Poetry Explication on Disillusionment of Ten O’Clock Essay

Introduction

So many people lead meaningless and empty lives without even making an effort to change their situation. Through the history of humanity, many outstanding people tried to warn their contemporaries and future generations concerning the dangers of such lifestyle. Wallace Stevens was among such people. In his poem “Disillusionment of Ten O’ Clock”, he described daily routines common in lives of many people who did not manage to find a way of bringing more significance and purpose into their lives. The universal theme of the poem is highlighted by explicating an abundance of the fundamental literary devices. The overall impression produced by such devices is in idleness and useless surrounding the personages of the poem. In general, the poem under consideration may be evaluated as a great example of the use of metaphysical and artistic imagery along with repetition and comparison.

Main body

The key conflict in the poem is seen in the conflict between two lifestyles. The lifestyle of people living in houses is compared to the lifestyle of a sailor who is depicted as a free person able to color his life with numerous experiences of travelling abroad. Thorough this conflict, the overall theme of the poem becomes evident. It is in the importance of having a meaningful life full of positive experiences and motion.

The poem’s title “Disillusionment of Ten O’ Clock” suggests that at night time common people appear in the situation where all the meaningless of their lives are seen; and under the influence of such sad and gloomy reality they become disillusioned. In the very first lines of the poem, the reader is able to see a negative tone that the author is using to warn his readers concerning the possible dangers of the absence of meaning in life. In the first lines, we read, “The houses are haunted by white night-gowns” (Stevens, 2010, lines 1 and 2). The word “haunted” suggests that houses are inhabited by some strange otherworldly creatures such as ghosts or spirits. Meditating on the features that these living creatures have, a conclusion can be made that Stevens speaks about people rather than spirits, but the parallel which is made between people and spirits is used to denote all the disillusionment of daily life which common people have to experience. In addition, in the line 2, we see that these people are even dressed like ghosts. They have “white night-gowns”. This clothing description reminds a picture created by many painters, magazine designers, book editors, and so on in which we see a typical ghost as something white and airy; even little children trying to imitate ghosts dress in long white linens. Again the allusion with ghosts is seen in these first lines. Then the author shifts to the reasons why common people may be considered empty and useless due to their lifestyles. We read, “None are green, Or purple with green rings, Or green with yellow rings, Or yellow with blue rings” (Stevens, 2010, lines 3-6). These lines make an emphasis on a number of important ideas. First of all, white color of night-gowns is in contrast with bright colors mentioned in these lines. This encourages the readers to see how empty and colorless are the lives of many people living around us who put their colorless night-gowns to end up their colorless days. Besides, in these lines, the author uses the words “none” and “not” which makes the overall tone of the poem even more negative and disillusioned. The general negative mood of the author caused by watching the way of life of common people is also seen in his regrets concerning the absence of bright colors in people’s life. Their night-gowns are not green, yellow, blue, or purple which signifies that people wearing them lack bright experiences in their lives. It is known that bright colors such as green and yellow designate passion to life, desire to prosper like green vegetations, and abound in fruitage. Purple is the symbols of adventures and unique emotions, and blue color or the color of eternal sky is the color of peace. However, all of those colors are absent in the lives of poor “ghosts” in Stevens’ poem which highlights all the sadness of their disillusionment.

To make an even greater contrast highlighting all the disillusionment of the poem’s targeted personages’ lives, Stevens shifts from the sadness of “ghosts’” lives to the life of a sailor, bright and full of interesting experiences. In lines 12-15 (Stevens, 2010), we read the following: “Only, here and there, an old sailor, Drunk and asleep in his boots, Catches Tigers In red weather”. Here, we see how different are the styles of life and dreams of people living in houses and the sailor. The sailor’s life is full of bright colors, emotions, miraculous occurrences, experiences of associating with people from different cultures, and so on. Such incredible life finds its reflection in the sailor’s dreams. In his dreams, he sees “how he catches tigers in red weather”. Such dream is more than extravagant. It is unique, it suggests a lot of interesting details, and encourages dreaming of amazing adventures. This is very contrary to what is happening in urban citizens’ lives because the only thing they see is a gloomy reality of daily routines which is also reflected in their gloomy dreams. People living in houses are not going to see “baboons and periwinkles” in their dreams (Stevens, 2010, line 11). This saying means that their dreams will be the same colorless as their very souls symbolized by night-gowns. In contrast, the atmosphere in the sailor’s dreams is vibrant which is seen in the word-combination “red weather”. Thus, the poet encourages people to be active, to leave their houses from time to time, and to find themselves in unusual surroundings where baboons can be seen. Only in such case their life will have less negativity, and will be painted with an abundance of bright and vibrant colors. The author’s voice in the poem has two different moods; when we read the part dedicated to house inhabitants, he is gloomy, and when we read about the sailor’s rich with his memories, the author’s voice shifts to positive tone. The form of the poem is arranged in the concept of a two contrasted parts which is very important for revealing the purpose of the author. Stevens resorts to the use of an abundance of speech figures such as epithets, metaphors, enumeration, hyperbole, and personification.

My favorite line in the poem is the last line mentioning “red weather”. This word-combination with its vibrancy and excitement appeals to me because I also believe that daily routines should not stop people in their desire to bring more emotions into their lives. “Red weather” should be experienced by all people both in reality and in dreams no matter where they live, who they are, and so on. It is very important for people to go ahead, to be active, and to leave their houses from time to time because wonderful world around us is full of such mind-blowing miracles as “red weather”.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it should be stated that Wallace Stevens’ poem “Disillusionment of ten o’clock” is a great example of strong piece of literature encouraging people to stop and reflect on their lives. Through a variety of literary means and devices such as simile, comparing and contrasting, and repetition, the author encourages his readers to think about the lives of people living in urban territories who are subjected to daily routines, isolation, idleness, and unhappiness. The lives of these people are as gloomy as the images created by the author in the initial lines of the poem. They lack bright colors which are the very essence of meaningful living. To make even a greater impact on the audience, after describing the sad disillusionment of people living in houses, the author describes a very different style of life which is the life of an old sailor. His life is full emotions and incredible experiences which even affects his dreams. However, people living in houses cannot boast by such colorful emotions. Thus, it becomes evident that people need to stop and reflect on their lifestyles to realize whether their priorities are properly weighted and whether any possible changes may improve their situation.

Reference

Stevens, W. (2010). Disillusionment of Ten O’Clock. Web.