Help with a poem...

[Mobius]

Hewwo, I have to write an analysis on this poem for my As level English Literature course (which I'm retaking as I failed last year) and I'm completely stumped. I think theres a hidden meaning behind it, but I can't work it out...if anyone can shed some light onto it, anything would be useful. I think its something to do with the poor envying the rich, and then the rich envying the poor, and it being like a cycle.

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Citizens of the polished capital
Sigh for the towns up country,
And their innocent simplicity.[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]People in the towns up country
Applaud the unpolished innocence
Of the distant villages.[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Dwellers in the distant villages
Speak of a simple unspoilt girl,
Living alone, deep in the bush.[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Deep in the bush we found her,
Large and innocent of eye,
Among gentle gibbons and mountain ferns.[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Perfect for the part, perfect,
Except for the dropsy
Which comes from polished rice.[/font]

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]In the capital our film is much admired,
Its gentle gibbons and mountain ferns,
Unspoilt, unpolished, large and innocent of eye.
[/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Thank you.

[/font]

 

[Damini]

Hewwo, I have to write an analysis on this poem for my As level English Literature course (which I'm retaking as I failed last year) and I'm completely stumped. I think theres a hidden meaning behind it, but I can't work it out...if anyone can shed some light onto it, anything would be useful. I think its something to do with the poor envying the rich, and then the rich envying the poor, and it being like a cycle.

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Citizens of the polished capital
Sigh for the towns up country,
And their innocent simplicity.[/font]

Citizens itself implies a sense of belonging, of worth. It would very much depend on the time of the poem, but citizen implies some contribution to society, worth while members of the community. Polished again lends itself to the image of refined, civilised, clean. Sighing is a melodramatic, whimsical expression, implying a romanticising of the country ideal, and mild envy of their uncomplicated lives.

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]People in the towns up country
Applaud the unpolished innocence
Of the distant villages.[/font]

Again, unpolished innocence, not something worked for, natural, not strived for. Applaud rather than sigh, lends a sense of admiration. Distance here could mean that it is an ideal they have heard of, imagined, yet haven't encountered, which may be why the idealise it.

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Dwellers in the distant villages
Speak of a simple unspoilt girl,
Living alone, deep in the bush.[/font]

Unspoilt could have some biblical reference, again, it very much depends on the poet and the period, but it could be referring to an Eden esque opinion of the rural ideal.

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Deep in the bush we found her,
Large and innocent of eye,
Among gentle gibbons and mountain ferns.[/font]

Large and innocent of eye, signifying purity of soul, untarnished amongst pure natural surrounding.

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Perfect for the part, perfect,
Except for the dropsy
Which comes from polished rice.[/font]

Dropsy is a disease, so this infact taints the ideal, transforming it from an Edenesque innocence into something corrupted and imperfect. The ideal that every other city has been striving for is in itself flawed.

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]In the capital our film is much admired,
Its gentle gibbons and mountain ferns,
Unspoilt, unpolished, large and innocent of eye.
[/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Thank you.

The city folk seem to admire the innocence of the image, whilst ignoring the actual plight. It is a self dellusional hope, all the better for being distant and detached from their own reality.

[/font]

Anyway, thats the way I'd interpret it. The thing is with English, YOU CAN'T BE WRONG. If you argue your perspective with passion and conviction, then it is right. If you remember that, you can't fail. You might want to research what polished rice is, and how you could catch dropsy from it.

 

[jaba]

Sounds to me like more the people in each verse are envious of the lives lead by the people in the next verse. Yet the person that they are all most envious of then becomes a film star in the capital, all about her simple life.

But then thats the viewpoint of an uneducated oik. :kissit:

EDIT: ok ignore mine, dams is so muchbetter it hurts.

 

[Lazarus]

Maz,

I read it slightly differently, but along the same paths.

Those in the built up cities, towns in villages all look towards a simpler life indicated by the simple unspoilt girl. I do not see anything which indicates the desire of the city (capital) life.

I also interpret some form of ill feeling towards "pollution" from the capital :

Perfect for the part, perfect,
Except for the dropsy
Which comes from polished rice

Last line could indicate pollution


but I usually have moments of unconnected thoughts.

<edit> but I bow to Damini's wisdom cos she knows bigger words than me !

 

[babs]

GIBBONS!

It's obviously about the plight of the Gibbon. See the fear in the eyes of a creature suffering under hundreds of years of oppression...

They fear the deadly Polish Rice.....

....and the evil overlord who thrust it upon them.....

Won't somebody think of the Gibbons!?

 

[Lazarus]

Any You might want to research what polished rice is, and how you could catch dropsy from it.

http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=13311

Probably caused by working at picking the rice, or removing the husk.

 

[Mobius]

The use of the word citizen implies a sense of worth. Polished gives the impression of a refined civilised settlement. Sighing is a melodramatic, whimsical expression, implying a romanticising of the country ideal, and mild envy of their uncomplicated lives.
In the second stanza unpolished is used. It shows that there is some beauty in the location but it isn't worked for, like the place in described in the first stanza. Applaud is used rather than sigh, which is more human, and the use of the word distance makes the place seem very remote, perhaps unknown to those who would live in the place mentioned in the beginning of the poem.
The third paragraph describes another location. Dwellers is used in relation to the inhabitants, so its obviously less developed than the other places.
"Large and innocent of eye" signify purity, something untarnished in a natural surrounding.
Dropsy is a disease, so this infact taints the ideal, transforming it from an Edenesque innocence into something corrupted and imperfect. The ideal that every other city has been striving for is in itself flawed.
In the final paragraph..
"In the capital our film is much admired,
Its gentle gibbons and mountain ferns,
Unspoilt, unpolished, large and innocent of eye."
Basically means that although the people from the cities, the "citizens" and "people" admire the innocence of the image but don't care for the plight of the dwellers, such as the girl with dropsy.


Reckon that'll do? It was only meant to be a short analysis/commentary thing. Sorry I didn't write alot of it in my own words but I couldn't really find a way to improve on how you'd already put it.

Thanks for all the help peeps, 'specially Damini. I might have to bug you a few more times before during my course..

 

[Clown]

I got 21 seconds to go.
I got 21 seconds to flow.

 

[rynnor]

Dropsy is a disease, so this infact taints the ideal, transforming it from an Edenesque innocence into something corrupted and imperfect. The ideal that every other city has been striving for is in itself flawed.

Yep, I'd say that was the key to it - you can even widen this out to the general human condition - we all have these pictures in our minds of things we want or aspire to but we seldom appreciate the reality of these aspirations.

For instance, many people wish to win the lottery and think that if they did so their lives would be idyllic but reality shows us that many end up blowing the lot and ending up more unhappy than before, or become tempted into massive cocaine habits or get married to gold-diggers who divorce them for 50% etc. etc.

Perhaps dreams cannot stand up to close inspection... Utopia is always somewhere over the horizon...