Literary Technique: Narrative
Poem Example:
The Owl and the Pussy-Cat
By Edward Lear
I
The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea
In a beautiful pea-green boat,
They took some honey, and plenty of money,
Wrapped up in a five-pound note.
The Owl looked up to the stars above,
And sang to a small guitar,
"O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love,
What a beautiful Pussy you are,
You are,
You are!
What a beautiful Pussy you are!"
II
Pussy said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we have tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?"
They sailed away, for a year and a day,
To the land where the Bong-Tree grows
And there in a wood a Piggy-wig stood
With a ring at the end of his nose,
His nose,
His nose,
With a ring at the end of his nose.
III
"Dear Pig, are you willing to sell for one shilling
Your ring?" Said the Piggy, "I will."
So they took it away, and were married next day
By the Turkey who lives on the hill.
They dined on mince, and slices of quince,
Which they ate with a runcible spoon;
And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,
They danced by the light of the moon,
The moon,
The moon,
They danced by the light of the moon.
Biographical Information: Lear was a wandering nonsense minstrel, never completely free of physical and emotional pain. His health steadily deteriorated until he died, alone except for a servant, on 29 January 1888. His last words expressed gratitude for the kindnesses of all his absent friends."
Lear's poetry shares many elements with the nonsense verse of Lewis Carroll, Thomas Hood, W. S. Gilbert, and other Victorians, particularly in the use of verbal play and other distancing devices to derive humor from cruelty, pain, and death. Like nonsense verse as a whole, it influenced such twentieth-century aesthetic movements as surrealism and the theater of the absurd. It also, however, contains themes unique to Lear's personal experience. It is above all an expression of the inmost longings, frustrations, and wish-fulfillment dreams of a lovable and intensely loving man who, despite the fond affection of numerous relatives, friends, and readers--children and adults--was never beloved in the intimate, exclusive, constant manner he so fervently desired.
Explanation of Technique: Narrative poetry is a form of poetry that tells a story, often making use of the voices of a narrator and characters as well; the entire story is usually written in metered verse. This is a narrative poem because it tells a playful story about an owl and a cat who fall in love and how they get married. It doesn't necessarily make sense, but the most important aspect of a narrative is that a tells a story and has characters. Even though a narrative doesn't have to rhyme, this one does, which adds to the childish and lively mood of the poem.
Interpretation of Poem: The poem tells the tale of a smitten owl and a cat. One night they go to sea in a quaint boat with a few necessities. The owl serenades to the cat under the stars, and praises her beauty. The cat, flattered by the owl's singing, proposes that they be married. However, she says, they will need a ring. So, for a year and a day, they sail to a far away land and meet a pig with a ring in his nose. They buy the ring for one shilling and are wed the next day by a turkey. They happily feast and dance by the light of the moon on the sand.
The owl and cat are on opposite ends of a spectrum, yet they somehow fall in love, and I think this could apply to people today. Despite our differences, we can always try to see the beauty in each other, and you don't really need much to be happy. The owl and cat had each other, and that was enough.
Visual Representation:
Explanation of Visual: I selected this image because it perfectly represents the first stanza of the poem. The cat and the owl are sailing across the sea in a pea-green boat, with a jar of honey and plenty of money. The owl has his guitar, just like in the poem. It's obvious that the two animals are greatly in love with each other, and ready to sail for a year and day to find a wedding ring.
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