May Lam
Comment closely on the poem “Rising Five”, looking in particular at how Nicholson uses imagery.
“Rising Five” is about how people want to grow up quickly, and therefore how we want to rush through our lives and our youth. It is also about how we do not appreciate our precious and present moments in our lives, the fact that we are always looking forward into the future and not focusing on what we have now. The imagery used in this poem complements and emphasizes these messages to the reader, creating a ‘rushed’ tone and effect. For example, we immediately get the feeling of someone who is rushing in the first line of the poem “I’m rising five”.
Stanza one is about a boy who is 4 years and 8 months – “He’d been alive/Fifty-six months or perhaps a week more”. “Fifty-six months” sounds like a much longer time than 4 years and 8 months. We also know that he is counting the time as it passes “ perhaps a week more”, this suggests that the boy wants to rush through life and grow up more quickly, even being one week older counts. The imagery of the “little coils of hair/ Un-clicked themselves” gives us a sense of growth and vitality. Personification of the hair is used effectively. The coils are like springs – we can imagine the springs ‘un-clicking’ themselves, giving readers that a sense of explosive growth is about to happen.
