The Theme of Isolation From the Poem the Taxi Essay Example

Introduction

Isolation is one of the ideas that is featured in Amy Lowell's poem "the taxi." This poem is revolving around a speaker who goes away from her lover using a taxi. The poet here expresses the emptiness of the world without her loved one. This is the first type of separation that the speaker encounters after she leaves. However, in the second and third sentences, the speaker has the feeling that there are obstructions on her way and again they state how she calls out her loved one as she leaves. The tone used in the poem is a sad one to reflect on the love and loss, whereby the choice to go is not simple to make. This is the second type of isolation; the speaker is separated from love and experiences emptiness. A different kind of separation demonstrated in this poem is the isolation of the speaker from her normal world.

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

Save 25%

Isolation

The speaker experiences separation from her lover and the taxi is the object used to separate them. This theme is an underlying one because it made the speaker's passion and suffering to get exposed vividly so that they are known, felt and looked at. The taxi is the cause of the lovers taking leave of each other. This isolation has happened in the past, and it is what is being reflected now. In various ways, this past instead imagined separation is what makes the speaker declare her love for her loved one (Gale, 2016). The Poet does this in two methods. One, the speaker says that when she had lest, in the past occasions, she had experience miserable life. The speaker has realized how passionate she is because of the pain she has undergone when they are separated from one another. Second, Amy Lowell uses past imagined separation as a statement of purpose. She might be asking why she would ever leave once again when it is so hurtful in the past. Still, she might be giving reassurance to her lover that the lover means a lot to her such that she makes a promise never to leave again.

Isolation and passion

Isolation is an underlying theme that is used to expose the passion the speaker has for her lover. Also, of praise is heaped on Lowell for her mastery in expressing the passion he has using her poems. "The Taxi" proves as an example of how Lowell creates poetic images aimed at instilling passion. Passion is what defines and drives the poem on, and it is an emotion that is deeply felt within oneself for something or someone. In the Poem, the passion is viewed as the love of the speaker towards her lover. The speaker is either imagined to be leaving on a taxi, or she is going. According to the poem, the speaker's passion is powerful in such a way that separation is torturing her. An interesting thing to note is that although Lowell talks about love, she never mentions it anywhere in the poem because she is an imagist poet. Although love is an abstract concept, Lowell employs imagery to express it instead of talking straight about it. The speaker may have stated how she missed her lover while she had left, but when the poet writes that the world feels dead to her when she goes her lover, it is an expression of the passion he has for the speaker's lover. All the images that the poet utilizes provide clear images of how much the speaker loves her lover. The passion of the speaker rips through her body as if something is being taken away from her. She feels lost and powerless to stop the forces pulling the speaker away from her lover. All the efforts that the speaker makes to stop the isolation fail and wounds her deeply. The speaker is separated from the passion she has for her loved one when she leaves on a taxi (Gale, 2016).

Isolation and suffering

Sometimes, suffering is a result of passion. This is vividly demonstrated in the poem "the taxi." Due to the much passion the speaker has for her lover, she is hurt when they separate. The lights and the nights blind and wound her. In simpler terms, when the speaker is away from her lover, it is like torture to her. Through her expression of suffering, Lowell defines how much love and how passionate she is to her loved one (Gale, 2016). The torture is a consequence of the deep love she has for the other person. Using that sense, it is possible that the speaker may be saying that the pain is worth the suffering since the pleasure of their love is very rewarding. On the contrary, she may also be saying that the suffering is too much ever to want to leave her loved one again. Isolation here demonstrates its consequences. The speaker undergoes pain after they are parted "And the lamps of the city prick my eyes" [line 9]. The speaker is also regretting why she would ever leave her lover to cause suffering to herself "To wound myself upon the sharp edges of the night?" [line 12].

Amy Lowell's poem "The Taxi" vivid brings out the theme of Isolation or separation. This is because it brings out the effects of isolation, for instance, in lines 1 and 2, the speaker states the consequences of going away when she says "When I go away from you [line 1] The world beats dead" [line 2]. What follows after going away are all the things she experiences when she is away from her lover (Lowell & Honor, 2004). Inside the theme of isolation, the speaker also explains the importance of her lover's presence, and the passion she has for the other person. Through this isolation, the poet brings out the issue of love and the pain it can cause if it is separated from her. Suffering is a consequence of separation, and the speaker narrates the predicaments she would face if she separates from her lover (Gale, 2016).

Works cited

Gale, Cengage L. A Study Guide for Amy Lowell's ""the Taxi"". Farmington Hills: Gale, Cengage Learning, 2016. Internet resource.

Lowell, Amy, and Honor Moore. Selected Poems. New York: The Library of America, 2004. Print.