For Julia, In The Deep Water

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One of the most important things in life is the love one receives from a parent, or in some cases, several parents. The nurturing one receives when they are young is the back-bone of their overall character. On the other end of the spectrum, the act of providing this affection to an offspring is quite possibly one of the most necessary aspects of a parents’ life. The poems “For Julia, In the Deep Water” and “I Still Hear the Bell Ringing” share multiple similarities- the theme of a parents’ love being one of these similarities. In addition, both share a dire tone along with the teaching of important lessons. The first poem to be compared, “For Julia, In the Deep Water” by John N. Morris, takes place as an upset set of parents watch their …show more content…
In analyzing “For Julia, In the Deep Water” it is obvious that Julia’s parents love her so much that they can barely even stand watching their daughter panic. As Julia screams for her mother it is said that she is “drowning.” However, the mother is not literally drowning but rather suffocated by her inability to comfort her child. The sixteenth and seventeenth lines in this poem say, “She is doing nothing, She never did anything harder.” These two lines have an underlying meaning- nothing has ever been so difficult as having to watch her child struggle in fear. Both instances are used to create the poem’s theme. In “I Still Hear the Bell Ringing,” the man’s father leaves him with the following three phrases of advice: “Take your garbage home”, “If you don’t know a word, look it up in the dictionary”, and most importantly “Never hate anybody.” These words of advice are used to introduce the father’s love for his son. Later in the poem, readers learn of the father’s death. Line 24 particularly sticks out to further prove this point, it says “on a trail only my father could see, I wish he had taught me how” This line can be used to infer that the man’s father knew he was going to die, but could not face telling his son. This example only further illustrates the theme of the …show more content…
While it may seem obvious, Morris’ poem illustrates teaching a child to swim. However, there is a more meaningful lesson being taught. The final four lines of this poem state, “Your way toward us, You are learning how In the helpless water It is with our skill We live in what kills us.” Rather than just learning how to swim, this is describing the process of growing up. In addition to the maturing of the child, this also applies to the parents learning to give their child the opportunity to grow and do things on her own. The lessons taught in “I Still Hear the Bell Ringing” are much more obvious than in Morris’ poem. Rather than using underlying meanings, Leggo quite bluntly illustrates this by writing in the father’s death and giving the readers examples of how the son now uses these words of advice from his father. For example, it is stated that “If you don't know a word, look it up in a dictionary, strong advice, for now I know many words and in words I am known.” This demonstrates the important lessons he
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