The poem Vision and Prayer was written by Dylan Thomas. The poem is talking about a baby who was born to the dark world. The author was wondering and praying about that baby’s vision. Through a special form, a consistent rhyme scheme and lake of punctuations, Thomas creates a remarkable sketch to reveal the theme of sarcasm to the society of that time period.
First, before you read the Vision and Prayeryou can see a very special part, the shape. The regular poem is usually in the shape of a rectangular or a square, but this one is in a rhombus. Such a shape would first arise the reader's curiosity to read the poem. As you can tell from many other poems from the Modernism time period, they were written according to the rules --changing line after sentences end--but this writer didn't. He did pay more attention on the shape. In this poem, he breaks the sentence to intensely form a rhombus. Through reading, you can know the author's purpose of using this strategy in more detail. The author uses specific shape to directly expresses his dissatisfaction and rebellion toward the society. By repealing his feeling, he is questioning such an ironic and dark world base on the shape of the poem.
Second, Thomas uses a lot of rhyme scheme in each stanza. For example, “room, womb, bone, alone” are the rhyming scheme that are the most obvious in the stanzas. A rhyme is a tool utilizing repeating patterns that bring rhythm or musicality to poems. The author used rhyme here to employ the specific purpose of rendering a sense of sadness and regretful effect to a poem, which makes its recital an enjoyable experience. Moreover, it offers itself a mnemonic device, smoothing the progress of memorization. Compare to the theme, and through the use of rhyme, shows the author is using a sarcastic and ironic tone, the author's criticizing the society with the content, and then he's writing the poem in a kind of rhythmic, enjoyable way by rhyming, and therefore he's expressing the tone of the author.
Third, one of the special thing of this poem is the usage of punctuation. There are no more than two punctuation marks in each stanza. The purpose of this is almost the same as the purpose of rhyming because the absence of punctuation is presumably intended for the reader to read without a pause. This is to bring rhythm or musicality to the poem, that is, the same as the use of rhyme. Because the purpose and the intention of the author are the same, the relevance to the theme is the same as the rhyme.
All in all, the author tried to emphasize his strong sarcastic statement to go against the society throughout his poem. Along with strong emphasis on his statement, he was also able to persuade the audience and the readers using different elements in the poem. These were, rhythm, punctuations, and specialized structure that not only amplified his statement but also logically and emotionally persuaded the readers. Within the idea of going against the society, it reflected an alternative perspective of breaking out of the traditional frame at that time. This reflected how people thought of their society thus showing the problems that were occurring at that time period. Finally, the poem not only was helpful to amplify author’s message but also reflected the society at that time.
“Rhyme - Examples and Definition of Rhyme.” Literary Devices, 16 Dec. 2017, literarydevices.net/rhyme/.
Comments