He watches you take off your clothes,
And not the least excitement shows. His eyes do not grow bright or roll, He has astonishing self-control. He waits till you are quite undressed, And seems to take no interest. And when towards the sea you leap, He looks as if he were asleep. But when you once get in his range, His whole demeanour seems to change. He throws his body right about, And his true character comes out. It’s no use crying or appealing, He seems to lose all decent feeling. After this warning you will wish To keep clear of this treacherous fish. His back is black, his stomach white, He has a very dangerous bite.
I discovered this poem last year, when I was studying poetry and was required to complete a poet study on one. While looking around on the internet for a poet who's poetry interested me, I came across this intriguing work by Lord Alfred Douglas. Even though I ended up not doing my poet study on this particular poet, I still remembered this poem, and chose to do one of my poetry blog post on it.
This poem is a unique example of litotes, or stating something by stating it indirectly. Throughout the entire poem, there isn't any mention of what a shark can do until the very last line, which reads 'He has a very dangerous bite.' and even though this poem chooses to remain generally indirect and vague about the message of its words, the meaning can be gleaned easily enough: sharks are dangerous animals, and should be avoided at all costs lest your life be risked.
I find this poem to be a charming yet solemn description of the dangers of a shark. The fact that nothing terrible or severely frightening is explicitly told of in this poem makes it a poem that one could consider sharing with those of the younger demographic. I'm amused by how the poet took an indirect approach when they wrote this poem, making it both simple and fun to read on the surface, but holds a great deal of weight as you delve into the deeper meanings of the poem and its wording.
No comments:
Post a Comment