4. you cannot know the fears i have - Shabbir Banoobhai
you cannot know the fears i have
as i think about you
i fear that i shall live only at your laughter
lie awake long nights while you sleep
so loneliness does not trouble you
nor hunger, nor thirst
overwhelm your waking world with wonder
with the music of other worlds, your earlier home
read to you poems written the night before
while you smiled bewildered
or just when my very breathing begins to depend on you
even as your tiny fingers close around mine
some insensitive thing
crushes your butterfly spirit
shadows of a sun-darkened land
flow over you
and the eclipse
closes your eyes
i cannot live with the thought of having you, loving you
any other way
a day without such care
has no meaning
we shall find for you a name
your name shall bring light
The meaning of this poem has been confirmed by the poet as a story of the poet contemplating whether to have a child. The poet is thinking about all the possibilities regarding the child's life. If you go through this poem and add the words "I fear that I shall" and "I fear that", the true meaning of the poem comes through, a pure worry for all the possibilities for this child. The first stanza has a negative feeling, and the poet is wondering about all the possible tragedies that could fall upon the child's shoulders. Upon first inspection, the second stanza is much more positive, and he talks about all the possibilities that the unborn child could face in his/her life, however, by adding those phrases to the beginnings of each line, a much more worry idea comes through. The third stanza talks about the poet thinking about being a parent. Sympathizing and helping his young child while the difficulties of the world weigh down on him/her. The fourth stanza requires that those phrases are added at the beginning for any form of meaning to arise, and it talks about the fear of the child's eventual death. And the final verse talks about the poet deciding that his life would be enriched by the entry of a child into his life. The poem ends off with him stating that he will have this child, by saying that he will find a name for the child, and that will solidify this decision.
What you've written is excellent, but again it doesn't cover all the requirements, i.e. o Briefly summarise what the poem is about – the main idea
ReplyDeleteo Identify three good figures of speech in each poem and discuss their effectiveness (i.e. explain what makes it a good use of language).
o Explain the poet’s intention in writing the poem. What is the poet’s attitude towards the subject of the poem? How does the poet want us to feel?
o Personal reflection: how the poem makes you feel, what it makes you think, why you chose it.
Why doesn't the poet use no punctuation throughout this story
ReplyDeleteThe poet uses lowercase letters and no punctuation to emphasise the fact that he is talking to a child. It makes the poem seem simpler and less formal .
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