As tea is to bread literary criticism helps decode the meaning of literary pieces. Let us dive into an example which showcases how one could explicate a poem scouting for semantic, phonological paths as well as literary devices and minor themes. The confluence, in combination these elements makes, renders a literary work, like a poetic gem, superb displaying organic unity and universal significance. Note that the literary devices entail ambivalence, ambiguity, and paradox and irony cohesion.
Before departure
The blackness of the night bound sea
With lights will go ablaze.
Mists will be cut by songs of dawn
Which herald future days.
The sails before the sturdy wind
Become as strong as steel.
The seagulls seeing off our ship
Like windblown snowflakes reel.
Ah, will I see you soon, my love,
Or will the wait be so long?
Or will the mermaids of the sea
Bewitch you with their song?
A mourning seagull, snowy-white,
Above the waves I’ll cry…
The sea will tell me tales until
The light of dawn draws nigh.
(Poem by Salomeja Neris)
The agonizing pain of pining for the beloved could one day get resolved by the reunion of lovers, whom distance and time put asunder. A reunion strikes forgotten and deferred cords. Notice that songs of dawn, songs of birds, are taken as harbingers to the displacement of darkness by light, or parting by reunion.
Notice that the title ‘Before departure’ lends the key for decoding the poem. The whole of the first stanza, which seems to talk about darkness and the coming of dawn and hence the replacement of darkness by rays of light, is implicitly and metaphorically relating about vested hope in the future and a reunion with somebody terribly missed. Hence the duplicity of meaning the poem exhibits renders it a touch of refinement.
The poetical extracts that conjure up a sad image or the images and metaphoric expressions with which the poet with word alacrity shows a moment of parting and sorrow are: Departure (the title), seeing off, blackness, the night bound see, mists, sturdy wind, no light, wait, strong, black, abyss, cracked, dead, tempest, bending, breaking, mourning, wave, cry. Notice that the extracts jointly establish a minor theme of misery that attends separation. They show the chilliness of parting, which grows unbearable as time advances. Observably, the narrator is a member of the fair sex for she refers to herself as a seagull, a bird, a symbol for woman. Add to that a bird snow white, it bars a room for doubt.
The opposition of imageries are between seagulls and mermaids; night and light, departure and reunion. The last two lines in the second stanza relating about seagulls show the persona’s acquaintances were in attendance at the farewell party. The imageries of optimism as with lights will go ablaze; songs of dawn, herald future days and light of dawn draws nigh underline the narrator’s hope of reunion. Together, with their matching meaning, the word images in this set form a minor theme on the hope of a reunion. That is an additional theme, which is a tributary to the central one.
The whole of the 4th stanza comprising the imageries black abyss, dead, tempest, bending & rampant, overhead show perseverance subjected to various tests. It shows, contrary to the passage of time, the loneliness and helplessness of parting become heavy. The word wait and the simile strong as steel amplify the perseverance of the persona.
The phrases Will the mermaids of the sea & bewitch you with their song?(both on the 3rd stanza) and also the ones on one of the closing lines The sea will tell me tales, Above the waves I will cry, a mourning seagull show the chilliness of parting becomes all the more unbearable. It becomes all the more unbearable especially when the doubt that the departed love partner could get swept away lured into the vortex of passion’s wind assails the one seeing off the departing partner. Keeping tuned to rumors and simply looking forward to the arrival of a terribly missed partner, the persona can but wait for what fate has in stores.
Mermaids are imaginary creatures of the sea fabled to have a woman’s head and upper body as well as a fish’s tail. Why the metaphor seagull is chosen may be because of its whiteness as a dove, a sign of innocence, the other seagulls, suggests acquaintances, who accompany the lover that sees off her beloved. Another figure of association is between birds of different making, mermaids, indirectly mentioned as capable of luring and enmeshing in their tentacles the beloved’s lover.
Speculating mermaids could lure away her lover the persona depicts her anxieties, melancholic mood and deplorable situation. From her tone it is easy to figure out the persona is smote by anguish and jealousy though she expresses it indirectly. Here mermaids serve as a metaphor for women of other brand or bad reputation potent of seduction.
But the persona metaphorically expresses herself and her acquaintances with seagulls, snowy-white. The two analogies are meant to show her chastity and faithfulness in contrast to those members of the womenfolk indirectly mentioned capable of seducing her lover. It is easy to discern from this the persona suspects her lover of yielding to the temptation of infamous women.
The persona shows an attitude of jealousy. It is a paradox eagerly awaiting a reunion with a lover, suspected of some liberties. The two question marks, on the third stanza, meant to give emphasis, further show the persona is assailed by the doubt of losing her lover to others.
The tension that result from thematic opposition in the poem is the coming back or the leaving for good of the beloved, hope and hopelessness, chastity and infidelity. The tension produced by opposition of imageries also adds to the complexity and refinement of the poem. The binary opposition is parting and reunion.
The rhyme and rhythm, the perfect ordering of the words in the poem together create a special path towards the organic unity of the poem. For clarity’s sake let us enumerate some of the paths blackness, songs, days, lights, abyss, fires, waves, tales; tempest, rampant; steel, reel; long, song; cracked, dead; cry, nigh;
The tributary themes that contribute to the central theme are: a rosy future of reunion, a hopelessness that springs from distance and time as well as, temptation, perseverance, unfaithfulness and chastity. The figurative speeches below supply the proof. Blackness, night bound see, mist, No light above the blue abyss, the tempest, All fires have cracked dead, A mourning seagull, snowy-white and above the waves I will cry.
BY ALEM HAILU G/KRISTOS
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 29 JULY 2023
