The poem is very effective and successful in its aim to update the traditional Bible story to appeal to people living in today’s world. Causley uses humour well in this poem but it is clear that it is not really a joyful story and he achieves to convey this with his sad undertones throughout the poem that become increasingly noticeable. I think it is a simple yet meaningful poem with a definite Christian moral.
The subject matter of “Innocent’s Song” is “Herod”, however Causley seduces the reader into believing it is Santa Claus until the last line where it states, “Herod is his name”. Causley misleads the reader to believe that the poem is about Santa Claus by saying things such as “presents”, “smiling stranger” and “hair as white as gin”.
As you look back over the poem you realise there are words that you overlooked that clearly indicate it could not have been Santa Claus. The very first line “who’s that knocking at the window” proves that it cannot have been Santa Claus because he is famously known to come down the chimney. However on the first read you do not take this in and therefore still expect it to be Santa Claus. This proves how much control Causley has over his readers.
The poem is divided into 7 stanzas. All the stanzas contain four lines with the exception of the two final stanzas. Here the penultimate stanza has three lines and the final stanza contains only one line. I believe that these two stanzas are really meant to be joined together to make one, however Causley chose to separate the final line to enable it to stand out more.
The rhyming scheme is a simple yet strict one with the last word on the second and fourth lines always rhyming, for instance “door” and “floor” in the first stanza. The rhythm is very present, especially when read aloud which is what the poem is intended for. The simple structure and rhyme give it its simple rhythm, which is easy to recognise and pick up. The reason why the poem has such simple rhyme, rhythm and structure is because again it is a ballad.
Causley is informing the reader of the evil and cruelness of Herod. It is clear the poet is not a supporter of Herod. I know this because the atmosphere Causley creates through the poem is one of suspense, fright, death and evilness. He does not want the reader to like Herod. He uses scary words and phrases to set a scary and frightening tone. The poem is very dark and grimacing.
Every stanza with exception only to the final stanza starts off with a question word. Use of these questions creates suspense. It also works well with the title “Innocent’s Song”. To me this title suggests that the poem is being sung by an innocent child. The child is sweet, helpless and scared. The child asking questions like “who’s that knocking on the window” prove how insecure the child is and when the child says, “why does he ferry my fireside” you can feel how scared he is. Causley makes it clear the child is the victim.
Another way Causley generates suspense is by not openly stating what is going on. He indicates what the innocent child thinks is happening but we are left in the dark as to the real facts, just as the child is himself. This makes you feel like the child and so we can sympathise with the child. We are made to experience the same feelings.
When describing the exterior of Herod Causley uses a contrast of hot and cold words. He says “rubies on his fingers”, “fingers made of fumes”, “yellow, yearning eyes” and the particularly graphic “salty snow run red”. These create images of warm colours and also fire and blood like colours. I believe these images show that Herod is full of greed, jealousy, hatred and that he is killing people. In the case of the “yellow, yearning eyes” I believe this may represent gold as the entire stanza where this quote comes from has a yellow theme. This suggests Herod is greedy, always craving gold.
The cold words Causley uses are things such as “a cold, cold crown on his head”. He repeats the word “cold” which he does to accentuate how cold, bitter, and unloving it is. It made me think that the crown was empty of any emotion perhaps because Herod was not the rightful owner. This might also be an indication of the presence of Jesus.
He uses alliteration to describe Herod when he says he is a “smiling stranger”. This actually sounds quite sinister and I imagine the smile not to be a joyful welcoming one but more of a disturbing smirk.
There are also animal phrases in the poem that point to the nasty presence of Herod. He says Herod “caws his carol”. The word “caws” refers to ravens or crows, which are black and evil looking birds. He also says “spider” which represents the fear of the innocent child, as spiders are animals that are known for being scary.
The reference Causley makes to “gin” is interesting too as alcohol is sometimes known as the “devil’s drink”. All of these words are part of the menacing picture that is created of Herod by Causley.
The poem is overall an insight into what it would feel like to be the innocent child at the time of Herod. I found the poem dark and at some times alarming. Throughout the poem Causley chooses each word extremely well to convey the fearsome story.
I believe Charles Causley chose to get inside the head of an innocent child in order to make this story more effective. The story is based on a Christian story but Charles Causley has looked at it in a totally different angle. The poem really touched me and made me think. I enjoyed this poem the most out of the three I am discussing.
The subject matter of “Journey of the Magi” is the story of the birth of Jesus but it looks more at the three kings and their journey. That is why the poem is called “Journey of the Magi” because the word magi mean kings. The reason I think Eliot chose to use the word “magi” instead of kings was because it sounds more enchanting. The story is told by one of the three kings in the story.
The structure of the poem is interesting. It is divided into two stanzas, the first one being much longer than the second. The first stanza explains and describes the journey up until the kings “finding the place”. The final stanza carries on after the meeting and conveys what affect the meeting had on the kings.
There is no evident rhyme scheme in the poem. The piece is not so regimented in its structure with there being a variety of length of lines throughout. This makes it a non-repetitive and complicated rhythm when read aloud.
The poem is telling of the “hard time” the kings had on their journey. Right from the beginning Eliot uses hard and harsh words to describe the journey. He uses words such as “deep, “sharp”, and “dead”.
About half way through the first stanza Eliot breaks into a list about how draining and absent of luxuries the journey was. The list is long anyway but the use of the conjunction “and” holding each point on the list together causes the list to appear even longer. It gives the impression that the list could go on and on.
The three kings are not the only people mentioned to have taken part on the journey. “Camels” and “camel men” accompanied the three kings and were meant to help the kings. However Eliot describes the camels as “refractory” and the camel men as “cursing and grumbling” men who only wanted their “liquor and women”. This proves how hard, desperate and difficult the journey must have been because the very people who were present on the journey to help ended up only being a hindrance.
The atmosphere is one of “hard and bitter agony”. You can feel how demanding and straining the journey was from the very first line “a cold coming we had of it”. Even towards the end of the first stanza after the new “dawn” which marks the start of the easier part of the journey there are still undertones of how difficult the journey was.
Eliot also uses allusions a lot in his writing. When Eliot says the “three trees on the low sky” I think he could be implying a variety of things. The “three trees” could be representing: the three kings themselves; the Father, Son and Holy Ghost; the three points of the cross; or it could be an allusion of the crucifixion where Jesus was crucified with a man on either side of him. I can’t choose which one of these possibilities is right and I think that might be the way Eliot intended it.
Another example is of “an old white horse galloped away” which is an allusion of the apocalypse. Eliot is very clever with his language by including these references. He taps into the reader’s brain by casually dropping in things like the “white horse” which is something the reader already knows about. Eliot is always making the reader think.
The tone is very negative. The kings are forever complaining about what a “hard time” they “had of it”. When they finally do reach their destination they only claim it is “satisfactory”. The following stanza is then extremely pessimistic with a theme of “death”. The final line “I should be glad of another death” is very downbeat.
Although at the end of their journey the kings found the truth that there is only one God they do not seem to be happy about their discovery. When they return they describe how their people who are “clutching their gods” appear “alien” to them. It is like their whole life has been a misguided. When the king says, “I should be glad of another death” I believe he is referring to his own death. Because his whole life has been a lie he no longer wishes to live. The essence of life has been drained out of him in the strenuous journey and he feels he will never recover. The journey was a spiritual awakening for the kings that challenged their previous held beliefs. When the kings found out they were wrong it left them uncomfortable and sad.
Eliot himself was a very spiritual man and I believe this may be the reason why he wrote the poem. He believed strongly that man without spiritual awareness was a waste. I believe one of the teachings of the poem is that without spirit or faith you might as well be dead.
The poem has a constant theme of “birth” and “death” that is especially apparent in the final stanza. The first time Eliot mentions the word “dead” is on the fifth line when he is using it to describe “winter”. His mention of the “white horse” which represents the apocalypse is also significant to the theme of death because it means the death of the world. In the final stanza he mentions “birth” and “death” numerous times. The “birth” is the birth of Christianity and of the truth. The “death” is of the worship of “multiple gods” which the kings now know to be a mistake. The “death” is also the destroyed faith of the kings.
I found this poem hard to understand at the beginning. On closer inspection though I managed to like it. I still don’t understand exactly what Eliot is saying but I think this may be intentional because Eliot liked to show off with his language and have lines with multiple or no meanings. I believe the poem is very spiritual. He takes the story of the birth of Jesus but looks more at what this “birth” did to the people’s inner beliefs. It is a very deep and poignant poem.
The three poems all deal with the aspect of Christmas with each poem telling a different story based around Jesus. “Ballad of the Bread Man” fundamentally looks at the entire life of Jesus, covering all the important landmarks concerning his birth, life, death. “Innocent’s Song” focuses on the story of “Herod”. “Journey of the Magi” concentrates on the journey of the three kings. These are all different stories but this is not the only difference.
Both of the Causley poems are ballads and therefore have a strong rhyme scheme, rhythm and a strict structure. Eliot’s poem is not a ballad and does not need to fit a mould as the other two poems do. As you look at the page and read the poems aloud a pattern is more evident in the two Causley poems. “Journey of the Magi” has two very unequal stanzas while the lengths of the stanzas in the two ballads are exactly the same. There are more stanzas in the two ballads but they are shorter.
All three poems use imagery such as alliteration and similes to great effect. In “Ballad of the Bread Man” a simile used is “safe as water” while in “Innocent’s Song” a simile used is “hair as white as gin”. In “Journey of the Magi” an example of alliteration is “cold coming” while in “Ballad of the Bread Man” an example of alliteration is “big blue”. The imagery used in “Ballad of the Bread Man” is not as mature or complex as the other two poems. The language generally in “Ballad of the Bread Man” is not as mature though because its target audience is children.
The poems also all use repetition. In “Ballad of the Bread Man” Causley repeats “nobody” at the beginning of the first three lines in a stanza. This is similar to where in “Innocent’s Song” Causley repeats “Who’s” at the beginning of the first two lines in a stanza. Eliot also uses repetition but differently to the way in which Causley does. He repeats the word “journey” in the line “for a journey, and such a long journey”. When Causley uses repetition it is more straightforward.
The tone of “Ballad of the Bread Man” at the beginning is quite amusing which is very unlike the two other poems that don’t use humour. All three poems do have undertones of sadness. In “Ballad of the Bread Man” it is sad because “nobody seemed to care” about Jesus and his kind offerings. In “Innocent’s Song” it is sad because the innocent child is scared of the unknown person who is “knocking on the window”. “Journey of the Magi” is sad because of the “hard time” the kings had on their journey that took place at “the worst time of year”.
When I think of Christmas I immediately think of happy thoughts such as bright colours, presents, and family. These poems remind me that Christmas is not necessarily a happy time. All the poems deal with negative aspects of Christmas and remind you of the some of the upsetting, frightening and unpleasant points of it.
I instantly enjoyed “Ballad of the Bread Man” because it was very easy to understand and lines such as “they stored him safe as water” until “he burst out like a jack-in-the-box” made me laugh. I also understood the message of how people ignored Jesus most of the time in his life.
“Innocent’s Song” is different to “Ballad of the Bread Man” because it is a lot more sinister. However when you look closely at how the two poems are made up using such things as imagery and rhyme you can tell that they are in some way related. I enjoyed “Innocent’s Song” because the imagery was quite original and the overall poem was very tender and emotive. I thought “does the salty snow run red?” was a really dramatic line and the thought of the innocent child really moved me.
“Journey of the Magi” is noticeably different to the two Causley poems even in its layout. Although some of the techniques of language are similar it is clear different poets wrote them. “Journey of the Magi” is more complicated and harder to comprehend. I liked the final stanza where Eliot asks if the birth of Jesus was a “birth or death?” The message in this poem is more diverse and unusual and that’s what I liked about it.
The three poems all deal with different stories about Christmas and from different perspectives. They are each trying to teach the reader something different and they are also aimed at different audiences. They use some similar methods in their language to convey their messages but at the same time they are distinguishable. The two Causley poems are the most alike while the Eliot poem really stands out and is very unique.
