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What Is The Theme Of Wysken, Wynken And Nod

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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 …show more content…

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

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