Price Change in 2013 Kerry Logistics
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.0 Introduction
Figure of speech is used mainly to “associate or compare dissimilar things” (Ojaide 28). The aim is to create an image in the mind of the reader. There are many figures of speech but we will mention only a few here. You should get a good dictionary of literary terms to learn more about figures of speech. You need to get acquainted with them for you to be able to use them while writing your own poems. The ones we will consider briefly here are simile, metaphor and personification.
Simile compares two unlike things with the use of “as” or “like”.
Metaphor also compares two unlike things without the use of as or like.
For example, “he is as strong as a tiger” (simile). “He is a tiger” (metaphor). Personification aids the poet attribute human characteristics to non human beings, objects or ideas. We will analyse the poem below and try to present the poetic devices we have been discussing so far.
ON HIS BLINDNESS
When I consider how my light is spent Ere half my days in this dark world and wide And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent To serve my maker, and present
My true account lest He returning chide;
“Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?”
I fondly ask, But patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need Either man’s work or his own gifts who best Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait.
Allusion
If you are a Christian, you would recall the parable of the gold coins in Mathew 25: 15-30 where servants were given a gold coin each by their master. All of them invested the money and made profit for their master but one of them buried his one coin in the ground where it was lodged and was useless. When the master returned, the servant is called to present an account and he did not make any profit so his master scolded him and said that at least he would have kept his money in the bank where it would have yielded an interest.
You have seen how I explained the underlined words which together form the biblical allusion in the poem. Milton alludes to the uselessness of his eyes to the uselessness of a gold coin buried in the ground.
However, it is important to note that the soul is eager and able to serve (not useless). Indeed Milton, in spite of his handicap, went on to produce monumental poetry using the daughter as scrivener. Allusion in the hands of a skilful poet expands the scope of the reader’s knowledge and understanding of the world. Here, the awareness and virtues the reader would gain are:
(1) Endurance and courage in suffering (2) Life of absolute trust in God
(3) No condition is permanent Theme
The theme of the poem is the relationship in service between human being and God. John Milton became blind when he was about forty-six years, due to the kind of work he was doing which involved interpreting and translating Latin. And that is why the fourteen-line poem (sonnet) starts on a note of reminiscence as he says” “When I consider how my life spent/Ere half my days in this dark world and wide”. His life provokes some thought in him. Part of the thought is that it is useless for
anyone to waste his/her talent. It is not proper for anyone to leave ones talent unused especially when one knows that one must account to God, how one’s talent entrusted to him has been used.
A rhetorical question of line seven, “Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?” is a response to his predicament. He wonders whether God would give somebody a gift of a bag of salt and accompany the gift with a rainfall. His mind tells him that “God doth not need/Either man’s work or his own gifts”, meaning that God does not need our services or our labour or efforts. What is important to God is our love for Him and for our fellow human beings. Charity, faithfulness and obedience to God’s will. That is, his “mild yoke” which pleases God so much. In God’s kingdom, the angels and other divine beings worship Him in obedience and “serve him best” endlessly, “o’er land and ocean without rest”.
The poem teaches us that whatever condition we find ourselves in this world, whether good or bad we have to accept it as we see it, because there is a purpose behind every action. In the poem, the poet recognizes the omnipotence and omnipresent qualities of God and notwithstanding his blindness, determines to serve God with all his strength hence”…my soul more bent/to serve therewith my Maker…” God does not give us anything in life because of our righteousness, though that may enhance it because he does not need our work, according to the poet.
Diction
The diction is simple, straightforward and condensed. The first eight lines (octave) provide a question, while the last six lines (sextet) supply the answer. The poem is a Miltonic sonnet which rhymes ABBA, ABBA, CDE, CDE. The run-on-lines of the poem add to its descriptive vividness. One other thing noticeable about the pattern is that the lines are made up of about ten syllables which is the hallmark of a sonnet.
Imagery/Symbolism
The dominant images in the poem help to illuminate the relationship between man and God and the poet’s blindness words like “world”,
“soul”, “Maker”, “God”, “mild yoke”, “kingly”, all point to this.
“Thousands at his bidding speed”, “stand and wait”, help the reader to see in his/her imagination, thousands of angels that worship God all the time.
Mood/Tone
There is a general feeling of regret and hope. The poet’s blindness makes him sad but as he remembers his “Maker”, a new lease of hope
rekindles in him and he expresses it with a tone of determination and resignation.
Alliteration
The rhyming scheme in the poem makes the piece musical and some other alliterative words add to this, e.g.; …this… world and wide (‘w’
alliterates), “patience to prevent” (‘p’ alliterates), “…serve who…
stand” (‘s’ alliterates). Note also that in “God doth not”, ‘o’ assonates.
Euphemism
The poet makes light a serious ailment like blindness and thereby reduces the high voltage of emotion that ordinarily would be deployed to describe the situation. So, when the poet says “my light is spent” “…
half my days”, “…one talent/lodged with me useless”, “mild yoke”
“bidding speed”, he is being euphemistic.
4.0 CONCLUSION
The novelist and the playwright have enough time and space to present their stories. The poet presents his works in a very limited space.
Sometimes, time is not considered since poetry thrives on emotions that are recorded without regard to time. What we mean by time here is that a story for instance starts from the morning and ends in the evening but poet who expresses joy at the sight of a loved one does not present the joy in a way that it lasts from morning till the evening. The poet is able to present the poem in the limited space because he makes use of imagery, allusions and figures of speech. These devices aid the presentation of a poem in a condensed language. This brings out the differences between the poet and an ordinary person which is that the poet feels the joy found in nature and renders it in such a way that the reader feels it or shares it with the poet.
5.0 SUMMARY
In this unit, you have learnt more about imagery, allusions and figures of speech. You have also learnt that the poet needs these devices because in poetry, much is said in very few words. This is achieved through connotative and denotative language. Imageries fall under connotative language where a word could connote other things depending on the meaning and the picture the poet wants to evoke.
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
What do you understand by figures of speech in poetry. List at least six figures of speech.
7.0 REFERENCES/FURTHER READING
Ezenwa – Ohaeto. (1998). .If to Say I be Soja. Enugu: Delta Publications.
Ojaide, Tanure. (2005). A Creative Writing: Handbook for African Writers and Students. Lagos. Malthouse Press Ltd.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge. (1992). The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. 6th edition, Vol. II. Maynard Mack (General editor) New York: Norton.
The Estate of Ezenwa-Ohaeto/Ngozi Ezenwa-Ohaeto (2007) Subject, Context and the Contours of Nigerian Fiction, Edited by Pia Thielmann and Eckhard Breitinger. Eckersdorf, Germany:
Bayreuth African Studies 81.