"The Farewell"
Edward Field
They say the ice will hold
so there I go,
forced to believe them by my act of trusting people,
stepping out on it,
and naturally it gaps open
and I, forced to carry on coolly
by my act of being imperturbable,
slide erectly into the water wearing my captain's helmet,
waving to the shore with a sad smile,
"Goodbye my darlings, goodbye dear one,"
as the ice meets again over my head with a click.
The speaker of this poem tells the reader about two traits that he or she has: he or she trusts people too easily, and he or she wants to be "imperturbable" (Field 7). The speaker faced death with surprising calmness; he or she said " 'Goodbye my darlings, goodbye dear one' " (Field 10) as he or she fell into the icy water. The speaker might even have known that he or she was going to die, because the speaker says "and naturally it [the ice] gaps open" (Field 5).
The diction in this poem uses words that might have cold, distant connotations. For example, "coolly," "erectly," and "sad." "Coolly" might make one think about someone with a cold manner towards others. "Erectly" gives the image of someone standing rather stiffly. "Sad" has an obvious connotation.
There are few images in this poem. The only ones that were easily visible were a person walking out onto the ice, only for the ice to break, causing the speaker to fall into the water below.
The entire poem could be a metaphor for knowing who to trust, or when to trust someone. The speaker trusts someone enough to walk out onto the ice, even when he or she possibly knows that the ice isn't stable. When the ice cracks, and the speaker falls in, he or she has a "sad smile" (Field 9) on; most likely, he or she wasn't sad that he or she was about to die, but is sad about the betrayal of the friend.
The phrase "my act of" (Field 3, 7) is used to show a trait of the speaker. These traits could possibly be considered flaws because the speaker says that he or she is "forced to" do these things because of his or her traits.
The meaning of this poem is that there are certain times when one should trust others and other times when one should trust their own instinct. The speaker says that "They [the speaker's friends, possibly] say the ice will hold" (Field 1); the speaker trusts his or her friends and steps onto the ice. However, the ice breaks and the speaker falls into the water. As a result, the speaker died due to trusting the wrong people.
The diction in this poem uses words that might have cold, distant connotations. For example, "coolly," "erectly," and "sad." "Coolly" might make one think about someone with a cold manner towards others. "Erectly" gives the image of someone standing rather stiffly. "Sad" has an obvious connotation.
There are few images in this poem. The only ones that were easily visible were a person walking out onto the ice, only for the ice to break, causing the speaker to fall into the water below.
The entire poem could be a metaphor for knowing who to trust, or when to trust someone. The speaker trusts someone enough to walk out onto the ice, even when he or she possibly knows that the ice isn't stable. When the ice cracks, and the speaker falls in, he or she has a "sad smile" (Field 9) on; most likely, he or she wasn't sad that he or she was about to die, but is sad about the betrayal of the friend.
The phrase "my act of" (Field 3, 7) is used to show a trait of the speaker. These traits could possibly be considered flaws because the speaker says that he or she is "forced to" do these things because of his or her traits.
The meaning of this poem is that there are certain times when one should trust others and other times when one should trust their own instinct. The speaker says that "They [the speaker's friends, possibly] say the ice will hold" (Field 1); the speaker trusts his or her friends and steps onto the ice. However, the ice breaks and the speaker falls into the water. As a result, the speaker died due to trusting the wrong people.
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