Theme Of Hopelessness In Futility By Wilfred Owen

Though the poem is about a soldier's untimely death in war, the poem uses this forum to make a general observation about the hopeless situation of human existence. The poet is in a serious and sombre mood. 

The tone is that of regret. A highly philosophical poem in the sense that it attempts to portray the futility and meaninglessness of human mortality. The sun is generally seen as a life-sustaining agent but the poet wonders why the sun toils ceaselessly to sustain this meaningless life.

In the poets view, life is futile. There is no worthwhile hope in the life of men. When the poem speaker finally realizes that the soldier is dead, he resorts to rhetorical questions as a means to emphasize the futility of human life and to express his anxieties and distress about the dying soldier.

Are limbs, so dear-achieved, are sides
Full-nerved-still warm-too hard to stir?
Was it for this the clay grew tall?
O what made fatuous sunbeams toil
To break earth's sleep at all?

In the above lines, there is a focus on the helpless soldier who lies motionless. A man who used to be very active and energetic in the past is now beyond redemption. In such situation the poem speaker thinks about the futile existence and purpose and meaning of life. It then leads the tone of the poem towards pessimism with the use of rhetorical questions.

MORE POETIC ANALYSIS >>>

Read More

The Theme Of Vanity In The Proud King By William Morris

So many themes run through this narrative masterpiece; among them are the supremacy of God, the act of sin and repentance, the effective power of death, etc.

This article will be discussing the theme of vanity. "The Proud King" by William Morris reminds the reader through his prominent character (Jovinian) of how vain life and wealth are.

The poem opens as follows:
"In a far country that I cannot name,
And in a year long ages past away,
A King there dwelt, in rest and ease and fame,
And richer than the Emperor is today:"
The mammoth wealth and high status triggered the pride in Jovinian to the extent of believing himself a God on earth but within a blink of eye, he was mysteriously dethroned and relegated to a state of wretchedness: "the real King by the roadside lay, Panting, confused, scarce knowing if he dreamed" (line 253-254), "The hot sun solely burned his naked skin" (line 100).

According to line 190-193 of the poem, those who saw Jovinian admitted he resembled their king but refused to reckon with his laments and never gave him the respect he used to get:
"He to the King is nothing in aught
But that his beard he weareth in such guise
As doth my lord: wilt thou that he be brought?
Perchance some treason 'neath his madness lies"

In a nutshell, the theme of vanity is based on the fact that nothing is certain on earth.

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
(the Leo with wings flying)

Read More

Themes of Piano and Drums by Gabriel Okara

Gabriel Okara, the writer of "Piano and Drum" was born in Bayelsa state, Nigeria in 1921. A novelist and a poet; he was once a civil servant. His poem "Piano and Drums" was well beautified with imagery and symbolism.

The themes of the poem can be divided into three: (1) Childhood reminiscence and its effect (2) Complexity of the present and future (3) Dilemma.

Childhood reminiscence and its effect

Since the poem is about the poet's experience with two different cultures or lifestyles, the poet used the experience of his village background to depict African culture which he grew up with, while comparing it to his present civilized way of living.
The poem speaker was reminded of his/her "primal youth and the beginning" through the quietness of the early to morning river and the echoing forest. While at the riverside, the poem speaker could "hear jungle drums telegraphing/the mystic rhythm..." (Line 2 & 3) and other things like panther, leopard, hunters crouching
with poised spears, etc added to his/her memory.

The poem speaker revealed in stanza 2, the effect such reminiscence brought to his/her memory of sitting "in my mother's lap a suckling", "walking simple paths with no innovations", and groping in green leaves with wild flowers in naked hurrying feet.

Complexity of the present and future

How complex, unstable and confusing the present and the upcoming future look were portrayed in the stanza 3 of the poem "Piano and Drums". As said before, Okara preferred his past life to the present that was why he symbolized his rural life with drum, a musical instrument which very easy to learn and operate while he symbolized his civilized modern lifestyle with piano and describe it as complex.

The poem speaker heard "a wailing piano" which symbolised a painful sound which "solo speaking of complex ways" (the confusing present and the unknown future) and such painful sound brought a silent cry which the poem referred to as "in tear-furrowed concerto". In spite of the pain, the poem speaker got "lost in the labyrinth of it complexities" which symbolised the confusing complexity of the future through rough(coaxing) mild(diminuendo) opposite-change(counterpoint) and tough(crescendo).

Conflit of Culture
This is a very vital theme in Piano and Drums by Gabriel Okara; it shows the speaker in the poem standing between past and present (or preferably between African and Western culture); this theme can also be called a clash of culture or cultural disparity. As mentioned earlier, the voice of the poem described his past rural African background as simple as drums beats while his present and upcoming urbanized Western lifestyle as difficult as the wailing tones of a piano. Since ways lead to ways, this theme leads to another theme known as the theme of dilemma.

Dilemma

The poem speaker concluded that he found himself/herself in dilemma "wandering in the mystic rhythm/of jungle drums and the concerto."(line 28 & 29) because he didn't know which culture to totally embrace. He preferred the simple rural life but it was also impossible to let go of the civilisation he had got unto despite it was complex and confusing.

>>> READ MORE POETIC ANALYSIS

Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
(the candid Leo with wings flying)

Read More