Poetic-Surge Poetry Appreciation by @ajremy

Here is my entry for the poetic- surge poetry appreciation contest put together by @ajremy to appreciate "Within Me" by @eliasjay.

I'll attempt a line-by-line analysis of the poem.

Am still young as the rivers that flow.

The poem opens with the poet's description of himself as young as the rivers that flow. The use of simile to compare the personae to a flowing river implies freedom of expression and that of self determination.

Chasing the wild which wanes

Coming from a mind that has freedom of expression and self determination, the poet goes ahead to talk about where his youthful energy is channeled which is to chase the wild wind and this dissipates his energy.

Though the blossom is all but show
That which is sweet also pains

These two lines are in tandem with the chasing of the wild and points at youthful exuberance. An average 21st century youth wants it all glamorous either by hook or by crook and this charade is what the poet personae portrays.

Life they say is not a bed of roses; sometimes we get lemon and at other times, lemonade; the sky isn't always blue. So also is the sweet glamorous life the poet wears as a facade. The life comes with attendant pain.

Goodness wears the garment same as darkness

This line is a continuum of the last line of the first stanza. And the cliche 'nothing good comes easy' readily comes to mind. Also, no matter how brightly rosy life seems to have been, we all would still go through that dark phase. Nature itself teaches us this with the day and nught cycle.

Man tries hard but the land is barren

The language of agriculture used in this line is to depict the toil, pain and agony an average youth like the poet goes through in the process of becoming that beautiful edifice.

The barren land in this line is symbolic of the poet's country where things seem not to work. Once the work/business environment is stifling, the efforts of the youth which the poet portrays, woukd be futile.

The poet thus, identifies with the life of hustle that many live. Many wake at dawn and sleep at dusk, yet there is little or nothing to show for it and the cliche "the struggle is for real" seems to have come to stay.

When none can, then only him can harness
As the sky is large, so my eyes are laden

The struggle described in the preceding line continues but now, the poet introduced a twist. The poet seems to look to another for some respite, but no one was there to help, no shoulders to lean on. With the seeming helpless state of the poet, he's got to take responsibility for his becoming by taking charge of his life and look to no other but himself.

At this point in the poem, the title of the poem, 'Within Me' is playing out. But then, the poet looks at the myriad of seeming opportunities with the symbol of the large sky. However, the poet's "eyes are laden". The use of contrast here depicts the condition of an average Nigerian youth that hears it countless times that the grass isn't greener on the other side, as there are untapped opportunities and resources that abound in his home country, yet he seems blind to these opportunities.

Even as am saddled across on the ferry
My sleep is sweet as the mulberry

The poet is rather coasting home in the opening lines of the last stanza. For a minute, he seems to leave his struggles, burdens and worries behind to savour the respite he's got in sleep. Sleep here is also symbolic of a time in a man's life where he gets to dream. Adam's sleep in the holy book that produced Eve readily comes to mind.

The light of hope burns in glee
For that which I seek lies here in me

And finally, there seems to be some glimmer of hope that brings the poet some optimism. And the answer to the question of becoming and living out his full potential lies within him.
The poet uses these lines to speak to that average youth who's been looking to every other person and thing apart from himself for his definition of a life lived to the maximum, to look within; for each and every one of us has locked up within us everything we need to become who we're supposed to be. A fish needs no other to swim; a lion needs no other to be the king of the jungle; so also man.

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Thank you once again for putting this contest up @ajremy.