Poem Argumentative
The theme of the quiet suicide: "Not Waving But Drowning" by Stevie Smith and the Beatles "A Day in the Life" The setting of both "Not Waving but Drowning" by the British poet Stevie Smith and the song "A Day in the Life" from the Beatles' concept album Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band depict the quiet desperation of everyday life, even in apparently pleasant or ordinary circumstances. The seashore, or some other kind of pleasant vacation spot where vacationers go swimming forms the setting of Smith's poem. The Beatles' song is set during an everyday morning commute on a busy London workday. Although both poem and song powerfully touch upon the same themes, ultimately the thwarted hope that ends the Smith poem makes it the more stirring vehicle to address the theme.In Smith's poem, the "poor chap" who has drowned is said to have "always loved larking." From a distance, it seemed like the man's thrashing about in the water was just good fun. The man's sadness and desperation and need for help, because no one on the shore cared t
The coldness becomes a metaphor for the coldness the man perceived in his life. " This suggests some hope, that the man still has life in him. Yet the persons gathered around the dead man call him "dead" and merely acknowledge his apparently valid suggestions that no one cares. The poem also has a final, curious feature-the man is "dead' and yet he is still "moaning. People who are sad often go about the motions of their daily lives, like the man in "A Day in the Life. "I was much to far out all my life," he states, in short, he felt his desperation for a long period of time. " Like the Beatles' lyrics, Smith's poem is funny and has a lighthearted, cheeky tone, in its word choice but because she so effectively portrays the mentality of people who feel they can do nothing to help a suicide, and because her 'dead man' is not actually dead, her poem is ultimately more tragic than "A Day in the Life. Smith's intense focus on the dead man gives her poem more lasting power as an illustration of the suicidal mentality than "A Day in the Life. " Of course, the dead man can no longer notice this, but because the other persons on the road cannot see what he has done, they perceive what has occurred as an annoyance, rather than as a tragedy. In fact, Smith's dead man is seen as a joyous rather than a tragic individual. Smith's poem functions as a metaphor for the desperation of the human condition. " The other cars behind this apparently staid businessman blared their horns, infuriated that "the light has changed. This suggests that people prefer to ignore the suicidal, and really do not wish to do anything to help them get better, much like the man in "A Day in the Life" also goes unsaved. " The speaker of "A Day in the Life" moves on about his day, realizing he can do nothing to help the man who has shot himself, but the fact that the victim of Smith's poem is still asking for help but goes ignored forces the reader to acknowledge the moral consequences of ignoring people who are desperate. Similarly, the title man of the Beatles' song "A Day in the Life" is said to have "blown his mind out in a car.
Common topics in this essay:
Day Life,
Club Band,
Life Beatles',
day life,
smith's poem,
Stevie Smith,
,
Drowning British,
song day life,
Waving Drowning,
day life beatles',
beatles' song,
suggests hope,
life beatles',
song day,
dead poem,
stevie smith,
waving drowning,
|
Acceptance Essays
