ANALYSIS OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGES IN CLASSICAL POEMS

Name : Muhammad Athaillah Zain

Class : 4SA05

NPM : 10621211

 

Poem 1:

Marching Men
by Majorie Pickthall (1922)

Under the level winter sky

I saw a thousand Christs go by.

They sang an idle song and free

As they went up to Calvary.

 

Careless of eye and coarse of lip,

They marched in holiest fellowship.

That heaven might heal the world, they gave

Their earth-born dreams to deck the grave.

 

With souls unpurged and steadfast breath

They supped the sacrament of death.

And for each one, far off, apart,

Seven swords have rent a woman’s heart.

 

Analysis:

This poem is a poem written to describe parts of experience of the Great War (World War I) in the eyes of a civilian, in which is the writer, Marjorie Pickthall. The theme is heavily religious (Christian) and are about the soldier's sacrifices, how common it is in the war and their effects.

 

Metaphors:

• "a thousand Christs" in this poem’s first stanza and second line refers to individuals who are following a path of sacrifice or martyrdom, like the Christ himself. In the case of this poem, this refers to the soldiers marching to war.
  
  
• "As they went up to Calvary", in this poem first stanza and fourth line, this sentence refers to the soldiers marching on to the battlefield to their unknowing end, metaphorically represented by them going up to Calvary, the hill that the Christ was crucified on.
  
  
• "Seven swords have rent a woman's heart", refers to the pain and sorrow of many women, be it in the perspectives of mothers or lovers losing their loved ones to the war as they marched to the battlefield inflicted to their heart and minds.

Symbol:

• “Seven swords”, symbolized the pain and sorrow inflicted as swords while the amount being seven refers to the Seven Sorrows of Mother Mary which symbolized the profound grief and loss experienced by mothers, wives, or loved ones.

Personification:

• “That heaven might heal the world”, this sentence personified heaven, which is a place rather than a person, in which is that it is the hope of the soldiers who marched to the war who’s willing to put down their life and dreams so that the world would become a better place.

Assonance:

Assonance, or “vowel rhyme,” is the repetition of vowel sounds across a line of text or poetry. The words themselves need to be similar in sound when spoken for it to be noticeable as an Assonance. In this poem, the repetition strictly follows an ‘a-a-b-b’ vowel sound pattern in each stanza.

• The first stanza has “sky” and “by” as the ‘a’ then “free” and “Cavalry” as the ‘b’ of the repetition pattern.
  
  
• The second stanza h has “lip” and “fellowship” as ‘a’ then “gave” and “grave” as the ‘b’ of the repetition pattern.
  
  
• The third stanza has “breath” and “death” as ‘a’ then “apart” and “heart” as the ‘b’ of the repetition pattern.

Poem 2:

The Soldier
by Rupert Brooke (1915)

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there’s some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam;
A body of England’s, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

 

Analysis:

This poem is a patriotic and sentimental reflection on the poet’s potential death in a foreign land during World War I. The speaker embraces the idea of dying for England, believing that even in death, he would contribute to his homeland. The poem glorifies sacrifice, patriotism, and the spiritual connection to one’s homeland, portraying death as a noble and transcendent act.

Personification:

• “A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,” in this poem’s first stanza and fifth line is shown to be a personification of the nation England, as it personifies it as a mother to the soldier that shaped, nurtured and guided him.
  
  
• “A body of England’s, breathing English air” in this poem’s first stanza and seventh line continues the trend of personifying the nation England, having a body and breathing its own air.
  
  
• “Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;” in this poem’s second stanza and third line even further continues the personification of England as one that gave the soldier his state of happiness and peace.

Hyperbole:

• “That is for ever England” in this poem’s first stanza and second line is a hyperbole as it exaggerated the link between the soldier’s remains after death in a foreign land would have an everlasting link between him and his country, expressed as that land will have an eternal link to England there.

Metaphor:

• The words “a dust” and “a richer dust” which are in both the first stanza and respectively on the fourth and fifth line represents the remains of the soldier if he died. The word “dust” itself represents his remains after death, the “richer dust” represents that his remains itself brought something new or better to the lands due to it one that was born from England.

Symbol:

• “English heaven”, in this poem’s last line symbolizes the soldier’s view of the perfect afterlife being one tied with the essence and value that England has. Representing his peace and unity with his homeland after death.

Euphemism:

• “If I should die”, in this poem’s first stanza and line is a euphemism as it is a softer way to express the inevitability of the soldier’s death in the battlefield with acceptance and dignity.