Sunday, July 5, 2020
Poetry Elements Come to Life - Literature Essay Samples
In Thomas Grayââ¬â¢s poem, ââ¬Å"Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes,â⬠he shares a story about a cat named Selima while also teaching a lesson to readers. Even though the poem is amusing, it is written and arranged cleverly. Gray integrates humor, imagery, and advice into a story to form a poem that will never be forgotten. Both the poem itself, and the message conveyed in it are relatable. Thomas Grayââ¬â¢s style and use of imagery, diction, and structure in his attractive poem help to warn his readers of seeking opulence and superiority. The style and message of Thomas Grayââ¬â¢s poem allow me to easily connect to it. First, he portrays an amusing scene of a cat with great detail that is fun to read. There is an iambic rhythm throughout the poem as well as a rhyme pattern. At first glance his writing may seem too immature or playful, but beneath the surface Thomas Gray is skillfully arranging words and structure. I connect with his style because I am very goofy myself and like fun poetry with a deeper meaning. As for giving advice to readers, I will always remember this poem and Thomas Grayââ¬â¢s warning. He absorbs the readers and grabs their attention when describing the story of the cat, much like a childrenââ¬â¢s fable. Gray allows the readers, including myself, to place themselves in the catsââ¬â¢ shoes. He builds up the anticipation and tempts the readers throughout the poem until we fall into the poemââ¬â¢s trap of a warning, realizing our mistake too late. Thomas Gray integrates imagery of different senses to draw readers into the poem so that they can relate to Selima the cat. For visual imagery, he begins by giving readers a visual perspective of a cat. He describes the vaseââ¬â¢s side in detail, ââ¬Å"where Chinaââ¬â¢s gayest art had dyedâ⬠(line 2), because at the catââ¬â¢s level of vision the side of the vase is ââ¬Å"loftyâ⬠(line 1). Rather than acting as a bystander of the scene, Gray forces the readers to share in the catââ¬â¢s experience. Similarly, Gray uses tactile imagery to further connect readers to the cat. In the beginning, readers physically feel the happiness of the cat when Selimaââ¬â¢s ââ¬Å"conscious tail her joy declaredâ⬠(line 7). Likewise, readers feel themselves slip and fall into the tub when the ââ¬Å"slippery verge her feet beguiledâ⬠(line 29), and then they tumble ââ¬Å"headlong inâ⬠(line 30). Although the poem is not written from a personal point of view, Gr ay effectively places readers in the scene so that they will learn from Selimaââ¬â¢s mistake. Thomas Gray uses diction throughout the entire poem to effectively deliver his advice to avoid temptations of opulence and superiority. The words he uses to describe the physical appearance of the cat have connotations of nobility and luxury. For example, her paws are ââ¬Å"velvetâ⬠(line 9), her ears are ââ¬Å"jetâ⬠(line 11), and her eyes are ââ¬Å"emeraldâ⬠(line 11). Thus, Gray warns readers of cats or people who ornately decorate themselves. In addition, the cat has a desire to be superior and noble. She is initially attracted to the ââ¬Å"loftyâ⬠vase (line 1) with its ââ¬Å"azure flowersâ⬠(line 3). Azure is defined as the color of the sky as well as a heraldic blue. Furthermore, Selima seeks the goldfish who have ââ¬Å"scaly armourââ¬â¢s Tyrian hue through richest purpleâ⬠(line 17) and ââ¬Å"betrayed a golden gleamâ⬠(18). Grays choice of ââ¬Å"betrayedâ⬠foreshadows the end of the poem and Selimaââ¬â¢s fall. Thus, Gray s uggests that a vain desire to appear superior and noble can be even more dangerous than a craving for ornate objects. The structure of the poem enhances the deceit of goldfish in addition to the falsity of superiority and luxury. Overall, the poem has an upbeat rhythm and fun rhyming patterns that attract readers to the poem, yet Gray also masks its true motives. Although the poem seems happy and playful at first, its main purposes are to tell a story of a catââ¬â¢s tragic death and to give advice to readers. In this way, the poemââ¬â¢s structure is deceptive just as the goldfish are. Gray also cleverly arranges structure within the poem to draw readers into the scene. For example, the first stanza is iambic until the last line when Selima ââ¬Å"gazed on the lake belowâ⬠(line 6). The water also grabs the attention of readers because the beat falls on ââ¬Å"gazedâ⬠and does not follow the iambic rhythm. The word and sound of ââ¬Å"gazedâ⬠is stretched out, and readers are compelled to look at the poem like Selima looks at the water. Moreover, in the fifth stanza structure ref lects events occurring in the scene of the poem. There is a pause and a visual space after ââ¬Å"the gulf betweenâ⬠(line 27) like there is a gulf between Selimaââ¬â¢s face and the water. In addition, ââ¬Å"betweenâ⬠(line 27) and ââ¬Å"inâ⬠(line 30) are unique slight rhymes. The poemââ¬â¢s structure slips and is disrupted just as Selimaââ¬â¢s loses control. Thomas Gray in ââ¬Å"Ode on the Death of a Favourite Catâ⬠combines many different aspects of poetry to present an easily relatable poem for me and for other readers. The key to the poemââ¬â¢s attractiveness is its ability to draw in the readers. He does this by telling a compelling story that is easy to read and follow. Nevertheless, he also grabs the readersââ¬â¢ attention on a deeper level using creative imagery, diction, and structure. He relates to the undeceived reader when he asks rhetorical questions in the fourth stanza, ââ¬Å"What female heart can gold despise?â⬠(line 23) and ââ¬Å"What catââ¬â¢s averse to fish?â⬠(line 24). The readers and cat fall for these questions, and he tricks his audience by calling them a ââ¬Å"presumptuous maid!â⬠(line 25) in the next stanza. As a reader, I am not simply reading a story of a catââ¬â¢s tragedy, but am also experiencing her same temptations and feelings during the poem. Thomas Gray has deceived my desire to be absorbed by a poem, however, and I will be with caution bold when I read more poetry and try to relate to it.
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