Good Poetry Explication- Paper 1b- Symbolism And Musical Devices In The Poem "My Son, My Executioner," Donald Hall Essay Example

In the poem, Hall employs symbolism as a significant element (Strachan, John, and Richard). The poem focuses on an infant who enters the world and in a sense takes the life of the parents. When a child is born, parents must sacrifice many things and give up their old life to concentrate on caring for the child. For instance, the line "Your cries and hungers document our bodily decay" symbolizes parents giving up themselves to make their infant happy and healthy. To devote oneself to the child and make them the most significant thing in oneself is a demanding endeavor. In addition, the entire poem symbolizes the challenging job of caring for a baby, and once a child enters the world, the life of its parents is dedicated to it. Parents give all that they have to their child. For example, in stanza one, "Quiet and small and just astir, and whom my body warms" symbolizes the physical obligation of the parents to the child. Parents must provide the child with everything they need, which wears them down. Symbolically, the poem is stating that the new life of a child is the parents' death, which implies that the poem is a pessimistic outlook of parenthood.
The poem uses pseudo-rhyme scheme where some lines rhyme while others do not (Strachan, John, and Richard). For instance, being "forever" "executioner", "astir". The rhyme plays a significant role in displaying the meaning of the poem. The poem follows the ABAB scheme, which is mixed up in a continuous way, for example; stanza one employs ABAB scheme, executioner/arms/stir/warms. When the poem discusses Timor Mortis, the author relies on assonance, repetition of similar vowel sounds, as well as internal rhyme. Stanza two rhymes son/hunger, which represents an imperfect assonance rhyme. Another example is in the same stanza, immortality/decay. Perfect rhyme is used in stanza three, five/die. These verses appear disjointed and present fear and disconnect as compared to stanza one which shows a perfect image of harmony.

Works Cited

poeticious. "My son, My Executioner". 26 March 2015 <https://www.poeticous.com/donald- hall/my-son-my-executioner>.
Strachan, John R, and Richard G. Terry. Poetry. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2000. Print.