Critical Review of Sarah Hannah’s "The Colors Are Off This Season”
Critical Review of Sarah Hannah’s "The Colors Are Off This Season”
Sarah Hannah is one of the greatest poets of the twenty first century. She was a teacher with the hand and heart of an artist. Before her death in the year 2007, she had written some of the greatest poems there are today. Her poems express a different kind of emotion. In most of her poems she re-imagined her childhood and recreated her childhood memories. She was different from other poets in the manner she presented her themes in her poems. Characterized by vivid descriptions her poems contained an emotion many mistook for self-pity. In real sense, it was not self-pity but just the expression of the world in her view. One of her greatest poems is ‘the colors are off this season’. It denotes her fearlessness and ability to express her different view of the world from the rest in the society. Her choice of words and arrangements express a visual imagination of the world as she views it. Sarah’s unique style in writing has made her one of the greatest poets there was.
The poem ‘the colors are off this season’, is unique in its thematic concerns and meaning of the poem. Unlike many other poems where one can understand the poems by just getting the surface meaning, one has to read with an open mind in order to understand the inner meaning and her inspiration in writing this poem. The poem generally is about a girl who does not get what she wants from the society. There is controversy between what she wants from within and what is available in her surroundings. She wants to be different in her community. She wants a life where she does not have to carry the burdens of care within her life. She dreams of more than what nature gives. The main idea in the poem is to inspire the reader to dream and chase her dreams. She is not satisfied with what the world offers she wants more color to the universe. She wants to be free of all cares weights and no time limits all she wants is freedom for herself to be what she wants. She wants to be like a child where the cares of this world mean nothing to her. All she has to do is be happy.
Another unique feature in this poem is the choice of words. Her choice of words not only helps in bringing out the meaning of the poem but also in creating rhythm in the poem. Rhythm is an important part of a poem. It helps create an artistic feeling of the poem. It also evokes emotions of the reader. She uses various styles like assonance, alliteration, and repetition in creating the rhythm of the poem. Assonance is the repetition of the same vowel sound. The use of assonance in a poem helps in creating rhythm and making the poem enjoyable to read. In Sarah’s poem, ‘the colors are off this season.’ Assonance is one of the major techniques used to create rhythm. For example, in words like pink, unthinking the sound /i/ is repeated.
Alliteration on the other hand is the repetition of the same consonant sounds in a poem. Just like assonance, it is key in creating the rhythm of the poem. In this poem, alliteration appears in words like, pink and unthinking where the sound /k/ is repeated.
Repetition is also another key feature in this poem. A poet uses repetition not only to create rhythm but also to hint the main idea of a poem. In this poem, the word pink is repeated severally to create rhythm and also show the aspect of color.
Another important aspect of Hannah’s poem is the use various literary devices in the poem. Hannah uses various literary devices to make her poem more captivating and enjoyable to read. One of the main literary features used in the poem is personification. Personification is the act of giving inanimate thing animate characteristics. It is the act of giving inanimate things an sense of having life and thought. In this poem Sarah uses personification in several instances. For example in line five ‘unthinking true’, line nine ‘dying fall’, and line thirteen, ‘untried corner of treble’. This helps in creating a more vivid imagination for the reader.
In this poem, Hannah uses vivid explanations to help in bringing out the imaginations of the girl. The use of various adjectives in the poem helps in describing various phenomena in the poem. For example, in stanza three she uses several adjectives to enhance the readers ability to visualize the phenomena used in the poem.
In conclusion, the poem ‘the colors are off this season is one of a kind with Sarah creating a clear picture of her imagination and wants in the society. The use of several stylistic devices and figures of speech help in making the poem captivating and interesting to read. Unlike many other poems, one can feel that the hand of a poet has touched it. Even in her death, Sarah’s poetry remains an inspiration to many people in the world today.
References:
CPR - In Memoriam: Sarah Hannah by Eva Salzman. (n.d.). Critical Poetry Review Magazine – Poetry Criticism from the Contemporary Poetry Review. Retrieved February 22, 2013, from http://www.cprw.com/Misc/hannah.htm
Galluccio, L. (2007). SARAH HANNAH (1967-2007) – A LONGING DISTANCE.Wilderness House Literary Review , 2(3), 2.
Hannah, S. (2007). Inflorescence. Dorset, Vt.: Tupelo Press.
