This poem is considered one of the most simple poems , yet striking in its experience. It deals with a personal feeling experienced by the poet who happened to meet a snake once. Her feeling at that moment is somewhat confusing. She is bewildered between the sense of awe and fear and how these two contradictory feelings co-exist and intermingle in a way that surprises not only the speaker but also the reader. The poem is written in traditional four-line stanzas, a simple rhythm and rhyme pattern. The speaker opens the poem with a perfect picture. It? s a wonderful weather ? un-warmed in this late season? s grace? , it? s autumn where the weather is mostly warm and quiet. The first stanza suggests that everything seem in harmony, the sky is ? gentlest? and the pace is slow and romantic. Such words never bring in the reader? s mind any suspicion or doubt. On the contrary, it suggests tranquility and romanticism. However, what breaks this silence and peaceful mood is the appearance of ? great black snake? the image itself is shocking and horrifying. The reader never imagined the ? reeling by? snake. The vivid imagery used in this stanza sounds wonderful and appealing.
Moving on to the second stanza, the speaker starts giving a graphic description of that ? great black snake? , the colour itself is terrifying and build an intense image that contradicts with the perfect picture she created earlier. The speaker extends this horrific picture through the few lines that followed ? head down, tongue flickering on the trail? the reader senses danger every where now. The speaker is building a dark, scary picture of a snake who is wondering about looking for a prey in the grass. The quest that it is holding increases our tension especially when she describes the falling of sun rays… Stanza 1.
The Essay on Sweet Afton Poem Burns Reader
Depth of a River Poetic expression is evolved from a web of emotions and thoughts. With the help of imagery, formation, and figurative language, a poet is able to transport readers to another world of his creation. Robert Burns uses these attributes to invite readers into world of peace and serenity in his poem "Sweet Afton." This lyrical poem expresses the gratitude the persona feels for his ...
Harmonious, romantic world. Idealization of nature 2. contrasts suddenly with darkness/terror of snake. The snake’s appearance is abrupt and shocking at end of harmonious stanza 1. This forces the reader to experience the shock the poet must’ve felt when real snake appeared – visceral 3. fear reaches its peak. Human’s fear aligns us more with the prey than snake – shows where we are on food chain, so to speak, and who is actually superior (Nature, when met on nature’s terms).
This is humbling for Modern man who usually likes to align himself with ‘power’ animals. 4. twist here reflects the contrasting feelings of fear and awe
