A Birthday Candle
Donald Justice
Thirty today, I sawThe trees flare briefly like
The candles on a cake,
As the sun went down the sky,
A momentary flash,
Yet there was time to wish
This poem is more universal rather than cultural in theme. It's illustrating a 30 year old man having his birthday, rather fleetingly. The tone you would think would be happy because it is a birthday but it is more reminiscent. The fast pace of the poem describing the day being already over is a great parallel to life and how if goes by fast. Life is "a momentary flash" just as Donald Justice described his birthday. I thought this poem was interesting because it goes with somebody everybody says, life is short. For years teachers, parents, and other adults in our lives tell us life goes by fast, and you never realize it til' it has gone by. I thought the birthday candle was a great comparison to show how life flies by. Year after year we have a birthday, time keeps moving on, and in the grand scheme of things our lives are a momentary flash. Just like these candles during the birthday, they are only there for a short time. This applies to everybody, making it more of a universal rather than cultural theme.
Justice, Donald. A Birthday Candle. Middletown, CT: Wesley UP, 1960. Print.
I think the parallel you make with life being fleeting and the fact that this poem is super short is very intuitive. Also, the fleetingness of the candles flame contributes to the theme of this poem. It's cool that such a short poem can have such a powerful meaning.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Margret, the brevity of this poem couples very nicely with the subject matter. Your analysis was detailed and insightful. Overall I think your blog is really swinging.
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