"The Boatman" Analysis

The title of the poem is "The Boatman" and it is most likely pertaining to a boatman or have been acquainted with one.

We were thirty-one souls all, he said, on the gray-sick of sea

in a cold rubber boat, rising and falling in our filth.

We were 31 people on sea in a cold rubber boat that is rising and falling on the waves that carry our 

filth.

By morning this didn’t matter, no land was in sight,

all were soaked to the bone, living and dead.

By the morning this didn't matter because there was no land in sight and all of us, both living and 

dead, were soaked to the bone.

We could still float, we said, from war to war.

We could still float, from a war between enemies to a war between nature.

What lay behind us but ruins of stone piled on ruins of stone?

What did we leave behind but ruins of buildings piled on ruins of stone.

City called “mother of the poor” surrounded by fields

of cotton and millet, city of jewelers and cloak-makers,

with the oldest church in Christendom and the Sword of Allah.

The city called "mother of the poor" was richly surrounded by fields of cotton and millet, city of 

jewelers and cloak-makers, with the oldest church in Christendom and the Sword of Allah.

If anyone remains there now, he assures, they would be utterly alone.

If anyone remained in the city now, they would be the only ones left for all have fled.

There is a hotel named for it in Rome two hundred meters

from the Piazza di Spagna, where you can have breakfast under

the portraits of film stars. There the staff cannot do enough for you.

There is a hotel in Rome, named for it. It is two hundred meters from the Piazza di Spagna, where 
you can have breakfast under the portraits of film stars. There the staff does more than enough for 
you.

But I am talking nonsense again, as I have since that night

we fetched a child, not ours, from the sea, drifting face-

down in a life vest, its eyes taken by fish or the birds above us.

But I digress, I am talking nonsense as I have since that night we fetched a child, not from our boat, 
from the sea, drifting face-down in a life vest, its eyes were taken by either the fish or the birds 
above us.

After that, Aleppo went up in smoke, and Raqqa came under a rain

of leaflets warning everyone to go. Leave, yes, but go where?

After that, Aleppo (a city in Syria) went up in smoke, and Raqqa (another city in Syria) came under a 
rain of leaflets warning everyone to go. Leave, yes, but go where?

We lived through the Americans and Russians, through Americans

again, many nights of death from the clouds, mornings surprised

to be waking from the sleep of death, still unburied and alive

but with no safe place. Leave, yes, we obey the leaflets, but go where?

We lived through wars with the Americans and Russians, and through Americans again, many nights 
of death from the missiles dropped from above, mornings surprised to be waking from the sleep that 
we though would be our last, we live still unburied and alive but with no safe place. Leave, yes, we 
obey the leaflets, but go where?

To the sea to be eaten, to the shores of Europe to be caged?

Do we go to the sea to be eaten, or to the shores of Europe to be jailed?

To camp misery and camp remain here. I ask you then, where?

To camp misery and camp remain here. I ask you then, where?

You tell me you are a poet. If so, our destination is the same.

You tell me you are a poet. If so, our destination is the same.

I find myself now the boatman, driving a taxi at the end of the world.

I find myself now to be the boatman, driving a taxi at the end of the world.

I will see that you arrive safely, my friend, I will get you there.

I will see that you arrive at your destination safely, my friend, I will get you there.

In this poem the author utilized a multitude of figurative language in her poem, including: anaphora,
allusion, idiom. An example of anaphora is near the end when she says, "To the sea to be eaten, to 
the shores of Europe to be caged?" She is repeating the beginning phrase of "To the..." She used 
allusion when she stated, "To camp misery and camp remain here." If one has studied history then 
one would know of concentration camps, this is what she was referring to when she wrote the line 
above. An idiom that was incorporated in the text was in the beginning of the poem when she wrote, 
"... all were soaked to the bone..." meaning that every passenger aboard the boat was drenched.   

The tone of the author was sentimental, gloomy, distressed. The tone was very somber and 
sentimental in the beginning of the poem as the author began to describe the trip on the boat. As the 
poem progresses, the tone still remains somber, however the mood begins to decline and get even 
gloomier as well as distressed. It gets more distressed because there were warnings, telling people to 
leave their homes and flee, but they didn't know where to go. They didn't know whether to risk their 
lives staying, or leaving because both of the choices are uncertain and negative. 

The tone of the poem is very gloomy and somber, however it begins to shift slightly or rather, it adds 
on the feeling of distress. This can be seen in the poem as people are deciding whether or not to 
leave their war-ridden land and to brave a trip that may or may not be better than staying. 

The theme of this poem is of war and refugees. This poem is of a narrator retelling a person's war 
with themselves to decide whether to escape their war-ridden country or not. But even if they escape, 
they would still be at war. War with nature, war with themselves. War is something that they have 
lived through for so long, and they continue to do so. However, for those that are able to escape and 
embark on new lives, imprinted in their minds are the knowledge of death. They know of it in depth, 
and they also know that, no matter the race, ethnicity, job, we all end up in the same place in the 
afterlife. We will be guided by a boatman, transported by one, to our afterlife. 







Works Cited:
Forché, Carolyn. “The Boatman by Carolyn Forché.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation,     
             www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/90646/the-boatman.

"Mourning" Analysis

The title of the poem is "Mourning," and it is most likely about someone mourning a death.

A peacock on an olive branch looks beyond
the grove to the road, beyond the road to the sea,
blank-lit, where a sailboat anchors to a cove.
A peacock sitting on an olive branch looks beyond what's ahead of itself to see a sailboat anchored to a cove.
As it is morning, below deck a man is pouring water into a cup,
listening to the radio-talk of the ships: barges dead
in the calms awaiting port call, pleasure boats whose lights
hours ago went out, fishermen setting their nets for mullet,
Because it is morning, a man below deck is pouring water into the cup while listening to the radio talk of the ships: flat-bottomed boats are awaiting calmly the port call, pleasure boats whose lights went out hours ago, fishermen setting their nets for mullet,
as summer tavernas hang octopus to dry on their lines,
whisper smoke into wood ovens, sweep the terraces
clear of night, putting the music out with morning
light, and for the breath of an hour it is possible
to consider the waters of this sea wine-dark, to remember
that there was no word for blue among the ancients,
as summer Greek restaurants and cafes hang octopus to dry on their lines, make fire in the wood ovens, sweep the terraces at night, turning off the music as morning arrives, and for an hour the waters of the sea is wine-dark, describing it so because in ancient times there was no word for blue
but there was the whirring sound before the oars
of the great triremes sang out of the seam of world,
but there was the whirring sound before the oars of the great Greek/Roman warship sang out of the seam of the world,
through pine-sieved winds silvered by salt flats until
they were light enough to pass for breath from the heavens,
through pine sifted winds silvered by salt flats until they were light enough to pass as breaths from the heavens,
troubled enough to fell ships and darken thought — 
then as now the clouds pass, roosters sleep in their huts,
the winds are strong enough to sink ships and darken thought - and now as the clouds pass, roosters sleep in their huts,
the sea flattens under glass air, but there is nothing to hold us there:
not the quiet of marble nor the luff of sail, fields of thyme,
the sea is flat under the air, but there is nothing to hold it there: not the quiet of marble nor the wind steering by blowing against the sail, fields of thyme,
a vineyard at harvest, and the sea filled with the bones of those
in flight from wars east and south, our wars, their remains
scavenged on the seafloor and in its caves, belongings now
a flotsam washed to the rocks. Stand here and look
into the distant haze, there where the holy mountain
with its thousand monks wraps itself in shawls of rain,
a vineyard at harvest, and the sea filled with the bones of those fleeing from wars east and south, our wars, their remains scavenged on the seafloor and in its caves, their belongings now washed up to the rocks. Stand here and look into the distant mist, there where the holy mountain with its thousand monks is being rained upon
then look to the west, where the rubber boats tipped
into the tough waves. Rest your eyes there, remembering the words
of Anacreon, himself a refugee of war, who appears
in the writings of Herodotus:
I love and do not love, I am mad and I am not mad.
Like you he thought himself not better,
nor worse than anyone else.

then look to the west, where the inflatable boats sank into the tough waves. Keep your eyes there, remember the words of Anacreon, the Greek lyric poet, himself a refuge of war, who appears in the writings of Herodotus, the "Father of History": I love and do not love, I am mad and I am not mad. Similar to you, he did not think of himself as better or worse than anyone else.

In this poem, the author utilized symbolism (peacock represents vision and watchfulness), personification, metaphor (pine-sieved). She used symbolism in the first few lines of the poem by starting out with a peacock looking into the distance. Peacocks symbolize vision and watchfulness as if it is seeing a scene unfold or watching over someone. There was a lot of personification utilized in this poem. One was "... the holy mountain... wraps itself in shawls of rain..." This line is personifying the mountain, making it seem as it is wrapping itself in rain because there is so much rain. She also used a metaphor as she stated "pine-sieved." Sieves are used to sift to remove anything large from whatever is being sifted through. Pine-sieved meant that the pines were sifting the wind through, making the scent smell like pine and the wind smooth and light. 

The author's tone was somber and gloomy because the poem is about the ships that sank, the refugees fleeing from wars whom all ended up dying and littering the sea with their bones. The author starts the poem as a viewer from the distance and soon immerses into the news on the radio which is all about tragedies at sea. Although the sea can be calm at times, it has brought down many ships and along with them, many lives. The tone in the line "... and the sea filled with the bones of those in flight from wars east and south, our wars, their remains scavenged on the seafloor and in its caves, belongings now a flotsam washed to the rocks." is as if the author is mourning over the losses of lives of those who fled war, only to be taken by the sea. 

The tone in the beginning of the poem was vigilant as represented through the peacock gazing through the distance. Then later, as the poem focuses on the news from the radio, the tone changes to somber and gloomy as it talks about the deaths of those fleeing from wars.

The title is "Mourning" and now that I have a more in-depth perspective of the poem, I can see that the title is for the refugees that fled from the war. She is mourning the losses of those trying to escape in order to preserve their lives, only to have been departed from the world, with their remains on the sea floor or washed up on a shore. 

The theme of the poem is of war and the situation in which one is in. The war that resulted in lives taken from those in the front lines and those fleeing. The second theme is that, people are not better nor are they worse than anyone else because in the end they are people. In the end, if there is war, they either fight or flee. The situations in which one is put through is a situation of their own that is incomparable with another person's because to them, their hard times are terrible to themselves although it may not seem so compared to others. 











Works Cited

Forché, Carolyn. “Mourning by Carolyn Forché.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation,     
        www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/90645/mourning-57d18c2f7cfb2.