Eavan Boland’s poetry is known for its thoughtful consideration of history that was significant to her home country: Ireland. Her poem The Pomegranate does not stray from this. Through close examination of Boland’s careful uses of vocabulary, imagery, and mythology, you find that the poem paints a clear picture of the Potato Famine.
At first glance, the vocabulary would appear to only be significant for the imagery; however, it is worth digging deeper.
The word “star” appears twice within the poem. Once we read: “…the starts blighted” (Boland 215), and another time we read: “The veiled stars…” (Boland 216). It is not unusual for stars to be given as imagery, because they can often represent hope; however, notice that the stars are, both times, mentioned with negativity.
The word “blighted” descended from the Old English word meaning “cursed.” The word “veiled” is associated with hiding something – almost out of protection or perhaps abstinence, as it is in the case of a new bride or a nun. Why does this matter? The stars could be representative of food. The “blighted” stars would be representative of the potatoes which had died out, leaving the Irish to starve, because the other food that might have helped them survive was “veiled” – or withheld – from them.
The imagery supports this, as well. The most interesting imagery is that of plant life. The pomegranate itself would be suggestive of food that is out of reach – especially since it is not available in Ireland – and even if it had, it wasn’t a potato. There are also plants mentioned that would represent food that is not available: “I carried her back past whitebeams… and honey-scented buddleias” (Boland 215). Buddleias are plants that commonly grow in areas where there was once thriving community or business that had died out. They are known to be especially viewed in places like old factories and bomb sites. This picture of something beautiful growing where everything else has died out will, no doubt, bring to mind the devastation of the potato fields which had died out and the food that would linger around as if to taunt the starving Irishmen. The other plant mentioned seems to really rub the idea of unavailable food in your face, because the whitebeam is a member of the Rosaceae family, which commonly produces plants with fruit such as apples and strawberries. The whitebeam is one of the few which only is grown for show – another taunt to empty bellies.
It is the mythology, however, that gives the strongest case for the imagery paralleling the potato famine. The family of Ceres clearly paints a picture of both abundance and death. Ceres was the goddess of agriculture, her parents the god and goddess of abundance and fruitfulness. Her siblings were coupled with riches.
She is also guessed to be the mother Baccaeus. Though that is argued among some mythologists, it is still important to consider him. Baccaeus was associated with both abundance and disorder. It is his description that most strikes the reader, because he is said to carry a staff which drips with honey. This depiction reminds us of the description of the buddleia plant that smells like honey.
Persephone, Ceres’ daughter, was the goddess of springtime, which is when the earth prepares itself for producing food. Focusing only on the child that is portrayed in the poem, we still see spring – abundance – captured by Hades – death. Persephone is lusted after and yet only attainable to Hades through trickery. Even that trickery results in unhappiness, because then there is only a time of abundance for a season. After that, the earth longs for Spring but cannot find her.
It is important to note that Ceres – as well as Baccaeus, Persephone, and many of Ceres’ siblings – were also indicators of death. Ceres basically condemns her daughter to life with death (Hades) by not following the instructions she was given. Baccaeus, being the god of wine, would also be associated with drunkenness – something that often got the gods and goddesses into trouble. Her siblings include Hades, who is the ultimate representation of death in mythology.
Having studied the evidences shown in the vocabulary, imagery, and mythology, it isn’t hard to see the influences of the Potato Famine. Everything indicates some form of wealth that has been held back, and what was once there has been removed or hidden. The mythology strongly indicates a focus on agriculture – because of the family of Ceres as a whole. The paper could, of course, be interpreted to mean something wholly different, but one of the beautiful things about poetry is that is can be something different to everyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment