Poems
are like prophecies often spoken in dark speeches. To appreciate an idea of a
poem far beyond the beauty of its diction, interpretation becomes a necessity. Nonetheless,
poems may not be perfectly interpreted, yet closely spoken about. Here, upon a
poet’s request, I shall be closely speaking about a poem titled: “Love iz a
Devil”. This interpretation shall pierce the veil of poetic analysis and
transcend unto the mountains of diction, figures and devices. The focus shall
be: (1) The theme (2) The mezzage in the theme (3) Poetic diction/Expression
(4) Figure of zpeech used (5) Any other featurez in the poem that iz/ are worth
appreciating. Hereunder is the piece.
LOVE IZ A DEVIL
Love iz a drummer boy
That beatz victimz’ heartz
Time and Time again
Love iz a musician
That compozez victimz’ wordz
To impromptu passionate zongz
Love iz a mother
That feedz the hungry baby
Bubbling it back to life
Love iz a friend
Happily there with you
Even when the world haz hone out
Yet, love iz a devil
That zpurz ideaz
That temptz one to crime.
SK NWAEJIE
THE THEME: The
poem is a wonderful write up which theme cannot be easily centralized. With the
eyes of poetry, the poem can be interpreted to have more than one theme which
may be similar in explanation. But for this interpretation, one major theme can
be cultivated which is “THE POWER OF LOVE”. Love is a very powerful force which
is capable of getting the world stand still and not rotates. Many writers in sundry times have
described love in different tones. Iris Murdoch (1919 - 1999)
in Chicago Review, "The Sublime and the Good", said these
words about love: “Love is the difficult
realization that something other than oneself is real.” Jerome K. Jerome (1859 - 1927)
in Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow, "On Being in Love",
said “Love is like the measles; we all have to go through with it.” Phineas
Fletcher (1582 - 1650) on the other hand said in Sicelides
that: “Love is like linen
often chang'd, the sweeter.” John
Donne (1572? - 1631) also said in Songs and
Sonnets, "A Lecture upon the Shadow" that: “Love is a growing or full constant light; and
his first minute, after noon, is night”.
All these mighty words give us an
insight of the power of love. The poem in focus has simply described love in
the words so used by the poet. It can be further said that another sub-theme
which is tied to the major them is the “THE DYNAMIC NATURE OF LOVE”.
Considering the second item which borders on the message, much will not be said
about the theme.
THE MEZZAGE IN THE THEME: On
the power of love and its dynamics; love can be seen playing different role in
different ways. It plays the role of a binding cord which binds two lover’s
hearts which makes them masters to their stand and slaves as well. When two are
in love or love themselves, the heart tends to beat fast. This heart-beat can
be caused by many reasons; it could be caused for fear to loss a loved one, or
just as a love play, the way with which it plays with the loving heart. This
continues in so far the lover lives. Thus the poet says: “Time and Time again”.
While every lover can be seen as a master of his or her heart, one can be
tempted to say, it makes a lover a slave to the heart. But then drums are
beaten to a song sang, and the dancer dances to only to a sound song sang. Here
the hearts in the poet’s scenario dances, which implies sweet song being, sang,
but does the heart dance to all songs that are sweet? One may ask. This question is asked considering the issue
of heartbreak and other breakages.
Still
on the dynamic nature of Love; Stanza two places love in a scenario of a
musician. This tells us that there is just no division of labour. Here love
plays the role of a drummer and a musician at the same time. Yet, love only
wrote the song and gave it to the lovers to sing. But the lovers whose hearts
must dance to the rhythms of love were not given the time for rehearsing the
song. It appeared so prompt, and in passion it is sung. The poet calls the
lovers: ‘Victims’. Victims can be interpreted in two ways. They could be slaves
or even masters that are slaves. But what are these words written by love that
is to be spoken by the lovers? It somehow tells of a man who may be forced to
approach a lady he likes but didn’t plan the words to use in the task. It
somehow tells of a situation where a lover would be faced with an urgent
situation where a decision is to be taken, and because love is involved, words
not planned are just spoken, but sure on the tables of love, that is to say,
composed by love. It somehow tells of a situation where a lover dies and the
other lover bound to sing a dirge to his lover. No, such poet needs no rehearsal.
It is a spark that produces light all of a sudden. It can be any kind of
situation that may not be mentioned here, but for certain the words in the song
are not learned. They are just produced from the bowels of love. Nevertheless,
this song should not be taken literally, as it could be only figurative to mean
how love makes the lovers act in an unexpected way. But then, can love be said
to be the musician when the words it composes are given to the victim to sing?
No, I rather see love as the song writer, and the lovers (victims) the
musicians, for you can’t be the musician when your song is sung by another and
not you.
Also
the poet sees love as a friend that is happily there with its victim, when the
world is no best of itself. It is sarcastic, but shows the faithfulness of
love. It shows that love is long suffering. Furthermore another attribute of
love is that of a care taker. In stanza three, the poet compares love to a mother
that feeds the hungry baby bubbling it back to life. Here love can be seen as a
guarder of life. A mother carries the burden of a child, so does love, as it
carries the burden of caring for a child it loves. Hunger kills or threatens,
thus by feeding the child; love is a guider of life.
Yet
with all these good spoken about love, it is still seen as a devil. This is
quite ironic and paradoxical. How can love be a devil? But on a closer look, it
can be seen that the poet either deliberately or otherwise called love ‘a
devil’ but not Devil himself. The definite article ‘A devil’ means love is a
kind of devil which means there are many devils. Thus what devil is love? Perhaps
love may not be the Devil we think it to be. Could Love actually be the trouble,
that may make one not to be in perfect control of himself or herself? But from
the other angle, could it be love that have blinded the victim or the victim
that may have chosen to be blinded by love or at best used love as an excuse,
having mistaken the nature of Love? Love perhaps might have only asked one to
love and not to be foolish. Perhaps just perhaps, one can be in control. But
despite all angles explored, the poets tells us of the dynamic nature of love,
that though love could be a friend, a musician or even a drummer, it could take
one out of track. Here the poet sees love as a tempter. Some points of view can
be used to explain this. Imagine a lady who loves a man but the man loves
someone else or gives attention to someone else. Can love only end in jealousy
or tempt the lover that has lost to act over and above? Imagine a lady whose
heart has been broken by a lover, will she just cry in heartbreak or is there
no possibility that the same can be tempted with the idea to pay back? Or can
love not make a man, go extra mile, a mile he wouldn’t have gone to show how
much he loves someone? If it is a crime love would tempt a man to commit, then
the suicide of Romeo and Juliet was a temptation fallen to and then the death
of Jesus Christ though not a crime, shows the extent of which love can go to
show its power. Thus, whether for good or bad, Love somehow can polish or
punish, and whether foolish or wise, love can give funny ideas. This shows the
other side of love, its dynamics. Love can be proud, foolish, wise, mad, cruel,
etc. Love can be anything, even a criminal. Thus the message is that Love should
be treated with care and understood, because when wrongly handled, it can be
the hidden demon of the heart.
On
another view, Love could be a personality who is not an abstract concept. This
way, we speak of a person who is a lover, a friend, the mother of a child, but
above all a devil whose name is Love. Also
it could be a display of an irony, whereby Love is no evil but its character of
captivity giving it a tyrannical look.
POETIC DICTION/EXPRESSION:
Diction simply means choice of words. Diction can be classified into many
kinds. Diction can be formal and informal, simple and complex, or connotative
and denotative, etc. The diction of the poet in this poem is simple, being that
it is straight forward. The diction is also formal and not of slangs. The
simplicity of the diction appeals to the reader with a good sense of perceiving,
because different classes of readers can read and appreciate it. This can make
it to be easily misinterpreted. Thus the simplicity of the diction should not
be taken for granted as the poem symbolizes sarcasm as the message in the
diction is deep and not to be taken on their ordinary literary look.
FIGURE OF SPEECH USED
The
poem of six stanzas made up of sixty seven words can be said to be a short
poem, nevertheless there are some figure of speeches used in the poem that
gives it its aesthetic outlook.
Metaphor:
This is a figure of speech of vivid comparison without the use of ‘like’ or ‘as’
as it is with simile. It is a direct comparison. The poem is simply a Metaphoric
Romantic poem, being that all through the poem, the poet uses metaphor to drive
home his point. E.g. Love is a musician, love is a friend, love is a mother,
etc, are all examples of metaphor.
Anaphora:
This is the repetition of the first part of a sentence in a poem to achieve an
artistic effect. This was constantly used in the poem by the poet. E.g, ‘Love
iz’ was used in all the stanzas of the poem.
Alliteration:
This is the repetition of similar consonant sounds in a poetic line or lines. The
poet in few occasions made use of alliteration. E.g. Bubbling it back, …when
the world, etc.
Personification:
This is the attribution of a human quality to a non living thing. E.g, Love is
a mother that feeds the hungry baby. This figure can only be material if the
said Love is not a personality in the poem.
Paradox:
A statement that seems to be contradictory but on a closer look, the truth is
seen. The poet uses paradox to create the climax of the poem. E.g. ‘Yet, love
iz a devil’ is a good example. How can love be a devil? One may ask, but a
closer look the truth would be seen.
Symbolism:
Mother is a symbol of care. The poet refers Love to a mother who feeds her
children.
POEM STRUCTURE
The
poem is simply a romantic metaphorical poem or best a romantic paradoxical
poem. The poem is made of six stanzas made of sixty seven words. The poem is as
well written in blank verse which follows no rhyming scheme. On prosody, it
follows no standard meter pattern but on words-arrangement standard. The poet also
uses stanza-triplet to pass on his poetic composition.
Poems may not be perfectly interpreted, yet
closely spoken about.
Ebi Robert