Summary
Summary Stephen Spender - "XXI" - Analysis
This is a summary and analysis of the poem "XXI" by Stephen Spender.
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This poem is essential to understanding Spender as a poet. In thispoem, Spender makes the idea of the “wings” clearer as he says,
"The writings are my only wings away". This statement is, indeed,
crucial to understanding Spender's poetry.
It is, so to speak, the cornerstone of his philosophy and thought as a
poet. The words "wings" and "away" are two key words to
understanding Spender's philosophy as revealed in his poetry. Indeed,
it is this very announcement that the poet abides by henceforth.
Spender must have written this first poem after long contemplation of
his position as a poet. The significance of this poem lies in that it not
only shows a poet at a crucial turning point in his career, but also in
the determination and the confirmation the poet shows when deciding
upon his goal.
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Explanation:
The poem opens with the poet stating that he has identified his aim
clearly and that he will fly to reach that aim, but that flight will take him
a lifetime to complete. The poet is satisfied, however, to take the
journey since it will be his only means of escape from the world that
chokes him.
People write about “towers long broken off from sight // And tortures
and wars, smoky and dark with rumour,” - which is to say that people
often talk about clamitous disasters, tragedies but no one ever takes a
minute to express their own thoughts/ reflect their own “buried”
thought.
As the poem progresses, the poem implies that the poet’s path on
earth was not at all clear, as that of the flight he is going to launch.
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