of 1984. Language its tracer.
No image like the image of language.
I had waded out about thigh deep.
Then a shout from the beach.
I held in my hand half a coconut shell
of coconut milk and 150-proof rum
and dumped it white into the waves
when it came on me how sweet it had been,
then the idea I was not finished,
then the act of reaching down
with the idea I would get it back."
I think that Rodney was trying to make a statement depicting how hard it is to describe scenes and emotions using only language, yet noting the magic of how language can completely change the meaning. If one takes this poem in a literal sense, it is about a man who is in the water, dumps a good drink into the waves, and then regrets it. However, this can be interpreted differently depending on the reader. I, for example, took the writer being 'thigh deep' in the water as a danger- he could be swept away by the current at any moment. Furthermore, the drink itself could represent an idea that he let go, but then came to realize that he could do so much more with said idea and thus regretted his decision. The writer, therefore, took a risk (when he was thigh deep in the water) when discarded his idea (rum).
I think that Rodney was trying to make a statement depicting how hard it is to describe scenes and emotions using only language, yet noting the magic of how language can completely change the meaning. If one takes this poem in a literal sense, it is about a man who is in the water, dumps a good drink into the waves, and then regrets it. However, this can be interpreted differently depending on the reader. I, for example, took the writer being 'thigh deep' in the water as a danger- he could be swept away by the current at any moment. Furthermore, the drink itself could represent an idea that he let go, but then came to realize that he could do so much more with said idea and thus regretted his decision. The writer, therefore, took a risk (when he was thigh deep in the water) when discarded his idea (rum).
Great post and spot on about the Rum and coconut getting dumped and so on and yeah. However you missed the first stanza! AAAAHHHH! "No image like the image of language" language is not an image so what does that mean? Try adding in quotes to your analysis such as when you mention the senses you should quote about the smell of the rum and coconut and touching the water to bring it back
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