Poetry Analysis on Breathless Essay Example For Students

Poetry Analysis on Breathless Essay Poetry Analysis on Breathless by Wilfred Nonce Florence Wong G(17) Breathless, which was written by Wilfred Nonce at 21200 feet, describes the emotional struggles and physical challenges the speaker experienced and overcame while climbing a mountain. And through it, Wilfred Nonce illustrates the theme of man versus nature as well as the correct attitude In achieving goals by emphasizing the ambivalence of the speaker toward finishing the climb. This is demonstrated through the poems tone, form and structure and the use of imagery respectively. To begin with, the tone throughout the poem Is discouraged and almost desperate, et conflicted with determination. In line 5-6, Legs lift-why at all? suggests that the speaker is feeling hopeless at that moment since he is having a hard time climbing up the mountain as described in line 1-2, Heart aches, lungs pant. However, in line 19-20, dont look up, till journeys done and In line 29-31 Go on and dont look up Indicate the strong determination In the speaker to finish his Journey on the mountain. The speaker is commanding himself to carry on, even though he would love to take flat steps instead as showed in line 11-12, a flat step is holiday. The determination to conquer nature Is expressed here. On top of that, the poet is trying to relate this to peoples dally lives: Just Like how the speaker struggled with finishing his climb, people experience hardships and temptations throughout life, and it is perseverance and self-discipline that lead them to reaching their goals. Secondly, the structure and form of the poem portrayed the level of difficulty of the climb to the speaker. The outline of the poem Is not regular or smooth, depicting the rugged and twisty road the speaker is climbing on, and furthermore all the different problems people face in their lives. There is also no stanza, which means the lines re all leaned, without any gaps In between, Just like the continuous climb the speaker Is doing, and the unceasing challenges In peoples lives. Moreover, the lines are short, some chopped off in the middle (caesura), and the words are short with little syllables. This imitates the ragged breath, steady, fast heartbeat and small footsteps of the speaker while climbing up the mountain, and also the intense atmosphere while doing it (since he is confronting with the edge every moment). And more importantly, it is written in such way so when readers read the poem out quickly, they will feel breathless as well, Just like the speaker does in he poem. In addition, for most of the lines In the poem, the rhyme scheme of ABACA Is adopted, like how line 2, pant rhymes with line 4, scant, but line 1 and line 2 dont. This is to imitate the repeating process of the speaker putting his feet forward one by one, as well as his pounding heart and panting lungs. Besides, this poem is written in free verse, which means it does not have a fixed pattern of meter or rhyme. During the middle of the poem-Grind breath/ once more then on; dont look up till Journeys done, it is where the ABACA rhyme scheme adopted so far breaks down. This 1 OFF ending the flicker of determination (since he said dont look up till Journeys done), contrastingly. The idea of free verse is to provide a sense of roughness of the climb and losing breath during the climb in the poem. Finally, a circular structure is used in this poem as well. Heart aches, lungs pant/ dry air/ sorry,scant. appeared at the beginning of the poem, and so in the end of it. This is to emphasis the physical pain the speaker is going through climbing the mountain, also the greatness of the mountain, since it is able to oppress the speaker. In overall, the structure and form f the poem helped intensify the feeling of exhausted and despair, and mostly, breathless, showing how weak and vulnerable human being is to nature. .uaa2e01d944886a058971d736f583bb96 , .uaa2e01d944886a058971d736f583bb96 .postImageUrl , .uaa2e01d944886a058971d736f583bb96 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uaa2e01d944886a058971d736f583bb96 , .uaa2e01d944886a058971d736f583bb96:hover , .uaa2e01d944886a058971d736f583bb96:visited , .uaa2e01d944886a058971d736f583bb96:active { border:0!important; } .uaa2e01d944886a058971d736f583bb96 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uaa2e01d944886a058971d736f583bb96 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uaa2e01d944886a058971d736f583bb96:active , .uaa2e01d944886a058971d736f583bb96:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uaa2e01d944886a058971d736f583bb96 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uaa2e01d944886a058971d736f583bb96 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uaa2e01d944886a058971d736f583bb96 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uaa2e01d944886a058971d736f583bb96 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uaa2e01d944886a058971d736f583bb96:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uaa2e01d944886a058971d736f583bb96 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uaa2e01d944886a058971d736f583bb96 .uaa2e01d944886a058971d736f583bb96-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uaa2e01d944886a058971d736f583bb96:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: A Demon Goes To Kill Death EssayIn the meantime, this parallels to the fact that the Journeys that people choose to embark on is often hard and full of challenges. Thirdly, the imagery created by Wilfred Nonce in the poem, again, pictures how challenging the speakers climb is. The senses auditory, taste and smell do not apply since the speaker is climbing a mountain. The imagery of a long, difficult and vague journey ahead is depicted by the things the speaker sees: loose drift, heavy fall, the Journey ahead and glasses dim. The imagery of close to falling/fainting is created by what the speaker feels: heart aching, lungs panting, dry air, prodding the snow, grinding breath, hand wrenching, limb faltering, a slack throat and heart beating. Then, the imagery of depression and wanting to give up is created by harsh, dynamic or monosyllabic words like grind, wrench. It also creates the sound effectuate from that, the speaker describes the feelings of his different body parts separately, one by one, as if they were separate, or falling apart. These imagery emphasis how desperate the speaker is while climbing the mountain, the same thing a lot of people feel while confronting challenges in their lives. In conclusion, Wilfred Nonce wrote this poem to contrast the greatness of the nature and the weakness of human, as well as how people should be persistent and persevering when facing depressing challenges in life. He conveyed his message by using mainly the tone, form and structure and use of imagery in the poem. Ultimately this is all intended to create the effect of breathlessness to the reader, and it is very effective.