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.
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.
