Summary
Summary Stephen Spender - "XVII" - Analysis
This is a summary and analysis of the poem "XVII" by Stephen Spender.
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The significance of the individual , which is the first strand inSpender's political commitment, is explored in "Who live under the
shadow of a war", whose title echoes the premonition of a forthcoming
major war in the poem "In 1929".
STANZA ONE
"Who live under the shadow of a war" poses the question of the
significance of the individual, especially the poet, in a time of crisis.
This sense of insignificance is compounded by an inability to act or a
futility of action. Although the poet claims that he is brought to a
standstill by the pressure of events, the half-rhyming "stop" with "gap"
neatly suggests that the standstill is temporary. (The stopping affords
the time to meditate upon the poet's present situation; to consider the
question "What can I do that matters?"
STANZA TWO
This stanza adopts and finely develops this state of hesitant
insignificance; employing natural imagery to signify internal forces:
"How often, on the powerful crest of pride, I am shot with
thought//That halts the untamed horse of the blood, The grip on good."
The images of "the powerful crest of pride" and "the untamed horses
of the blood" re-work traditional symbols which, although suggests a
combination of the parable and the aphorism and recalling both the
religious symbolism of William Blake and the celebratory and sensual
writing of D.H.Lawrence, exude an intense personal significance.
He believes that he lives saturated with pride and rationality and
denounces the significance of his writing.
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