Wynken, Blynken and Nod is a famous lullaby written by American poet Eugene Field. It was first published on March 9, 1889. The original version is a Dutch Lullaby. It is found that this poem is distinctive as it contains a comprehensible story whereas most of lullabies do not have this feature. Moreover, its poetic devices and journey motif are remarkable. For instance, diction is used in the poetry as we can see in the title ‘Wynken, Blynken and Nod’ to suggest the audience what the poetry is about. In addition, the story features a journey of three little children that can reflect sociocultural context in that period. This reflective paper will discuss four elements, namely the narrative, the interpretation, the function and the performance …show more content…
Then, the story comes back to the reality when mother sings three children to sleep.
As for our interpretation, this poetry represents a western value of journey. European culture was influenced by the Age of Discovery, which mainly took place during 15th-18th century. This Age saw overseas exploration thanks to the development of sailing technology. It also had strong influence over literature. It influenced one of the most popular motif of literature, the journey motif. A large number of storytellings under such influence of the Age of Discovery feature journey of main characters. Old-fashioned storytelling put their characters in ships and give them spectacular experiences in faraway, mysterious land where there are full of strange and fantasy stuff. Some of the examples are Gulliver’s Travels and the story of Robinson Crusoe. It is obvious that this poem was motivated by the similar influence as a journey motif of the three children can be observed. In addition to the journey motif, symbolism can be found in this poem. symbolism is the use of some symbols to represent certain qualities or ideas. The wooden shoe symbolizes the desire to take a journey. In the poem, the poet
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To make it clear, the poet uses the young characters to help young readers or listeners more easily relate the poem with themselves. Moreover, he personifies non-living objects to act like human being which make it more interesting. For example, the poet uses the word ‘ask’ to make the moon animate which encourages children to imagine the old moon as an old person (“The old moon asked the three). Also, personification helps children understand emotion of the character. For instance, “The old moon laughed and sang a song.” Children can understand that the moon finds three children ridiculous after they answer the moon that they are coming to fish in the sky. Furthermore, the poet uses simple objects and setting to make children easily relate to themselves. For example, he uses wooden shoe and a trundle-bed which are common things in their daily lives. Also, the story takes place in the sky on one late night. which they can imagine and understand the story easily. Additionally, the use of diction makes the children enjoy the poem more. For example, the use of the characters’ names Wynken, Blynken and Nod relate to the action of a sleepy person. Children may find this interesting and
The different groups of people within the poem represent the different stages of life. At the beginning of the poem it talks about a young boy and his dog and swimmers. Several lines down it talks about “young lovers” and then families.
The tone of the poem changes as the poem progresses. The poem begins with energetic language like “full of heroic tales” and “by a mere swing to his shoulder”. The composer also uses hyperboles like “My father began as a god” and “lifted me to heaven”. The use of this positive language indicates to the responder that the composer is longing for those days – he is nostalgic. It also highlights the perspective of a typical child. The language used in the middle of the poem is highly critical of his father: “A foolish small old man”. This highlights the perspective of a typical teenager and signifies that they have generally conflicting views. The language used in the last section of the poem is more loving and emotional than the rest: “...revealing virtues such as honesty, generosity, integrity”. This draws attention to a mature adult’s perspective.
The three poems show exile and keening, but the poems also show tactile imagery. The Wanderer show tactile imagery in line three, “wintery seas,” describes the setting is in this poem along with the tone. The Seafarer show’s tactile imagery as well, in line nine, “in icy bands, bound with frost,” the tactile imagery in this line describes the coldness of the thoughts in the lonely man’s head. In The Wife’s Lament the tactile imagery is shown in line forty seven, “That my beloved sits under a rocky cliff rimed with frost a lord dreary in spirit drenched with water in the ruined hall.” The wife in this tactile imagery is show how her husband is suffering just
The poem uses many literary devices to enhance the meaning the words provide. The poem starts at the beginning of the story as the moon comes to visit the forge. The moon is said to be wearing “her skirt of white, fragrant flowers” (Lorca 2) as its bright light penetrates the scene. The poem states “the young boy watches her, watches. / The young boy is watching her” (3-4). The repetition of the phrase emphasizes
The imagery in the poem, specifically natural imagery, helps use the reader’s senses to develop a vivid depiction of the speaker’s connection to nature and dissatisfaction with the surrounding reality. The speaker’s continued use of the “moon” reflects her attribution of feminine identity and idolistic character to the moon. As opposed to referencing herself and her personal insomnia, she uses the imagery of the moon “beyond sleep” to convey her internal struggles with insomnia and her reality. Throughout the poem, the speaker also refers to shining, reflective surfaces, such as “a body of water or a mirror”, to describe the inverted reality in which the speaker experiences reciprocated love. Reflective surfaces often invert the image that is projected into them, seemingly distorting the true nature and reality of the projected image. The speaker’s reference to this reflective imagery highlights her desire to escape the burden of a patriarchal society and assume an independent and free feminine identity. Specifically, the use of natural imagery from the references to the “moon” and “a body of water” convey the speaker’s desire to take refuge within the Earth or in the feminine identity of the Earth, Mother Earth. Feminine identities are often related and associated with aspects of nature due to the natural cycle of the menstrual period and the natural process of procreation. The speaker takes advantage of these connotations to suggest Earth and natural imagery as an escape from the man-made terrors of male dominated society. In the second stanza, the speaker uses extensive imagery to develop metaphors conveying the speaker’s experience of jealousy of the moon
In this poem, symbolism is used to help reader’s find deeper meaning in the little things included and show that everything comes back to the father’s fear of the child he adores growing older and more independent. “In a room full of books in a world of stories, he can recall not one, and soon he thinks the boy will give up on his father.” This sentence makes a reader assume that the story the five year old so
The use of simile in the last stanza ‘matchstick hands as pale as the violet stems they lived among’ is used to compare a frog to violet flowers, which are very delicate and easily broken. The innocence of childhood is painted through this visual technique as the narrator only sees the frogs being very delicate, but to the readers the simile also creates a vivid image of the condition of the ‘Frogs’/ the French. The use of first person helps to create a reminiscent tone about the narrator’s experiences, and further helps to stress the ideas of childhood innocence and the influence of war on children because the poem is written from a child’s perspective. The use of enjambment generates a conversational and personal tone, emphasizing to the readers the reality of the themes discussed throughout the poem. The use of symbolism of frogs as pets and also representing the French highlights the idea that adults saw ‘Frogs’ as insignificant or unworthy to speak about, whereas the children could not understand this adult thought, and they placed exemplary regard to the wellbeing of the
describing the characters and objects throughout the poem and in creating the atmosphere of the
This is also similar to On My First Sonne as it is also one long
Images in the poem reflect the difficulties of the choice the traveler faces. The difficulty is shown in the passage "long I stood" (3)
In the third stanza there is heavy personification of the objects in her room and the moon. The room ‘it seemed, had missed her’ (10), by bringing inanimate objects to life the author draws parallels to the child missing her parent silently, silent like the items in her room. The moon has also begun to become characterized and has been framed as inconsiderate, ‘she pretended an interest in the bookcase’. This metaphor conveys how the child feels: overlooked, as if items in her room are more fascinating.
The imagery shows that since the character is young and responsible, he works to support him and his family. We are first introduced to the image of the young boy working as a young adult. Then, in the first 9 lines, the author describes the setting of the poem using imagery such as, “sweet-scented stuff when the breeze drew across it,” “Five mountain ranges one behind the other,” “under the sunset far into
The use of symbolism is seen when the author discusses, “wintery seas” (line 4) which symbolizes the wanderer’s loneliness and isolation, because the sea is at a standstill much like the wanderer is stuck in his own exile. This is also expressed in the line, “a heart that is frozen” which not only symbolizes the wanderer’s isolation but also his inability to find a place that feels like home. Because of this the wanderer then comes to the conclusion that he feels most alone when he reflects over his life, but manages to outweigh that with his dreams of one day finding a home. When people long for the things they can no longer have it results in them falling into a deep depression, just like how the wanderer longs for a life he can no longer have which has resulted in his
Both Sun and Moon play significant roles in this old poem, in a symbolic and supernatural way, in order to reinforce the mood that Samuel Taylor Coleridge has attempted to create in his use of old legends and superstitions. The role that the sun and moon play in this tale of cursed sailors is an old one, retold over and over the years that Coleridge adapted for his own.
An analysis of poems discussing the different ideas of infancy and what infancy and childhood means to different people. The ideas of infancy vary across the poems from being a curse to the family to being a blessing from the heavens or even a key to break out of the boundaries set by reality. The poets use various literary devices such as metaphors, similes and different poem structure to convey the message that they carry. Each poem has its own viewpoint on infancy. On the whole four of the poems, “Infant Joy” –William Blake, “You’re” – Sylvia Plath, “Once upon a time” – Gabriel Okara and “Piano” by D.H. Lawrence all have a more positive view towards infancy whereas, “ Infant Sorrow” – William Blake and “Prayer before birth” – Louis MacNeice show a more pessimistic side towards infancy. Despite the fact that each poem has its own different point of view on the subject of infancy, they all seem to share one thought which is the fact that infancy represents innocence and in some cases a fresh start.