Poetry analyses: Wild Bees, by James K. Baxter

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At first glance, this poem seems to be about the poet's retrospective view of an event in the distant past. The persona talks about how a group of friends who, on a summer evening, try to 'steal' some honey by smoking the bees out. However, the poem also can be interpreted as a young person's spiritual journey and his growing realization of the importance of respecting living beings.

The poem is written entirely in first person, which enhances the sense that this is a personal experience, and that the poem describes the persona's personal journey of change. At the beginning of the poem, the poet compares the wild bees to 'tigers', hinting that in their normal state, bees are strong, harmful and capable of attacking and killing humans. This simile also suggests that the persona feels that bees should be seen as a threat, like tigers. Furthermore, the description of their work as 'passionless industry' suggests that the persona feels that bees are mechanical workers, almost robotic, and do not have the passion for work that humans do. With the help of first person narration, the poet establishes in the first stanza that the persona feels that bees are dangerous and inhumane, incapable of feeling. Nevertheless, even at this early stage, the description of the bees with their 'gauze wings a-glitter' hints at ambivalence on the persona's part; his fear and dislike of the bees seem to be mixed with a reluctant appreciation of their beauty.

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The poet then goes on to create an ominous, depressing atmosphere. He describes the tree where the bee hive is as 'rotten', which hints of the fragility of existence and that the bee hive itself is close to death as well. He also uses other negative words like 'black' and 'stagnant' to accentuate the feeling of impending doom. The poet then describes the group of friends as 'gloved and masked to the eyes like plundering desperadoes'. This suggests criminality and foreshadows the act of evil about to take place. The poet then ends the second stanza with effective use of ...

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