Genesis is the first poem in “For the Unfallen” (1959), the initial book of Geoffrey Hill. The miracles illustrated in the poem represent the deamonic revision of aspects in Book of Genesis. The poem illustrates the godlike knowledge of the poet. The author illustrates that the waves form due to his prayer; this illustrates the godlike representation in the poem. Hill considers creation as the next diluvial destruction that occupies the weight of land. The result is the restoration of the sacrality of the Earthly kingdom. In the poem, the water rises above the Earth to brandish weapons. The troubles of the sea have risen to use arms in the ablution spirit. In the last part of literary work, Hill is determined to recreate the world through imagery (Wallace 34). The colorful blood means that life is sacrificed due to death aesthetic. Bloodied soldiers, who arrived in the New World, fought in the Battle of Shiloh. An illustration is the oppressive colonization of India by the British. Hill does not approve these atrocities. The author also debates the morality of telling people the past atrocities, particularly through poetry. The questions concerning the atrocities are always adequately addressed. However, the author sacrifice is a must in either case.
The poem has been critically analyzed using various approaches. In the poetry, Hill embraces the concept of godliness. An example is the belief in the Psalms absoluteness and the depiction of martyrs like Christ and Mandelstam. The main issue in the poem is God, as represented in the Miltonic or Blake cultures. However, Hill does not worship the subject; instead he concentrates on transmutation of the subject into verse. The literary aspects illustrated in the poem are adequate. The rhyme between “land” and “sand” explains that land phonetically produces sand after river erosion.
Works Cited
Wallace, Robert. Writing Poems. Boston: Little, Brown, & Co. 2002. Print.