Road to East
Asia
Road to East
Asia
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Faculty of Arts, York University
Vol.3, 1998-1999
Amanda Carrell responds to "the description of
refusing to kneel for
the executioners" and the resistance it implies. The phrase "a blood-red dawn
evokes strong emotions."
Stephen Plunkett: I like the use of the horizon separating
the living and the dead (i.e., the heaven and earth). The comparison of
stars to bullet holes and dawn to the blood produced by the wounds is
fantastic.
Manus Donahue feels that the poem does not emphasize the
importance of the
individual but likes the imagery of the last stanza.
Ali Johnson sees an "ominous but hopeful" tone and a wish for
"a return
to normalcy."
Luke Cheatham: The reader can
sense the defiance of the narrator, refusing to kneel.
Adelita Hinojosa calls the poem "very deep and emotional" and
feels the
sense of pride from the man. "Dawn means
that from all this bloodshed and massacre a new time will come, one that
is better for all men that want to be just that, a man."
Jeff Miller: I do not like the contradiction in this poem. In
lines 4-7
he proclaims he is no hero and that he just wants to be a man. After
that it seems he is holding himself up to be a hero saying he will not kneel and
using the cliche "wind of
freedom." It is dripping with false modesty.
Jim Wilson: Very noble poem. This may be an age without
heroes, but at least he won't die a coward, a traitor, or a villain.
Jon Cox: By kneeling on the ground, the speaker is really
choosing the sky.
Nathan Pederson: A striking scene of oppression and
hopelessness that tears at one's heart.
Amy Thomas notes "the pride factor" and the good imagery
(star-like bullet holes and blood-red dawn).
Field Claytor: I like the fact that the speaker won't give up
and stands
up for what he believes.
Tim Deaton: I find lines 4-6 appealing: "I am no hero / In an
age
without heroes / I just want to be a man." Today in a world where
everyone wants to be number one and on top of the world, it's cool how
he doesn't care if he is noticed as being famous or not.
Kim Gorman likes the statement that he will not kneel allowing
the executioners to
look tall and the comparison of bullet holes to stars.
Dan Jackson: I enjoy the calming sense that he is
expressing before his death. He accepts his execution proudly; he will
not let the executioners be above him. The proud defiance sends a
message to everyone that freedom comes in many forms including death.
Rinie Hines: I like the aspiring image of dawn coming from the
blood of
the murdered innocence.
Amanda Carrell: The poem reminds me of an endless succession
of protesters briefly lighting up and then extinguishing, but still they
had their moment. The succession of protesters will continue until the
world can tolerate "a child's heart."
Kaye Brown: I like the descriptive imagery.
Ali Johnson notes the juxtaposition of good-nature and evil-man
and
man-made things. He appreciates the dark-to-light imagery (like a sunrise
beginning).
Ben Patton: This poem appeals to the emotions because it's a
man's last thoughts, his
last words before he dies, and therefore they carry
a very personal meaning. The tone of hopelessness is evident as people
are being murdered one by one.
Jim Wilson: The speaker longs for the poetry and beauty that
once infused Eastern culture. The honest confession of one facing
execution is touching.
Ehren Buchanan: Very sad poem. I like the contrast between
light and death ("silently live forever / Silently die and are gone").
Dan Jackson: In this poem I find the question, "Why
don't you sing anymore?" very beautiful. His country was at one time
great, but the shadow of oppression has silenced the people and turned
the world gray and lifeless, void of hope.
Miranda Miller says that the usage of light and dark imagery
gives one a
sense of life and death.
Rinie Hines: I love the way he makes silence into
a sound that is felt and heard, especially in contrast to music imagery
like the lute or the singing river.
Stephen Plunkett: Excellent poem, especially the point on
human depravity: "at the end of hatred is hatred." Nice paradox in
"mothers breed light; darkness breeds mothers." Outstanding full circle
from depravity to everlasting brotherhood and alliance.
Manus Donahue likes the repetition of "not" at the beginning
of each
stanza. A concluding two-line stanza in the positive might have a
strong effect.
Emilie Mitchell describes the work as "a good poem, focused
on specific
thought."
Jim Wilson comments on the line "Not gods but children/ Amid
the
clashing of helmets." According to Jim, "War is just a children's
crusade. Why do we continue to give our babies guns?"
Travis Schrank also likes the above line and points out that
wars are
not fought by the powerful but by the weak.
Jessica Martin: The poem does a great job of portraying the
tragedies of war.
Field Claytor points out that the author seems to focus a lot
on
darkness and hatred.
Kim Gorman: The allusions to time (clock eclipse, birthday,
every
year, age) are effective in conveying the meaning of the poem in respect
to war.
Rinie Hines: This poem really shows the heartache
behind all of the glitzy stories of war: the dead lie everywhere,
frightened children pray to a seemingly unanswering God, but then it
resolves into an image of light with the underlying unity of all human
souls from either side of the conflict.
Manus Donahue points out the effective image associated with
"how vast
is the five year old sky."
Ben Patton: The image of a five year old sky is quite
interesting because children
believe that the sky has no limits and is always beautiful. They haven't fully
experienced some of life's
horrors.
Rinie Hines: I like the comparison of a bureaucracy to winter
and a
computer, both cold and unfeeling with no regard for human souls and the
way he juxtaposes the heat from smoldering words to the chill of
winter.
Amanda Carrell: I see an endless line of robots slowly
destroying
individual thought.
Stephen Plunkett likes this one best, noting the excellent use
of
metaphor and personification.
Jeff Miller: A wheelchair connotes oppressiveness while the
rest of the poem tells of
freedom.
Travis Schrank: The image of the bureaucratic winter conveys
the author's distaste for
bureaucracy.
Amy Thomas notes the political feel, the sense of frustration
and the
lack of nature imagery.
Joel Welborn likes the description of the speaker's "moment of
enlightenment and the bureaucratic winter."
Dan Jackson: The imagery shows the constant gray skies of
oppression
that intense government control brings to a country.
Miranda Miller: It's like you are going down a corridor all
your life and you choose which doors to open. But what's at the end of
the corridor? A hole to eternity.
Manus Donahue appreciates the catchy concluding stanza but does
not like
the all lower case forms.
Ehren Buchanan comments on the interesting parallel structures
and nice
use of separation between extended similes.
Joel Welborn: I like the description of the pen coming out of
lost hope and its resistance to its fate.
Students in senior Advanced Placement English enjoyed the poems of Bei
Dao and responded to his forceful use of imagery and dramatic and
historical situations.