Thesongs of Fatherhood by William Wallis - Essay Example

Analysis of the Poem “The Songs of Fatherhood” The poem The Songs of Fatherhood is a compilation of five poems to make one. Poet William Wallis authored the poems on November 13th, 2013. The poem unveils the sequential stages of a person’s life from birth to death. Life’s natural events shape an individual’s psychology and reasoning. Each person should experience all the steps to avoid future life events mismatch, ancient arrears. Death is an inevitable occurrence that terminates life.

Death experiences though saddening, all human generation will die. The first poem Little Fish signifies the fathers experience on his day of birth. The child’s community celebrates its birth. The child takes the first breath as soon as its head shows up to confirm it is alive. The child notices the difference of the external environment with that inside the womb and, consequently writhes (Wallis 1). The second poem So, Little Rabbit symbolizes the childhood stage in the father’s life. The poet compares childhood playful stage to that of a rabbit’s.

The child is unaware of the life events that await him in adulthood (Wallis 1). His curiosity, naivety, and playfulness will vanish because soon he will be too old for that. The third poem Awaken symbolizes the adolescence stage. The adolescents develop feelings of intense love for members of opposite sex. The childhood innocence vanishes at this point and the childhood stories lose sense. The adolescents also seek attention from peers. The fourth poem Fly Free By Day, Swim Deep By Night indicates the busy and involving adulthood life.

The adult revisits the stages missed during development. He is always moving to work at distant places leaving behind a sorrowful family sad because of his departure. The fifth poem Eternal Laughter ironically symbolizes the agonizing death that terminates life. His son’s love for him turns to sorrow (Wallis 1). However, his son learns to live without him. The fact that he also shall one day die consoles him. His father’s picture remains the only source of remembrance for his father. Works citedWallis, William.

The Songs of Fatherhood. 1st Premiere ed. Seattle, Washington: University of Presbyterian Church, 2012. Accessed on 16th, May 2015