The poem “The Sunlight on the Garden” by Louis Macneice has four stanzas. Every stanza possesses six lines that rhyme abcbba. The fifth line illustrates two beats. All the other lines are represented as loose three-beat (Kennedy 109). The poem starts with a basic and common statement concerning the inability of maintaining any moment. The joyful moments are lost, as time proceeds. The sixth line illustrates that time’s passage hinders individuals from enjoying happy moments, or agonizing over sins. The second stanza illustrates aspects of freedom. Freedom represents joyful moments; but, as time elapses, it may end. Other disappearing things in the poem are dances, birds and sonnets. Stanza three describes war environment. The joyful activity of flying will end, and the airplanes will be responsible for bringing bombs and deaths. The stanza finalizes by representing the decreasing authority of the British Empire.
The poem possesses definite form that is flawed slightly. The meter varies from one line to another, and hence, it does not follow the rhyme scheme. Also, the meter variation does not ensure breaking up the monotonous aspects of the poem. The subtlety nature of the poem creates a resonating effect; however, it also enhances difficulty in interpretation and understanding (Hirsch 67). The meanings of certain words change significantly. The term ‘lances’ found in line seven describes a bird; because of the images illustrated in the third stanza. In the eighth stanza the word ‘lances’ represents a soldier and the associated military theme. The meaning of the term ‘siren’ is also not clear in the poem. The word means the evil song that enhanced the death of sailors. Siren can also refer to the sound produced by an alarm.
Works Cited
Hirsch, Edward. How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry. New York: Harcourt Brace. 2009. Print.
Kennedy, John. Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Drama, and Poetry. Boston: Little, Brown, & Co. 2007. Print.