The Forsaken
i think personification be this one:
All the lake-surface
Streamed with the hissing
Of millions of iceflakes
Hurled by the wind;
Behind her the round
Of a lonely island
Roared like a fire
With the voice of the storm
In the deeps of the cedars.
i think this be simile
Because she was old and useless,
Like a paddle broken and warped,
Or a pole that was splintered.
i not find metaphor or assonannce
I
Once in the winter
Out on a lake
In the heart of the north-land,
Far from the Fort
And far from the hunters,
A Chippewa woman
With her sick baby,
Crouched in the last hours
Of a great storm.
Frozen and hungry,
She fished through the ice
With a line of the twisted
Bark of the cedar,
And a rabbit-bone hook
Polished and barbed;
Fished with the bare hook
All through the wild day,
Fished and caught nothing;
While the young chieftain
Tugged at her breasts,
Or slept in the lacings
Of the warm tikanagan.
All the lake-surface
Streamed with the hissing
Of millions of iceflakes
Hurled by the wind;
Behind her the round
Of a lonely island
Roared like a fire
With the voice of the storm
In the deeps of the cedars.
Valiant, unshaken,
She took of her own flesh,
Baited the fish-hook,
Drew in a gray-trout,
Drew in his fellows,
Heaped them beside her,
Dead in the snow.
Valiant, unshaken,
She faced the long distance,
Wolf-haunted and lonely,
Sure of her goal
And the life of her dear one:
Tramped for two days,
On the third in the morning,
Saw the strong bulk
Of the Fort by the river,
Saw the wood-smoke
Hand soft in the spruces,
Heard the keen yelp
Of the ravenous huskies
Fighting for whitefish:
Then she had rest.
II
Years and years after,
When she was old and withered,
When her son was an old man
And his children filled with vigour,
They came in their northern tour on the verge of winter,
To an island in a lonely lake.
There one night they camped, and on the morrow
Gathered their kettles and birch-bark
Their rabbit-skin robes and their mink-traps,
Launched their canoes and slunk away through the islands,
Left her alone forever,
Without a word of farewell,
Because she was old and useless,
Like a paddle broken and warped,
Or a pole that was splintered.
Then, without a sigh,
Valiant, unshaken,
She smoothed her dark locks under her kerchief,
Composed her shawl in state,
Then folded her hands ridged with sinews and corded with veins,
Folded them across her breasts spent with the nourishment of children,
Gazed at the sky past the tops of the cedars,
Saw two spangled nights arise out of the twilight,
Saw two days go by filled with the tranquil sunshine,
Saw, without pain, or dread, or even a moment of longing:
Then on the third great night there came thronging and thronging
Millions of snowflakes out of a windless cloud;
They covered her close with a beautiful crystal shroud,
Covered her deep and silent.
But in the frost of the dawn,
Up from the life below,
Rose a column of breath
Through a tiny cleft in the snow,
Fragile, delicately drawn,
Wavering with its own weakness,
In the wilderness a sign of the spirit,
Persisting still in the sight of the sun
Till day was done.
Then all light was gathered up by the hand of God and hid in His breast,
Then there was born a silence deeper than silence,
Then she had rest.
I agree with your personification and simile.
I found these examples of assonance:
"In the deeps of the cedars. "
"Heaped them beside her."
"Fighting for whitefish:"
The last four lines are a metaphor for the old woman's death.
thanks very much ms. sue:) it ask wat be viewpoint of life of the chipewa aborignial people? it be that they be left by themselves by their children. they be abandoned? the old lady not feel bad treated horrible by her blood i not think, she do her part and she be happy about that, she accept her destiny?
You're very welcome, Mohammad.
I think this poem illustrates the old Chippewa custom of putting the old and frail people out on the ice to die. Yes, she accepts her destiny.
thanks very much ms. sue
You're very welcome, Mohammad.
In the given excerpt from the poem "The Forsaken," there are examples of personification, simile, metaphor, and imagery.
- Personification: The lines "All the lake-surface Streamed with the hissing Of millions of iceflakes Hurled by the wind" personify the lake-surface by describing it as streaming and hissing.
- Simile: The lines "Because she was old and useless, Like a paddle broken and warped, Or a pole that was splintered" use the words "like" or "as" to directly compare the Chippewa woman's state to a broken and warped paddle.
- Metaphor: There is no direct example of a metaphor in the given excerpt.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds within words. It is not explicitly present in the given excerpt.
Overall, the poem uses various literary techniques to depict the struggles and courage of the Chippewa woman in the harsh environment of the north-land.