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Armament
A metaphor that compares the crabs claws to military weapons, particularly
the weapons used on a ship. The metaphor emphasizes the claws' strength,
but this strength is elsewhere undercut.
Crowned
Crowned, meaning "topped with," is an almost dead metaphor, but here
reactivated by the poem's assertions, though undercut, of the crab's
grandeur.
Chamber
"Chamber," a metaphor for the center of the crab, can refer to a large,
grand room, but here this meaning is undercut both by the relative smallness
of the crab and by an alternative association of the word with the chambers
of the heart. The word thus glances at the possible majesty of the crab,
but also recalls its biological vulnerability. See strength
and vulnerability (opens in new window - just close the window to
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Traveling Case
The poem compares the crab's shell to an elegant, even luxurious suitcase
with "lavish lining." The comparison again associates the crab with
a world of high culture in which one might sit in a hotel chamber and
sip coffee from a demitasse cup. Yet the comparison is also ironized
because just before it we are told that the crab smells of "seaweed
and ruin."
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