Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy Hunter
The theme of the poem “Barbie Doll” is the narrow definition of femininity in the 1970’s American society. The poem is written in a free verse style. The sound of the poem is more like that of a story. Since the writer is telling us, what is essentially, a modern fairy tale; the free verse style keeps the poem focused on the story of the girl child. This helps avoid any distraction, that would be created if the poet employed any sophisticated poetic devices.
The themes of the poem include (1) perception of girl/women in the 1970’s American society. (2) Appearances
The poem goes on to describe, how a girl child was expected to be coy and shy. She is expected to play with toy stoves and irons (Hunter), to practice for her future role as a good housewife. What is expected of her is to look pretty (put on cherry lipstick) and be a ‘barbie’. Her intelligence and abilities do not have any part to play in the equation of life. People adore her perfect nose after she is dead. But they could not value her abilities when she was alive. It paints the 1970s American society, as loving barbies and not caring for actual real girls.
Marge Piercy’s ‘Barbie Doll’ is a very compact and precise poem. It hits the bull’s eye with its imagery. Phrases like, ‘wore out like a fan belt’, make us feel the agony of our subject (the girl child). The ‘coffin barbie’ image is the most powerful. It makes us repellent to the society that would rather see a person ‘picture perfect’ and dead than imperfect and alive. The free verse style of writing contributed to the poem’s brevity and effectiveness.
In conclusion, the poem was very effective. It brought to the centrestage, the implied perspective of society as regards women and girls. It highlighted a serious problem of society straitjacketing girls from a tender age. Society defines what is expected, and irrespective of your individuality, you are supposed to adhere to the norms. Piercy brought such a grim idea to light, with a seemingly feather weighted poem.
The poem is an elegy to an unnamed athlete, who saw his fair share of glory, but left the earth untimely. The poem is written using quartains. Each line of the poem follows an iambic tetrameter. The narrator of the poem belongs to the same town as the athlete. The tone of mourning is evident throughout the poem. The poet also seems to bring to our attention, how time flies by very quickly.
The themes of the poem include death, time and pride. The poem opens with a high note, when the athlete is being cheered, but suddenly, he is gone. The laurels, fame and his pride, are now of no avail. The underlying and subtly hinted theme seems to be ‘loss’; Loss of youth, loss of time that flew away and loss of possibility, of what the athlete's life could have been.
Overall the elegy keeps to a sad tone (except the first quatrain that opens on a high note). However unlike other elegies, at the end, we do not feel comforted by the situation. Laurels and pride have been lost and not for the achievement of something better (like a ‘place in heaven’). The poet has however succeeded in making us feel sad and melancholy. He has also been successful in making us realise how brief our time on earth is. How none of us is going to leave here, with anything more than what we brought with us.
Concluding the commentary on the poem, it is a good elegy. Positively looking at it can teach us, that we all should live in the ‘now’. Life is short and it is better to have regrets than no experiences. Our life and the glory that it holds, might wither quicker than a rose (Housman 234). So live life, make mistakes, enjoy achievement in the ‘now’.
Not Waving but Drowning by Stevie Smith
‘Not Waving but Drowning’ has a touch of deep gloom to it. And it sounds like a muffled cry for help, from the poet. Stevie Smith might have been trying to tell us, how she was drowning in sorrow, while her near and dear ones were ‘much too far out’. The poem is written in quatrains that are written in a ballad form. The poem uses both iambic and trochee meters.
The themes of the poem include isolation, lack of communication, sadness, suffering and death. The poet seems to be depressed, and is personally unable to call out for help. And her friends are oblivious to her suffering (not to mention, are discussing her way of life: ‘larking’). There is a lot of suffering of the protagonist followed by eventual death. Even death is not a happy release; it’s as if her heart exploded from the pain. We feel this unbearable pain when the poet says, ‘her heart gave way’ (Smith).
Ballads are form of poems that tell a story, and thus tend to be longer. This particular poem however is very short. But just in those 12 lines, the poet makes us feel her isolation and longing to connect. The aim of the poem, is a cry for help, which reaches us very effectively. It creates a mood of gloom. We feel sad for the dead person and how no one helped him. We feel like the person could have been saved, only if someone heard the unsaid cry for help. The death was unnecessary.
In conclusion, the poem is a very sad ballad that makes us feel for the isolated souls. We get a glimpse of how a depressed person might feel like within and might not even be able to ‘wave’ for help. It arouses our sympathy. It makes us feel disgust for the society’s apathy towards the depressed.
The thread that connects all the three poems is a feeling of sadness. Death is also a recurring theme in all the poems. “Barbie Doll” and “Not Waving but Drowning” both talk about deaths that were unnecessary and involved society’s lack of ‘value for life’. In all the poems we mourn the dead. But the poems have strong messages for society too. “Barbie Doll” asks society to change the perception of women and value her abilities, than just price her looks. “To an athlete dying young” urges us to value time and live today. “Not Waving but Drowning” appeals to the society to be a little more sensitive to problems of the mind. Such problems can also be serious and cause loss of life. Apart from these messages, all the poems make us sympathise with the sufferer in the poem. All the deaths dealt with, were either unnecessary or before their time(in case of the athlete). They make us sad about the circumstances while making us more sensitive towards agony of others. All of them encourage us to place more value on life. And not let anyone feel sad or drowning, let alone die; if we can help the person. All the poets have succeeded in creating the intended mood of gloom. They have done it without the use of complicated literary devices. All the poems are brief and achieve their aim.
Works Cited
Housman, A. E. Complete Poems; Centennial Ed. with an Introduction. New York: Holt, 1959. Print. p. 234
Hunter, Marge Piercy - Poem. "Barbie Doll Poem." Poemhunter.com. Web. 02 Mar. 2016.
Smith, Stevie. "Not Waving but Drowning." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation. Web. 03 Mar. 2016.
