Mongoloid Child Handling Shells
Diction, Theme and Imagery in Richard Snyders Intro To Poetry "A Mongoloid Child Handling Shells on the Beach"
When you first read Richard Snyders narrative poem, "A Mongoloid Child
Handling Shells on the Beach", it may be perceived that the poem is indeed about a child, happily gathering shells upon the shore. However, if we closely consider the diction and connotations that Synder uses, we can speculate that the meaning of the poem depicts a deeper and darker theme. The title itself gives us an idea from the beginning. The word
Mongoloid, as identified in Websters New World Dictionary (675), is an early term for …show more content…
I feel that this kind of symbolism is repeated throughout the remainder of the poem. The sea shells, for instance, are another important representation of her isolation.
It reads in line three: " broken bits from a mazarine maze,". If we look at the mazarine maze as being life, and the shells are broken bits of it washed ashore, it becomes clear that the girl is swept out of the regular society, much as the shells were swept out of the sea. It is even more comprehensible when we consider the line "The unbroken children splash and shout,". What Snyder meant by "unbroken children" is that they are not broken off from life, much like the child. They are not broken off of the sea, much like the shells. The child and the shells seem to have a valuable bond in portraying the girls solitude form society. This idea becomes even more graspable if we look at lines seven and eight: "But she plays soberly with the sea's small change...". Websters New World
Dictionary defines the phrase small change as " petty or unimportant"(721). It may very well be that the child is seen as less important by people of the society. She is the only one who plays with the shells, perhaps the only one who can truly appreciate them. Perhaps
When you first read Richard Snyders narrative poem, "A Mongoloid Child
Handling Shells on the Beach", it may be perceived that the poem is indeed about a child, happily gathering shells upon the shore. However, if we closely consider the diction and connotations that Synder uses, we can speculate that the meaning of the poem depicts a deeper and darker theme. The title itself gives us an idea from the beginning. The word
Mongoloid, as identified in Websters New World Dictionary (675), is an early term for …show more content…
I feel that this kind of symbolism is repeated throughout the remainder of the poem. The sea shells, for instance, are another important representation of her isolation.
It reads in line three: " broken bits from a mazarine maze,". If we look at the mazarine maze as being life, and the shells are broken bits of it washed ashore, it becomes clear that the girl is swept out of the regular society, much as the shells were swept out of the sea. It is even more comprehensible when we consider the line "The unbroken children splash and shout,". What Snyder meant by "unbroken children" is that they are not broken off from life, much like the child. They are not broken off of the sea, much like the shells. The child and the shells seem to have a valuable bond in portraying the girls solitude form society. This idea becomes even more graspable if we look at lines seven and eight: "But she plays soberly with the sea's small change...". Websters New World
Dictionary defines the phrase small change as " petty or unimportant"(721). It may very well be that the child is seen as less important by people of the society. She is the only one who plays with the shells, perhaps the only one who can truly appreciate them. Perhaps