This
poem talks about the feeling of a retired soldier who had fought for the
country’s independence. This poem is looking from the first person point of
view who is a retired soldier as the poem uses the pronoun I , as seen in the
stanza 1. In this stanza, the persona says that he is old and worn and has no
energy. From this Stanza, we know that the persona once had become a soldier
and he had suffered a lot to free the country from invaders. Many lives had been
sacrificed to fight for our independence. At that time, they fought with all of
their will.
Consequently,
he is wheelchair bound. Due to the loss of energy and the fact that he is now
old, he has enough energy to only be able to sit on the wheelchair. This is
portrayed in Stanza 2. After years of independence, the persona sees that the
people are trying to destroy themselves by indulging into the world full of
lies. Now, there is nothing much he can do as how he did before- protect the
country. This is shown in the lines:
see
and cannot do much
these
times are too big a challenge
for
the remnants of my crippled years
the
net of deceit spread everywhere
disturb
me
In
stanza 3, the persona calls out to the younger generation to stand up and
protect the country. Due to the spreading of lies, he now urges new generation
to speak out their opinions and fight for their freedom. He tells us in order
to fight for our freedom, first we have to be united, ‘erect a wall of people’
and fight for the sake of our nation’s harmony.
Synopsis
Our
ancestors worked very hard for independence. Many died for the country. In the
midst of struggling for independence, he was injured and now he is wheelchair
bound. He was strong then. However, the challenges facing the country are far
greater than before. He is unable to fight it now. He has no more power to
control or change anything although he has a strong will. Due to his strong
will and in the spirit of patriotism, he urges the youngsters to see the truth
and not drown in sea of lies. He stresses here that if we, as the younger
generation cannot find the way to stop the dishonesties and lies we are putting
our country’s fate in danger as this dishonesties can actually shake the
stability of our country. As the persona feels helpless, he wants the younger
generation to come forward and fight in the name of justice.
Setting
In
this poem, there are two settings. First is in an independent country-
independent of colonial rule and any foreign control. This is shown by the
line, ‘and the history of the fight for independence have forced sacrifices
that know no name or life.’ The word ‘history’ tells us that the persona is
reflecting the past.
The second setting is an old man sitting on a wheelchair
inside his abode- home where he sits and ponders on the day’s problems. This is
shown in Stanza 2 (Line 1), ‘from the wheelchair of the rest of my days’.
Theme
The
important theme in this poem is patriotism. The persona’s experience of being a
soldier; fighting with the enemies and going through hardships has made him a
person who loves his country. But now he is old and disabled and cannot do much
to free his country from current challenges. Due to his patriotism he cannot
bear to see the country sink in the sea of lies, he urges the young to fight
for it. He urges the younger generation to unite in spite of their differences
and speak out the inequalities and dishonesties in the community so much so
that the freedom retains.
Tones
The
persona voices out his hopes through various tones. There are three different
tones in the poem. In Stanzas 1 and 2, the persona enhances the tone of frustration
as he shares his disabilities and weariness of not being able to fight for the
country anymore. They are shown through the line, ‘I am old and worn’. Apart
from that, the line ‘from the wheelchair of the rest of my days ‘, stresses his
disability and leads him to feel frustrated. He shows the tone of
disappointment as he talks about the deceits that have spread everywhere as
what he says in the line, ‘the net of deceit spread everywhere disturbs me’. He
also feels disappointed as he and his friends have fought so hard but now
people themselves are creating problems due to greed and deceit. His tone
changes dramatically as in Stanzas 3 and 4, he goes from frustration and
disappointment to hopefulness. He eagerly urges the new generation to stand up
and rid of their fear of voicing out their opinions as stated in the line, ‘In
the name of justice wake up and form ranks sons of our ancestor’ and ‘Be
brave’. At the same time, he also stresses on the needs for the younger
generation to be united and seek for their freedom as he clearly states in his
lines, ‘And erect a wall of people’ and ‘Stand up heirs of our freedom’.
Symbols
A
few symbols are highlighted in the poem. First is the ‘wheelchair’ that
connotes disability. The wheelchair symbolises the sacrifices for the
country-the hardships he went through for the sake of achieving the country’s
independence. Although, he is now wheelchair bound, he still has the will and
determination to awaken the younger generation from their long sleep on how important
it is to retain the independence achieved from the sacrifices made by the older
generation like him.
Another symbol in the poem is ‘a wall of people’. It
symbolises unity of the people. In this poem, it refers to a need for the
younger generation to unite themselves regardless of race, skin colour or
background to speak and not to be influenced by the deceits being spread. It is
also important for the younger generation to erect a wall of people to retain
the independence achieved.
Metaphor
One
major literary device used in this poem is metaphor. A metaphor is comparison
made between two things without the use of words such as ‘like’ or ‘as’. In
this poem, we can see there are two examples of metaphor. In Stanza 2 (Line 6),
the persona uses ‘the net of deceit’ where he voices out problems encountered
by the younger generation. The modern generation deceives each other and how
the deceit is being spread- it is widespread just like a fishing net that
spreads out when cast into the sea. The next metaphor is as in the Stanza 3
(Line 4), ‘a wall of people’ where the persona feels that the people need to be
united and become like the concrete wall to counter any challenges met.
Moral
Values
Whether
we are young or old, we must fight for our country. We may be physically
handicapped but we can still contribute as we can be alert mentally. We must
value the issues of human rights that our ancestors have fought for.
Discussion
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