Personal Interpretation of Different Aspects of Life - Essay Example

Poetry Explication In every piece of literature various literary devices amalgamate in order to create a work of art. Similarly the three poets Jorge Luis Borges, Rainer Maria Rilke and Robert Pinsky utilize literary devices to enhance the beauty of their works and to make it possible for the readers to better understand their personal interpretation of different aspects of life. 1. The Art of Poetry Jorge Luis Borges’s “The Art of Poetry” is a beautiful poem that encaptures the essence of the manner in which a poet creates his piece of art. The poem is written in the form of quartets with a rhyme scheme ABBA, which gives a lyrical quality to the poem. Borges depicts the process of a poets union with nature and the manner in which nature inspires him to create poetry by taking him on a journey of self-exploration as well as exploring Mother Nature. Hence imagery is an important literary device that has been used in this poem. The various imageries incorporated in the poem include nature imagery, color imagery and water imagery. He uses the natural phenomena of sunset, dream and death to explain the relation of a poet with his power of imagination and the fact that verses of poetry not only encapsulate essence and depth of meaning but also it lives forever, as it is also stated in the poem, “golden sadness such is poetry/humble and immortal, poetry/returning, like dawn and the sunset” (14-16). Moreover, the golden color figuratively further stresses on the glory of poetry. The river and water imagery can be interpreted as the poet’s way of defining the versatile nature of poetry which acts as a mirror for reflection of the past as well as its fluid nature i.e. it can be perceived in more than one way. The poet gives the readers a paradoxical explication of poetry as he says, “a mirror to the same/inconstant” (26-27) i.e. he believes that poetry can have varying meanings yet it remains the same. Furthermore, repetition and refrain is also used throughout the poem as it is observed that the first four stanzas begin with the words “to gaze…to see…to feel…”, this technique of repetition tantalizes the readers’ senses of touch and seeing. Then again in every quartet the last words are repetitive for example, “…water…river…river…river…water” (1-4). Hence it is observed that the Borges’s use of these literary devices gives a picturesque quality to his simple words which encapsulate a sea of meaning. 2. The Other Tiger This long poem is depicted in the form of free verse where the writer describes the various meanings that can be associated with a tiger or the multiple interpretations that can be derived by using an image of a tiger in a piece of literature. The use of the technique of caesura is very prominent in the poem as he defines three interpretations of a tiger i.e. in the first part he describes the tiger as a perfect and poised creature wading lazily through the waters, in the second part the tiger epitomizes the beast or a predator while in the third part the poet declares that an image of the tiger reflects multiplicity of interpretations varying from one individual to another. Hence this caesura also reflects at the distortion or the incoherence of the poet’s thought process. Borges’s use of the metaphor of a tiger can be perceived as the poets attempt at explaining the various roles that human beings play in this world for example the first part elucidates about the academic ideas or the manner in which every individual has an independent mind set and opinion; a seeker of knowledge. On the other hand the second part presents man as a predator, a competitor, while in the third part he generally talks about individuality. 3. I Am Much Too Alone in This World, Yet Not Alone The title of this poem more or less sets the pattern that follows throughout this poem i.e. there is a sense of insecurity or a lack of confidence that the poet talks about in his poem. The poem is depicted in the form of free verse and is presented in first person narration. This form of narration gives a myopic view of the poet’s personality i.e. although he desires to assert his individuality yet he is unable to do so as he says, “I want my free will and want it accompanying the path which leads to action” (5). Alliteration is another literary device that Rilke uses in his poem as it is also stated in the text, “I want my free will and want it accompanying the path which leads to action/and want during times that beg questions, where something is up” (4-6) also, “weighty wavering” (9). In both the examples the sound of the consonant ‘W’ is highlighted, which can be interpreted as the poet’s attempt to show his desire to assert himself as the sound of ‘W’ has a jarring quality to it. In the last stanza the poet also incorporates similes as it is also mentioned: Want to describe myself like a picture I observed for a long time, one close up, Like a new word I learned and embraced, Like the everyday jug, Like my mother's face, Like a ship that carried me along Through the deadliest storm. Borges’s use of similes here illustrates his desire to be free of all sorts of guilt and insecurities. He wants to attain the purity of soul like a new born rather than having any blemishes of doubt or guilt on his conscience. Hence this poem is about every individual who fights to attain individuality in order to standout from herd but his inner shortcomings hinder his/her way to achieving individuality. 4. First Things to Hand Robert Pinsky has written this poem in the form of couplets although the poem does not follow a definite rhyme pattern. In this poem the poet criticizes the mechanical existence of an American man is on the verge of forgetting that he is a human being rather than a robot. The metaphor of a “lamp” (21) is used for knowledge i.e. human beings are so deeply immersed in the marathon of over-achieving and competing to attain material comforts that they have lost spiritual enlightenment and overall sense of contentment. Imagery of decay and death can be associated with the first couplet of the poem where the poet says, “In the skull kept on the desk/In the spider-pod in the dust” (1-2) as both human skull, the dust and spider-pod is a symbol of deterioration. From this poem it can be inferred that Pinsky makes use of euphemism in order to criticize the current situation of his fellow men because the poet feels that human beings are gradually losing their sanity. This idea can be inferred from the last lines of the poem where he says, “The mind waiting in the mind/As in the first thing to hand” (25-36) this action of handing one’s mind can be perceived as a sign of insanity or complete loss of rationality. Read More