Row Your Boat by Shiphrah

 ROW YOUR BOAT

 

Introduction

A critical look at the entire economy of poetic art will offer us the rich datum: "the Greek verb (= I make or create)], gave rise to three words: ποιητης [poiet?s (= the one who creates)], ποιησις [poíesis (= the act of creation)] and ποιημα [poíema (= the thing created)]. From these we get three English words: poet (the creator), poesy (the creation) and poem (the created). A poet is therefore one who creates and poetry is what the poet creates.

One had to go back to this basics of poetry on account of the reading of Shiphrah's poem titled "Row Your Boat" which is herein the subject of review. Reviewing this piece entails a conscious and copious appreciation of the poem.

Structure and Content

The poem comes in six stanzas bearing three different patterns of lines with unequal rhythm; the first and last stanzas carry four lines, the second stanza stands alone as a couplet with five syllabic count-meter while the third, fourth and fifth stanzas come in unparallel sevens. Obviously, the piece lends itself as a free verse as if to tango with the underlying philosophy holding the poem: to create in oneself a free spirit, a spirit of liberation to be what one is meant to be.

By way of content, the first stanza begins with a couplet verse of some old nursery rhyme (used of repetition and alliteration), from which is derived the title of the poem under review, but what followed is a fast tone setting of what the poem aims to achieve: challenging the mind to the reality of life. In the first stanza, the poet accomplished almost all that he intended viz: to call on himself and any listener of his to seize the bull by the horn by doing the needful (row your boat gently down the stream- this implies one should struggle) but more important, in doing that one must never forget to be human (scream when you see the crocodile for only then can help come).

The second stanza comes in as though a refrain, to chorus into the mind the importance of taking heed to the call to live life: row row row your boat gently down the streaks.

In the third stanza the poet comes all out to shed light on what the first and second stanzas meant by the call they put out; employing the via negativa method, the poet makes a of litany of why the listening heart must row the boat gently down the stream of life; using vivid metaphors (paralyzed writer, ship fastened to anchor- unmovable, frozen brain, etc) one is schooled on the sad effects of failing to do the needful.

The fourth stanza, which for the reviewer is the highlight, is the moment of truth; the poet who took the personage of a sage sharing experience didn't shy from spilling the hard reality, a reality that any sailor of life must encounter - storms will come in the mould of reptiles and compounded by fake friends, not oblivious of mistakes that must be made as a result of human frailty (failing to move forward towards... And thinking a river for a stream). The had I known moments.

We come to a crescendo in the fifth stanza wherein without letting off the gas steam the poet continues sounding the alarm of truth using fine alliteration blended with witty parallelism (merrily (x4)... no song in life...let alone death), hence the logical implication is that no one claps for failure since it is an orphan but as for success who is "our" child, the world stands at attention... So sad so true.

Lest Shiphrah 'be-stays' a Queen and prophet of doom, especially in a society allergic to reality and truth, She closes the curtain with a strong optimism in what one may interpret as a radical twist from the starting point; therein, the listening heart is once again summoned to work, only that now he or she is assured of a smooth sailing.

Theme(s), Language, Mood and Tone

From the foregone, the central theme in the poem is "work" and this work is not just physical work regulated by kinetic rules but a work which means to live life rather than just to exist in life; other sub-themes include the reality of human frailty, of betrayals from friends, of unacceptability of failure and crowd association with success, of obstacles as a sure bet in life's sail.

The poet made use of a language that even the uneducated can understand, so simple yet aesthetic to the ears of the mind. It is the language that the contemporary world prefers (especially as seen in the last stanza). The mood pervading the poem is one of sobriety borne of experience garnered at a cost of years of encountering life at different sea levels; the tone is neither harsh nor comic, it is a tone reminiscent of a father-son or teacher-student dialogue albeit what the poem present is a one way dialogue. The piece is easily of a motivational lining, it is didactic to state the obvious. This sobriety of mood and mildness of tone is communicated and effected on the listener except if such a one pays little to no attention.

Evaluation

What we have in this piece is the three-fold characteristic element of an art: the creator, the creation, and the created. The creator (the poetess) is evidently a soul given to many experience be it the experience of being with others or the experience of being into herself; the creative process/the creation (poesy) by which the piece was birthed essentially is seen as a reflective one as can be seen in its reference to a childhood rhyme; the created product (the poem) on which this interaction is hinged is indeed equal to the standard of what a good art is. This judgment is given based on the realization in the perspective of the reviewer that this piece enables the reader to see the creator, listen to her and then in turn to see him/herself and listen to what the heart will respond. The evocation of memories of childhood days is a highlight all thanks to the ever sapful rhyme: row row row your boat...

The last stanza will not go unscrutinized considering its possible ambiguousness, one must ask: what does the persona means in saying after the long reality check giving that: "you won't see a crocodile and you won't need to scream?" Should it be interpreted as contrasting what the preceding lines do connote? Could it be false hope given just to calm troubled hearts? Is it possible to row down the stream of life without encountering crododiles and needing not to scream? What possible reading can be given to such critical statement?

Conclusion

I could meet a band of intellectuals or swarm of poets or a clowder of school kids and ask who is Eliphalet Oram Lyte? While many may look lost and disinterested, some may Ask if I'm mad. But if only I begin singing and rhyming:

Row, row, row your boat

Gently down the stream,

Merrily merrily, merrily, merrily

Life is but a dream

Everyone who has been to the four walls of a reasonable primary school will react with a harmless smile and many will join. Hardly is the name of Oram Lyte remembered but the fruit of his composing the tune to this poem of unknown author is ever remembered. What this unknown writer penned was a playful rhyme to help kids learn and for deep thinkers to mock life; but Shiphrah strolled back to memory lane, dusting off this piece and made of it a raw material from whence She birthed a piece which is no child's play's rhyme nor life mocking aid rather rich artwork to be taken with every seriousness. The message simply is: row your boat gently down the stream till you get to shore.

Indeed, from art was born art; from all these I see what is in every great work of art: the genius of its creator (the poet/writer), the rigours and ecstasy of the creative process (poesy) and the enduring beauty of the created content (this poem).

As Compiled and Reviewed by:

Gideon king and Merie