The Cyclist by Louis MacNiece

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The poem, "The Cyclist", by Louis MacNiece is a set about an insightful analogy on life. The poem is full of vivid imagery and beauty that conjures up delightful memories, and an overriding feeling of freedom. Through the poem MacNiece reminds us that we must truly treasure the brief but special moments of our childhood and life.

MacNiece, through the poem, expresses "life" as a single sentence. His analogy is that life is a sentence, "the main sentence" represents our mechanical everyday 'work' life but between "the main sentence", between the "horizon's brackets" there lies our free time and leisure. However these brackets are only "five minutes" of our life, these moments are scarce, just as this boy's summer will pass so quickly by. So, from this we feel that the poet is telling us, life is short, grasp the sweet golden moments while you can, live in the "brackets".

The image of "the unpassing horse" further supports his message of savouring life. This image is used all throughout the poem as a comparison of being frozen in time, frozen in the "brackets" and 'working' life. The description "Blazoned in chalk" suggest that the poet is talking about a large existing carving in Sussex, South England on the chalk downs. Perhaps a memory of his childhood summer vacations.

The run on lines in the poem create a lazy mood to the poem. We feel the smooth languidness of the lines as we read the poem and almost feel the heat. This mood promotes the theme of "freedom" expressed in the poem. The very first word "Freewheeling" conjures up a sense of 'carefree' enjoyment. The delightful description "the wind he causes in passing/ Cools the sweat of his neck, making him one with the sky" expresses the absolute freedom and bliss of summer. The description of being "one with the sky" is very sublime; it demonstrates the openness and endless opportunities of being in the "brackets".
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The imaginary world of childhood is put forth in the idea of grasping "summer" in the handlebars of the boy's bicycle. We almost feel that we are in the imaginary world, the perfect world to this child. Similarly, we also come across a delightful idea of catching summer with butterfly nets in the third stanza. This imagery further promotes the idea of freedom in the poem.

The boy is described as a "parenthesis", this further suggests that he is not in the "real world"; he is not part of the main sentence - not for now ...

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