Malala Yousafzai once said, “I raise up my voice—not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard… we cannot succeed when half of us are held back”. This quote depicts the audacious voyage of one of the most influential poets, with a focus on woman’s empowerment, Anna Laetitia Barbarald. Anna Laetitia, the author of this extraordinary poem, is said to be a notable feminist literary writer that has been cherished since the eighteenth century. Barbauld is a strong willed woman who desires nothing less than woman equality.
She believes “women’s contributions are equal to that of men and sometimes even more”, “thus pointing to the fact that woman are capable of achieving anything” (Tauqeer page 1). The author creates a well written poem that engages the reader. Not only does the writer influence thinking and relatable sentiment throughout the ambiguous context, but also provides symbols that triggers ideas alone, ideas mingled with emotion. The poet designed this poem to contain several symbols, which brings character and originality to the writing.
In the poem “To a Little Invisible Being Who is Expected Soon to Become Visible”, the author displays a distinct relationship between the symbols that are emblematic of the values revealed in the ideogram. The poet presents this association with the use of symbolism, setting, diction, and rhyme scheme. Symbolism is the key element in the poem “To a Little Invisible… ”, the author intertwines this literary technique to bring a much deeper value and significance to the chosen object. The writers most obvious symbolic object is a unborn child.
This unborn child, genderless and nameless with unlimited potential and opportunity, represents on a deeper level a woman’s strength and untapped potential waiting to be emerged. The unborn child serves as a bundled of excitement and anticipation for “what powers lie folded in thy curious frame” (Barbauld Line 5). Although the author does not make direct relationship between the child and woman, the reader can conclude a woman’s unraveled strength, courage, and power is typified by the unknown possibilities that can be found in the birth of a new person.
Rather than being more specific and defining the child as a woman, the author transforms the new born into a symbol, providing the audience with the opportunity to interpret this object personally. Through the child, the poet also indicates a strong relationship between the underlying character’s traits and the symbol. Namely, the reader recognizes, through the symbol, woman feel unborn, unable to fulfill there complete destiny, and the urge to make there mark on the world. The symbolic link between a unborn child and a woman, acts as a comprehensive theme in the poem “To a Little…”, providing evidence to the emotions women experience.
Furthermore, the author utilizes symbolic setting throughout the story. The main setting is first laid out by descriptions of a specific scenario, “the genial season’s warmth to share, fresh younglings shoot, and opening roses glow” (barbauld lines 9, 10). These lines from the poem demonstrate a joyful, welcoming tone to the setting. With the use of symbolism the reader can predict the setting of this poem most likely takes place during the spring, representing new life emerging and fresh starts. The author properly exploits the technique of symbolism to aid in the significant of new beginnings.
Through the writer’s context the audience receives a greater connection between what the setting resembles in the plot of the poem. Likewise, the setting aids in the symbolic comprehension of the poem by describing women blooming with equality and receiving a fresh view from society. Diction is a key element and foundation to a well written poem. To begin with, Barbauld uses words like “living tomb” and “prison doors” in her poem, rather than being more specific and defining the feeling of captivity blatantly (Barbauld lines 20, 29).
This word choice in her poem provides the reader with the opportunity to interpret this vocabulary personally. Barbauld’s word choice relates back to her perspective on woman’s empowerment. For example, many of Barbauld’s writings are designed to express her thoughts on woman’s equality and position in society. She not only believes woman deserve justice, but also that “empowering woman will benefit world wide development” ( Dulfo page 1). By basing her diction on her belief, she creates a more vivid relation to the revealed emotions that this poem describes.
In addition, Barbauld frequently refers to “curious frame” and “little captive” rather than a specific name, this word choice provides the reader with a blank space to get more involved in the reading and the ability to insert their own experience (Barbauld lines 5, 29). This not only provides the reader with entertainment, but also aids in poet- reader interaction. Furthermore, word choice that results in rhyme scheme effectively demonstrates a fun, amusing tone throughout the poem. Barbauld uses alternating rhymes at the end of each line in her poem, which brings pleasure to the reader.
For example, “slow” and “go”, or “wait” and “gate” (Barbauld lines 1,2,3,4). The alternating pattern of rhyming words creates a more lively, engaging poem for the reader to appreciate. The use of rhyme contributes to the effectiveness and flow of Barbauld’s work by providing a reliable pattern for the reader to follow and predict. Overall, the author uses a variety of different approaches to effectively provide the audience with a well written poem. Throughout the poem the author displays symbolism through an unborn child, the setting in which the poem takes place, and diction.
Barbauld uses her incredible writing skills to create in the reader perspective, a sense of relation between symbols and a woman’s emotions. The literary method, symbolism, was properly employed to convey a sense of comprehension and relation to woman and the content. Likewise, the author adequately applies rhyme scheme to aid in the overall flow of the poem. All in all, the poet’s mastery in symbolism and structure provides the reader with an effective work of literary art that appeals to the audience in numerous techniques.
