Poetic Appreciation of Poem
2.3 The Inchcape Rock
About the poet and poem:
This is a ballad, written by Robert
Southey. It is the story of the 14th-century attempt by the Abbot of
Aberbrothok to install a warning bell on the Inchcape, a notorious stone
reef about 18 km off the east coast of Angus occupied by the Bell Rock
Lighthouse. The poet was inspired by the legendary story of a pirate who
removed the bell on the Inchcape rock and invited death for himself because of
his own deed.
The Theme
The Abbot of Aberbrotok installed a
bell on the Inchcape rock to alert the mariners to avoid the collision, the
pirate plucked the bell in jealousy. In return journey , he invited death
due to the lack of an Inchcape bell.
Poetic Device
The figure of speech
used in the poem is a a b b. The
tone of the poem is energetic as it is a balled. There are 4 lines in each
stanza, figures of speech like personification, simile, metaphor, and beautiful
word pictures of the story. We find many old English words here.
Special features
We observe a
beautiful presentation of the natural beauty of the sea, it has thus a sea
background. Being a ballad, we find great energy while reading the poem.
The poem depicts a word of an image of marine beauty.
My opinion/message
The poem is
didactic, with a great moral message
‘as we sow, so shall
we reap’
This message is
useful to everyone, we are responsible for our destruction the qualities like
jealousy and hatred invite destruction for us.
