What's Behind "David"

"David" by Earle Birney

1. The affect is more impacting as the use of poetic devices make the story more harrowing and more emotional. Afterall, the point of poetry to express emotion, whereas a short story is merely telling a story. With writing in verses, he can emphasize more on several points. The affect created is something deeper and something that hits the reader with melancholic effect more than a short story would.

2. The three major themes are: Severity of nature, Bob's guilt and the importance of life. Severity of nature is seen throughout when David and Bob try to "conquer" the Finger. As they have climbed other mountains and they were successful, they believed that they needed to conquer the Finger. But nature reminds us that it cannot be conquered and the theme showed us that nature will generally be superior than us. Essentially, it kind of reminded us that one should never test nature as nature will test us back and we will lose. Bob's guilt was also seen as he tried to sort of justify David's death with convincing himself that David would never be happy in a wheelchair. This was also seen with the bird's broken wing. Finally, the theme of life is a major theme. Seen with the skeleton of the goat and the David's death, the importance of life is a huge theme in this poem. How life can be so easily taken away and how harrowing the whole situation can be.

3. "Above us climbed the last joint of the Finger, beckoning bleakly the wide indifferent sky, even then in the sun it grew cold lying there...And I knew..." (lines 147-149). The imagery in here is especially affective. I chose this quote because the reader can feel the kind of emptiness and coldness that Bob must have felt when he was about to push his friend over to his death.

" On the humped moraine, and into the spectral larches, Alone. By the glooming lake I sank and chilled, My mouth but I could not rest and stumbled still, To the valley, losing my way in the ragged marsh. I was glad of the mire that covered the stains, on my ripped Boots, of his blood, but panic was on me, the reek Of the bog, the purple glimmer of toadstools obscene In the twilight. I staggered clear to a firewaste, tripped And fell with a shriek on my shoulder." I chose this imagery as the panic, the fear, the confusion of what just happened, of Bob essentially aiding his friend in his death must have been liked and it was captured with almost all five senses. The

feeling of panic, seeing nothing but the endless hills of the valley, feeling alone, seeing his friend's blood on him, the echo of his shriek.

4. Imagery was previously mentioned but another example of it could be used. Since I had already used the imagery from before and after he pushed David over, I'll use some examples of imagery from the beginning. "bacon strips festooned / On a poplar prong" (lines 12-13). Imagery was essential to the poem as it really shaped the scene and also dramaticized the situation, making the story more intense. Simlies were also used in the poem. For example, "peak was upthrust / Like a fist..." (lines 17-18). Similes help the reader understand what the poet meant to express. To help the reader fully understand the scenery and the situation. Finally, personification was a major use throughout the poem. "The air howled from our feet to the smudged rocks/And the papery lake below." (lines 54-55) Since nature's severity and aggressiveness was a common theme in the poem, personifying the nature would make sense. By personifying nature, the poet achieves making nature seem as a formidable force and helps perceive nature as someone who is strong and should not be tested.