Wyatt's My Galley Charged with Forgetfulness relies heavily on metaphor and imagery. Through intimation of such literary devices, as well as language and tone, Wyatts suggests, through the metaphor of the galley's course, that life is meant to run an intentioned course with purpose. Through the course of the poem unfolds a strong sense of despair in the realization that such purpose is lost; it is not there. The poem is laden with tones of desolation. In the beginning there are images painting toil and frustration "thorough sharp seas in winter nights." However, there comes a realization that this is not the cause of the speaker's dejection. The impressions of loss and misery are not due to the experience of suffering, but rather that the suffering experienced has no meaning or purpose. At the end of the poem are the strongest portrayals of frustration and unhappiness, as the speaker concludes that there is no way out of this predicament. He is as trapped by this fate as a man is trapped when lost out in the middle of the sea. The words "the stars be hid" also sounds as if the reasons are actively concealed him his knowledge by device, and reveals a voice of aggravation and disappointment.
Throughout the poem there is a theme of inescapable fate reinforced by the metaphor of the galley at sea. The metaphor of the ship's lord being the master of the speaker and decider of fate gives the speaker an object toward which to project his sorrow. There are multiple points where the speaker blames this problem he has on the lord of his galley, that he
Hath done the wearied cords great hindrance,
Wreathed with error and eke with ignorance.
This lord depicted is cruel, is incompetent, and has ruined the cords of th...
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... reading of the line, reflecting the sense of the on-going journey as well as the drudgery. It's also a soft consonant, giving it a quiet air. This is not a raging poem; it is a poem of quiet disappointed resentment and accepted sorrow. It also brings to mind the hiss of a candle going out, keeping with the theme of this poem and reiterating the transience of the journey of life. The overall matter culminates precisely as the speaker says in closing: "despairing of the port."
The heavy use of nautical imagery reiterates the movement of the poem. This use of a nautical metaphor further reveals the specific sense of the speaker's journey through life. It is heavy with depictions of the sea and its storms, as well as objects involved with seafaring, bringing the reader into the feeling the speaker has of being lost at sea. It is an air of total isolation.
The poem begins with many examples of imagery and reveals an important role of the meaning of the poem. In the first four lines of the poem, Jeffers uses imagery to establish his connection between him and the bay.
...ion of the situation to the Ancient Mariner. Moreover, the way in which the dialogue is presented, makes the structure seems more of a script of a play. The structure of the poem is a key characteristic in displaying the theme, for by telling the story as a personal experience, it helps the reader understand the moral and theme intended as a warning to people.
“The Convergence of the Twain” is a nonlinear retelling of the Titanic disaster of 1912; however, on a deeper level, the poem explores hubris, downfall, and how fate connects hubris to downfall. Through tone, diction and juxtaposition, the speaker describes the sinking of the Titanic as inevitable and necessary. The juxtaposition of the Titanic and the environment in the first five stanzas symbolizes the opposition between man and nature, suggesting that nature overcomes man. The speaker characterizes the sea as being “deep from human vanity” (2) and deep from the “Pride of Life that planned” the Titanic. The diction of “human vanity” (2) suggests that the sea is incorruptible by men, and then the speaker’s juxtaposition of vanity with “the Pride of Life” (3), an allusion to humanity, further implies a connection between the two.
...He is still anchored to his past and transmits the message that one makes their own choices and should be satisfied with their lives. Moreover, the story shows that one should not be extremely rigid and refuse to change their beliefs and that people should be willing to adapt to new customs in order to prevent isolation. Lastly, reader is able to understand that sacrifice is an important part of life and that nothing can be achieved without it. Boats are often used as symbols to represent a journey through life, and like a captain of a boat which is setting sail, the narrator feels that his journey is only just beginning and realizes that everyone is in charge of their own life. Despite the wind that can sometimes blow feverishly and the waves that may slow the journey, the boat should not change its course and is ultimately responsible for completing its voyage.
Some of the most intriguing stories of today are about people’s adventures at sea and the thrill and treachery of living through its perilous storms and disasters. Two very popular selections about the sea and its terrors are The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger and “The Wreck of the Hesperus” by Henry Longfellow. Comparison between the two works determines that “The Wreck of the Hesperus” tells a more powerful sea-disaster story for several different reasons. The poem is more descriptive and suspenseful than The Perfect Storm, and it also plays on a very powerful tool to captivate the reader’s emotion. These key aspects combine to give the reader something tangible that allows them to relate to the story being told and affects them strongly.
This poem dwells heavily on the problems in war. It describes how high the death toll is for both sides. Slessor uses “convoys of dead sailors” to show that all these dead body’s are very much alike, with their movements and feelings being the same. It also outlines a major problem in war, being able to identify and bury they dead properly. "And each cross, the driven stake of tide-wood, bears the last signature of m...
He turns her from beautiful, innocent, and pure to lifeless, brown, and limp like the dead seaweed. Additionally, just like how the daughter’s body is being tossed around by the waves without anyone else’s control, the outcomes of arrogant behavior also happen without anyone’s control. Although the skipper did not intend for his daughter to die, his borderline-smug attitude ultimately ends up ruining everything about her. The imagery used here depicts what a person’s overconfidence does to the things they love and care about. In conclusion, Longfellow uses imagery of the skipper’s eyes and daughter’s hair to convey the poem’s theme to his audience.The author of “Wreck of the Hesperus”, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, uses personification, simile, and imagery to establish that the overconfidence and pride that people have leads to a wild downward spiral for that person, and for the innocent things that the person loves. This is important for people to remember because overconfidence leads to an over-inflated ego and an excessive amount of pride, which weakens people and their relationships with others. People like this find it difficult to reach out and think it’s below them to ask for help or want help.
Alistair Macleod’s “The Boat” is a tale of sacrifice, and of silent struggle. A parent’s sacrifice not only of their hopes and dreams, but of their life. The struggle of a marriage which sees two polar opposites raising a family during an era of reimagining. A husband embodying change and hope, while making great sacrifice; a wife gripped in fear of the unknown and battling with the idea of losing everything she has ever had. The passage cited above strongly presents these themes through its content
By using these symbols, the speaker presents the importance of truth and perspective in moments of self-discovery. Lastly, the dive and the wreck are both metaphors that help the speaker establish the theme of this poem. The dive is a metaphor for her journey and the significance that surrounds it, while the wreck is a metaphor for a physical representation of her past. These metaphors play a large role in this poem as intangibles that are needed to get the point across. With the use of these literary devices, the speaker is successfully able to establish that the significance of self-discovery is the theme of this
The poem begins with a childlike tone, misleading the reader on the upcoming subject matter. The first line echoes a nursery rhyme, feeling like a charm against some brooding curse. “You do not do, you do not do/ anymore black shoe” (lines 1-2). Metaphorically, the shoe is a trap, smothering the foot. The adjective “black” suggests the idea of death, thus it can relate to a coffin. The speaker feels a submissiveness and entrapment by her father. In an attempt to rid herself of the restriction in her own life, she must destroy the memory of her father. “Daddy, I have to kill you” (line 3). However, the description of the father as “marble-heavy” and “ghastly statue” reveals the ambivalence of her attitude, for he is also associated with the beauty of the sea. The speaker reacts with hate to her father who had made her suffer by dying at such a point in her development.
In the ballad, the woman leaves her house and family to go away with her previous lover when he promises her “ four-and-twenty bold mariners, \ And music on every hand” (Ballad 20). But after they “sailed a league,../A league but barely three”, the woman “wept..bitterly” and at the end she died when the man “stuck the top-mast with his hand.../And sank her in the sea”(20, 21). Her disobedience and her infidelity to the marriage caused her to suffer as she died when the man sunk the ship to the sea. The parable presented in the ballad reveals the suffering and punishment caused by the woman’s infidelity to her marriage. When the woman's lover is describing how he will take care of her and how he promises her a ship with “sails [made] of the teffeta,/ And the masts of the beaten gold” he is exaggerating the truth in order to convince the woman that she should escape with him (Ballad 20). In addition when the woman began to cry about leaving her husband and kids, the man “stuck the top-mast with his hand,/ The fore-mast with his knee;/ And he broke that gallant ship in twain, / And sank her in the sea” (Ballad 21). This gross over statement of the truth helps convey the severity of the punishment that women who cheat and are not faithful to their marriages are going to receive. The
The poem is notable for Hayden's characteristically accurate evocation of imagery. Just like his other poems, Hayden’s imagery in this poem is very vivid. The reader is able to imagine or see these images in their inner minds. Thus, the diver “sank through easeful/azure/swiftly descended/free falling, weightless/plunged” he described the diver’s carefree attitude and relaxed attitude as he dove into the sea. Thrilled and enchanted by what he sees in the wrecked ship, he lingers for more than intended. When he was brought to the reality of the danger he was in, he, “...in languid/frenzy strove/began the measured
In addition to the use of colorful diction, Hardy employs detailed imagery. The phrase “Dim moon-eyed fishes near Gaze at the guilded gear” depicts fishes looking at the sunk Titanic and wondering what “this vaingloriousness” was doing under the sea. He also mentions in the third stanza how the “jewels in joy designed To ravish the sensuous mind” were all lost and covered by darkness. Using these detailed images, Hardy is portraying the contrasts of before the ship sunk and after.
The unknown authors portray the two themes through detail and emotion. "The Seafarer" creates a storyline of a man who is "lost" at sea. There is a major reference to the concept of the sea and how it "captures" the soul and leaves a lonely feeling. The character is set to know the consequences of the sea, but something keeps calling him back to it. "And yet my heart wanders away, My soul roams with sea, the whales' home, wandering to the widest corners of the world, returning ravenous with desire, Flying solitary, screaming, exciting me to the ocean, breaking oaths on the curve of a wave." (lines 58-64). This poem also grasps the concept of religion and how it plays a role in this work.
Fear has taken a hold of every man aboard this ship, as it should; our luck is as far gone as the winds that led us off course. For nights and days gusts beyond measure have forced us south, yet our vessel beauty, Le Serpent, stays afloat. The souls aboard her, lay at the mercy of this ruthless sea. Chaotic weather has turned the crew from noble seamen searching for glory and riches, to whimpering children. To stay sane I keep the holy trinity close to my heart and the lady on my mind. Desperation comes and goes from the men’s eyes, while the black, blistering clouds fasten above us, as endless as the ocean itself. The sea rocks our wood hull back and forth but has yet to flip her. The rocking forces our bodies to cling to any sturdy or available hinge, nook or rope, anything a man can grasp with a sea soaked hand. The impacts make every step a danger. We all have taken on a ghoulish complexion; the absence of sunlight led the weak souls aboard to fight sleep until sick. Some of us pray for the sun to rise but thunder constantly deafens our cries as it crackles above the mast. We have been out to sea for fifty-five days and we have been in this forsaken storm for the last seventeen.