Example Of Allegory In Little London Boy And Other Poetry

Little London Boy:

Oh sorrowful little London boy who begrudgingly treads the rotting land,

have you yet to find your mother upon the festering throng?

Through piles of corpses your pallid face scans

the old London street scattered with the diseased cadaver of man.

Wipe away the red tears from your wearisome eyes

with your innocent hands, consumed by ink colored rot.

Despite the bloody rose gashes covering his thighs,

the foolish boy meanders towards his untold demise.

Blistered feet make their way to a ditch, so unholy,

packed with diseased, maggot strewn bodies.

Atop the pile lie the little boys mother, her body decrepit and bony.

The boy wails out in pain and melancholy.

Against mothers exposed ribs lie lolling lilies,

her eye sockets filled with herbs.

The boy intertwines his fingers with her coal black hands, still and chilly,

collapsing, he rests his head near his mother so dearly.

Oh pitiful little London boy who holds his mother tight,

have you yet to find the plague doctor to carry your infected soul?

The little boys body so slowly loses the fight.

Little boy, close your eyes and rest with your mother in the forever night.

Analysis:

Genre (Poetry):

Poems focus heavily on word choice made by the author to convey a much larger meaning. In the poem Little London Boy, we find ourselves following along with a stranded little boy looking for his mother in the 1600's, during the black plague. The setting of this poem, and the back story behind it, creates a disturbing, dramatic poem, as we follow the little boy till he dies sadly in his mothers arms. The poem focuses on emotions and imagery to create an emotional atmosphere.

Reaction:

I had Stephen (my father) read and react to my poem. The poem made him feel depressed and pitiful, and opened an insight on something he has never really thought of before. He had known of the terrible plague that riddled Europe in the 1600's, however he had never really though of how families were affected, and how lives were torn apart over this disease. It gives a dark insight on what happens to the victims and their families during a dire pandemic. He thought the structure of the poem flowed nicely, and the use of vocabulary and imagery really made him think about what was happening in the poem. The poem did not seem as if it was forced into a set structure, or if it had been painstakingly written, but is seemed apparent with how well it flowed that I, the writer, put thought and emotion into this piece.

Meter:

In this poem, we can find its meter is dactylic tetrameter, or four rhythmic units per line with one stressed and two unstressed syllables. When read aloud, the poem does not sound as if it strictly follows this rhythmic pattern, however when closely looked upon the pattern is present in its base structure (when looking at the syllable structure). The poem more so reads as spoken words, and less of a sing-song manner, most likely to emphasize the dark subject matter at hand.

Sound Structure:

The sound structure in this piece of poetry is rhythmic, meaning the ending words of each line rhyme in a rhythmic pattern. Both masculine and feminine rhyming can be observed in this poem. Masculine rhyming uses single syllable words, while feminine rhyming uses accented two syllable words. For example, in the first stanza, the words land and scans are used, making this masculine as both words are one syllable. In the fourth stanza, the words lilies and chilly are used, which are both accented two syllable words, making this rhyme feminine.

Rhyme:

This poem follows a set rhyme scheme of a-b-a-a. The rhyme is the coupling of words that sound similar, and ties the story with sound. Rhyming is one of the most common structures in poetry, and can be found in different patterns. In this poems rhyme scheme, each stanza has three lines which end in similar words, and one that does not which constitutes the second line in each stanza.

Language:

Poetry has many factors of language, such as rhythm, imagery, figures, metaphors, symbols, and so forth. This poem exhibits plenty of imagery, both literal and metaphorical. Examples are how the red marks on the boys legs are referred to as rose gashes, or how the description of the mothers body paints a picture of what the boy sees. Figures are used, such as the plague doctor resembling the bringer of the boys death and the flowers covering the corpses as not only a way to attempt to hide the smell, but to show that life lives within death. The language of the poem follows a strict rhyme scheme, and a dactylic tetrameter of rhythm.

Symbols-allegory:

Several symbols can be found scattered through the poem. Symbols in poetry are a vital component to its structure, which use compressed language to create a deeper meaning. The little boy symbolizes the overall suffrage and devastation mankind went through during the plague, starting with desperation to change and ending with inevitable death. The description of black hands and rose gashes symbolizes some of the symptoms of the plague, which were blackening of the skin and raised welts and flesh wounds.