Lines 1—2

Muldoon begins "Pineapples and Pomegranates" as a personal anecdote or story by recalling the speaker's first encounter with a pineapple, at the age of thirteen. The poet emphasizes the sense of touch in recalling this experience as he writes, "I would grapple / with my first pineapple." These two lines establish the pattern of rhyming the last words of every two lines, as in the full rhyme of "grapple" with "pineapple." Throughout the poem, Muldoon continues to use rhymed couplets, rhyming every two lines.

Lines 3—4

In the next two lines, the speaker further describes his memory of the pineapple, noting, "its exposed breast / setting itself as another test." The metaphor in line 3 personifies the fruit by likening the pineapple to a female body part. By describing the pineapple in this way, Muldoon emphasizes the fruit's exoticness and its seductive qualities. In these lines, Muldoon uses the...