Comprehensive Analysis of 'Relay of the Garden Wing' by Loftus Marais

This assignment provides a comprehensive analysis of Loftus Marais' poem, 'Relay of the Garden Wing'. It addresses key questions regarding the poem's classification as a narrative verse, supported by textual examples. The analysis identifies and discusses two prominent characteristics of Marais' poetic style, again using specific examples from the poem. Furthermore, the assignment explains the ironic nature of the concluding stanza and identifies the subject of the speaker's critique. The analysis incorporates elements such as rhyme, figurative language, and the poem's overall structure to provide a detailed understanding of the text. The assignment also includes references to relevant academic sources, such as Hussain (2018) and Van der Berg (2016), to support the arguments presented.

Loftus Marais ‘Relay Of The Garden Wing’ 1
Loftus Marais' Relay of the Garden Wing’
Student’s Name
Professor’s name
Name of the institution

Loftus Marais ‘Relay Of The Garden Wing’ 2
QUESTION 1
'Loftus Marais' Relay of the Garden Wing' is a narrative fresh. According to Hussain
2018, pp. 21-29, a poem is a narrative fresh if it has one of the following characteristics;
a) It has characters who are the subject of the story. The fern, poet, the man, the woman,
and the children represent the subject of the narrative.
b) The plot of the poem. Events follow others systematically. An example is, "look over the
lawns see how the man, woman, children go to school, go to work go keck".
c) It connects the past and the present. A good example phrase is, “A dog ate on my back
yesterday”, this paint the picture of what happened yesterday.
d) It involves the reader in the story. “Me” is used to strategically involve the reader in the
narration of the story.
e) Setting and location. The reader is under the fern where he/she could observe different
activities happening in the surrounding environment
QUESTION 2
Rhyme: Rhyme is the unique characteristic of Loftus Marais' poem "Garden Wax
Relay". In the first stanza, the words ferns and lawns are used at the end of the sentences
systematically to create a rhythm in the poem. Other words are; snails, spiders, and things at the
end of the sentences.
Figurative language: Specifically, this poem uses the metaphor.” I'm just kitsch
decoration", the phrase is used to compare the two things by calling one thing the other (Van der
Berg, 2016, p 78).

Loftus Marais ‘Relay Of The Garden Wing’ 3
QUESTION 3
There is no doubt that the final stroke is ironic. The speaker expresses the human feeling
which is a total opposite of what he was feeling. The woman in the window portrays a very
different environment from where the speaker was hence giving him a sense of hope from his
struggles. This poem can be critiqued in a number of the ways as follows:
a) Meter and Rhyme- The poem lack rhythm momentum in most of the line. It would be
better for short poems like this one to have a clear and defined rhythm.
b) Voice- The poem is completely in the first person voice. However, the woman on the
window is described in third person voice. Consistency in voices is very important in the
poem.
c) Language- The poem does not effectively make use of alliteration, assonance,
consonance
d) Stanzas- This poem would be more meaningful and attractive if it uses the equal number
of lines in the stanzas. There are no connections between the stanzas.
e) Title and Meaning- ‘Relay of the garden Spiral' title does not relate well to the content
of the poem. The poem brings about the aspect of contrast in human habitats. This could
have been captured in the title.
f) Imagery/Figurative Language- The poem slightly makes use of the metaphor and
repletion. This poem would have been more interesting if the speaker applied more of
this these techniques (Van der Berg, 2016, p 72).
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Loftus Marais ‘Relay Of The Garden Wing’ 4
References
Hussain, A.L.M.H., 2018. The characteristics of the poem in prose. AL_Mustansirya Journal of
Arts, (82), pp.1-30.
Van der Berg, D., 2016. Die verskillende verskyningsvorme van narratiewe poesie by Charl-
Pierre Naudé en Loftus Marais(Doctoral dissertation, Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch
University).