Interpretation of Anthony Harrison's Poem Them and (uz)
Interpretation of the Poem “Them and [uz]”
In his poem “Them and [uz]”, written in 1987, Anthony Harrison envisages his personal struggle against the compulsions of his RP-speaking environment. He elucidates how he was compelled to substitute his natural accent by Received Pronunciation and describes the process of his later recalling to his language roots.
The poem consists of two parts, each of which indicated by a Roman numeral and separated into various stanzas. In the first paragraph, Harrison merely conveys the emerging of the conflict resulting out of his conspicuous accent. The second paragraph envisions Harrison’s recalling to the northern accent he used to speak, coinciding with the recovery of his identity.
The poem opens with a comparison of Harrison with Demosthenes (ll. 1-2). It is necessary to know the following facts about the greatest of the Greek orators, to understand the allegory: Demosthenes suffered from a speech impediment in his youth which earned him the disrespect and mockery of his vicinity. Nobody ever believed that he would be able to compose and recite stirring speeches. Only through sheer willpower, Demosthenes endured the contempt of his environment until he finally succeeded and gained acknowledgement. The irregular rhythm of the first stanza illustrates the stuttering of the Greek orator. In addition to that, the frequent use of plosive and hissing sounds like in “stutterer” or in “outshouting seas” develops aggressive tension. Harrison continues to enhance piquant passages by using onomatopoeia throughout the entire poem.
But back to Demosthenes: Within the following stanzas, the recipient discerns that Harrison also saw himself confronted with the condescension of his vicinity. In the second stanza, the focus shifts on the author himself declaiming a passage out of Shakespeare’s Mac Beth (ll. 3-5). After a few words he is interrupted harshly. He is told that, due to his northern accent, he is unworthy to play an
In his poem “Them and [uz]”, written in 1987, Anthony Harrison envisages his personal struggle against the compulsions of his RP-speaking environment. He elucidates how he was compelled to substitute his natural accent by Received Pronunciation and describes the process of his later recalling to his language roots.
The poem consists of two parts, each of which indicated by a Roman numeral and separated into various stanzas. In the first paragraph, Harrison merely conveys the emerging of the conflict resulting out of his conspicuous accent. The second paragraph envisions Harrison’s recalling to the northern accent he used to speak, coinciding with the recovery of his identity.
The poem opens with a comparison of Harrison with Demosthenes (ll. 1-2). It is necessary to know the following facts about the greatest of the Greek orators, to understand the allegory: Demosthenes suffered from a speech impediment in his youth which earned him the disrespect and mockery of his vicinity. Nobody ever believed that he would be able to compose and recite stirring speeches. Only through sheer willpower, Demosthenes endured the contempt of his environment until he finally succeeded and gained acknowledgement. The irregular rhythm of the first stanza illustrates the stuttering of the Greek orator. In addition to that, the frequent use of plosive and hissing sounds like in “stutterer” or in “outshouting seas” develops aggressive tension. Harrison continues to enhance piquant passages by using onomatopoeia throughout the entire poem.
But back to Demosthenes: Within the following stanzas, the recipient discerns that Harrison also saw himself confronted with the condescension of his vicinity. In the second stanza, the focus shifts on the author himself declaiming a passage out of Shakespeare’s Mac Beth (ll. 3-5). After a few words he is interrupted harshly. He is told that, due to his northern accent, he is unworthy to play an