpieces—are in iambic pentameter. This touch of workmanship and seriousness actually adds to the humorous and sarcastic tone by making the poem still “worthy of serious thought”. This is the effect that parody imparts—a twist is always funny. Also, in line 13, “inquire” adds a punch because it rhymes with the lines above it (lines 11 and 9).
There were some examples of alliteration, repetition, and puns. There was alliteration in the way “deliciousness” and “delightfulness” (“deli**u*ness”) share similar syllables, the same placement of the accent, and the same location with respect to their lines (lines 11, 12). The way lines 5 and 6 and lines 11 and 12 share the same structure and meaning functions as a built-in crescendo: The repetition adds rhythm and emphasis. There is a pun in the beginning on the word “sweet” that piques interest. By beginning with “My love” the reader still assumes it to be a human (even after reading the title, the reader may believe the author could be giving a donut to his love), not knowing that the opening simile is in truth a literal statement. The author quickly erodes the illusion starting on line 3 and ending on line 4-5, probably because he did not want the simile to become the focus of attention.
The choice of words added more humor and extra parodies. The switching of noun and adjective in “sugar white” (line 1) resembles older English grammar. The archaisms “O”, “thy”, and “besprinkled” are further examples (lines 9, 10, and 14). In general the word choice uses unusual words (like “torus” in line 10) to create a parodistic voice by going slightly out of their way to describe an ordinary object. This was a favorite technique of the famous British comedy group Monty Python.
The title is a joke in itself: its claim of identity as an ode is not quite accurate. Usually, odes are long, formal poems of many stanzas that tell a story or are in praise of something. Ode to a Doughnut is not an ode but a sonnet of a measly 14 lines—the title is just bluffing. Also related, a trend in modern odes, like those of Pulitzer Prize winner Pablo Neruda, is to glorify pedestrian objects to illustrate ideas. This sonnet is thus a kind of parody.
In conclusion, Ode to the Doughnut is a humorous sonnet that draws on many themes and parodies. It uses other literary devices to present itself in a humorous way, and it illustrates and explores many different themes that can be tied to doughnuts.