Rite Of Passage - Poem Amalysis Example

The Poem Rite of passage introduces the speaker who seemed to be admiring the maturing of her song. The speaker is a mother who likes the title suggests her song moving from one stage to another. The mother is making several observances in the party that she has hosted for her son. She has invited other boys who are of the same age with her son. The mother smiles as she expresses her joy in the young boys stature and maturing. The author expresses the mother's love to her son as she talks how she is fascinated by her young boys growth. The boys party which is his birthday is ushering a new beginning to a new development. At the end of the poem, the mother claims that the boys are like generals being prepared for war. It is clear that the birthday of the boy is a start for a new chapter of his life whereby they are prepared for responsibilities.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The author uses symbols to explain the poem like how she alludes war to the real life that the boys will face once they matures. Sharon Olds alludes the society that awaits the boys as war whereby the mother feels like all the boys in the room remind her of how when they get older, the world is going to be for them. The mother relates that society to the one which is a Dog Eat Dog. In this explanation, only the one who perseveres the hardship of life, gets to survive.

Sharon uses imagery to make the poem sound metaphorical. The diction she uses at the beginning of the poem where the interaction of the boys is clearly described gives someone the imagination that the boys are still young since they are wrestling with each other. Imagery has been used throughout the paper whereby the other compares her son to many things. She compares the growth of her sons cheeks to a nutmeg and his chest being narrow like the balsa keel of a model boat. All this imagery is as a result of her fascination to her boys transitioning and the joy of being there to watch it happen.

The mother compares the boys invited to her sons party with bankers because of how they folded their arms with their posture indicating that they were dominating. Comparing them to bankers shows that the mother is recognizing that the boys are imitating how men in the society behave and that makes her even happier since it is a transition from one stage to another maybe adolescent.

The mother recognizes that as the boys transitioned, they change not only in their body features but also in their mind and emotions as well. Sharon shows how the mind of children reacts when they are undergoing transition. Getting older can do harm to children too since they become aware of their strength and the thought that they can cause someone else harm is eminent. The fact that they think of killing a two-year-old is enough proof to indicate how growth can do to children if guidance is not applied.

The poem is about age transitioning and how a child transitions from an infant to a baby from that to adolescent and adulthood. The transition has got a lot of things that need to be taken keen since a lot of changes takes place. The children can choose to follow the right path, or they can go down the wrong one. Use of imagination has been employed by Sharon Olds to express the deep feelings of a child as he walks to another stage and how other children can influence him and the world around him too.