Our Heroes

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Adam Walters

English Language 223

Cynthia Hallen

November 27, 2007

Analysis of Phoebe Cary’s poem, Our Heroes

Through analysis of the poem Our Heroes by Phoebe Cary one can find more meaning and enjoyment of the poem. Analysis of the phonemic patterns in the poem can help one find more of the use of internal rhyming and appreciate the poetic talent that is in this poem, analysis of the semantics of the poem can help one find the basic meaning of the poem, and finally the analysis of the sense of the words that Cary chooses to use in the poem can help one understand a deeper meaning of the poem that can not be seen at first glance.

The phonemic transcription of Our Heroes can help the reader see the rhyme scheme and patterns that occur within the poem. Not only can one see the rhyme scheme through the phonemic transcription, but one can also find interesting internal rhymes. The phonemic translation of Our Heroes is as follows.

/hirz ə hænd tu ðə bXґ hu hæz krґĵ

tu du wΛt hi nouz tu bi raґt

wεn hi falz ґn ðə weґ əv tεmpteґšən

hi hæz ə hard bædļ tu faґt

hu straґvz əgεnst sεlf ņ hґz kamrædz

wґl faґnd ə moust paXwXfļ fou

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al anŗ tu hґm ґf hi kankŗz

ə čir fŗ ðu bXґ hu sεz nou

ðεrz mεni ə bædl fat deґli

ðə wərld nouz nəθing əbæut

ðεrz meni a breґv lґdl səljr

huz strengθ pXts ə liĵən tu ræut

ņ hi hu faits sґn singl hændəd

ґz mor əv ə hiro aґ se

ðæn hi hu lidz səljrz tu bædl

ņ kankrs baґ armz ґn ðə freґ

bi stεdfæst maґ bXґ wεn yr tεmptəd

tu du wət yu nou tu bi raґt

stænd frm bai ðə kəŗs əv mænhXd

ņ yu wґl orkəm ґn ðə faґt

ðə raґt bi yr bædl kraґ εvŗ

ґn weĵing ðə worfer əv laґf

ņ gad hu noz hu r ðə hiroz

wґl gґv yu ðə streґngθ fr ðə straґf /

With the phonemic transcription one can find the rhyme scheme of the poem much easier. The rhyme scheme for each stanza of the poem is abcbdefe. This is visible with the phonemic transcription where one can see that between lines six and eight the words

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‘foe’ and ‘no’ become transcribed to /fou/ and /nou/. The rhyme scheme is not that difficult to be seen without the phonemic transcription however there are many things that are only seen through the phonemic transcription.

Through the transcription more than just the rhyme scheme can be seen. One can see the repetition of a single sound in the beginning of the second stanza, in the first three lines, lines nine through eleven. The /ð/ sound is repeated three times with /ðεrz/, /ðə/, and /ðεrz/. One aspect of the phonemics in Our Heroes that is harder to notice without the phonemic transcription is the internal rhyme of the poem. In line nine there is an internal rhyme between the words /mεni/ and /deґli/. This internal rhyme puts the /i/ sound on the unstressed syllables in the line, which adds not only to the beat and tempo of that line but also to the entire poem. The use of internal rhyme is also used in the following lines; line one; / hænd/ and /hæz/, line two; /tu/ and /tu/, line four; /hæz/ and / bædļ/, line six; /moust/ and /fou/, line seven; /anŗ/ and /kankŗz/, line fourteen; /əv/ and /ə/, line fifteen; /hi/ and /lidz/, line sixteen; /kankrs/ and /armz/, line seventeen; /stεdfæst/ and /tεmptəd/ line eighteen; /tu/, /du/, and /tu/, line nineteen; /stænd/ and /mæn/ in /mænhXd/, line twenty; /wґl/ and /ґn/, line twenty-one; /raґt/ and /kraґ/, line twenty-two; /hu/ and /hu/, and line twenty-three /ðə/ and /ðə/. This extensive usage of internal rhyme keeps a steady rhythm and connects the lines together with more than the simple rhyme scheme that is used. Most people assume that rhyming only occurs at the end of the lines in a poem; however through the phonemic transcription of Our Heroes we can see that there is more than end rhymes in this poem.

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Analyzing the semantic aspects of Our Heroes can help one understand the simple meanings of the poem. In this poem Cary uses grammatical ambiguity to uncover a possible meaning of the poem. In the opening sentence of the poem, Cary says who the poem is for, “to the boy who has courage to do what he knows to be right”. However in the poem there are instances where the subject is not obviously this boy. One such instance is in the second stanza, starting with the second sentence,

“Stand firm by the colors of manhood, and you will o’ercome in the fight. “The right,” be your battle cry ever in waging the warfare of life, and God, who knows who are the heroes, will give you the strength for the strife”.

The first sentence is put in the directive form; Cary is commanding someone to “stand firm” however there is no subject in that sentence leaving the reader to guess who the subject of the command is.

The use of the pronoun ‘he’ is also an ambiguous word that adds to the ambiguity of the poem. The word ‘he’ can refer to the boy or ‘he’ can refer to a generic person. The possibility of two subjects in the poem presents an interesting problem; the subject could be the boy, or the reader. If it is the boy, the poem is interpreted as a poem encouraging him onward giving him words of wisdom, however if the subject becomes the reader the poem is interpreted as a poem of inspiration and motivation. The possibility of Cary addressing the reader, and giving advice directly to them makes this poem much more personal. With the subject missing from these sentences as well as others in the poem make this poem easier to personalize with. Therefore one possible way to interpret this poem is not just as a “cheer for the boy who says no” but also a cheer for the reader who

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says no, or the reader who is currently fighting a battle that “the world knows nothing about”. This poem at first glance seems to be addressed to “the boy who has courage” but it can also be addressed to the reader.

One grammatically ambiguous sentence that causes a large misunderstanding is the first sentence in the third stanza “Be steadfast, my boy, when you’re tempted, to do what you know to be right.” This sentence, when studied, shows that the boy needs to be steadfast when tempted. However the phrase “to do what you know to be right” can modify the word “temptation” which changes the meaning of the sentence. Instead of the boy being strong when temptations to do bad come into his life, with this ambiguity the meaning becomes the boy needs to be strong when tempted to do the right, as if he should be trying to not do the right. This drastically changes the meaning of the entire poem in one line. The ambiguity changes the poem from a support to those who choose to do right to a support for those that choose to not do the right.

Cary uses synonyms to tie together her poem. Many words in Our Heroes are synonymous for other words within the poem. Words such as battle, fight, and strife, are synonyms of each other and through this tie together the idea that self control is a fight to fight and nothing less. The use of synonyms also allows for a slightly broader sense of what Cary is describing. If Cary had only used the word ‘fight’ throughout the poem, the poem would not have the same meaning. The sense of ‘fight’ is limited to,

“to contend in battle or single combat . . . to contend, strive for victory, struggle, engage in conflict . . . to struggle for freedom or mastery . . . to strive with for mastery . . . to fight up against: to struggle against . . . to clash or jar with”.

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This definition is not enough to portray the meaning that Cary wants to give, because it has a major tie to a physical fight. However through synonyms Cary is able to convey that this personal struggle is more than a fight of physical grandeur but one of mental power.

One aspect of semantics that Cary uses is presupposition. Many statements in the poem presuppose something about the subject of the poem and what they have done. One presupposition is found in the first sentence. The sentence says that the boy has courage to do what is right, however it supposes that it takes courage to do the right. Cary does not take into consideration that some people do what is right because it is lawful and they do not want to get into legal trouble or even those that do right because they are afraid to loose support from their friends and family. The fight that Cary discusses very quickly looses its’ courageous appeal when the boy does what is right because his mom told him to. This can help us understand the poem a bit better because it assumes that it is our choice to fight, that we should be self motivated in our own lives.

Another presupposition is in line three, “When he falls in the way of temptation”. This presupposition assumes that this boy will fail and will fall into temptation. There are no other options, there isn’t the option of avoiding the temptation or protecting oneself from the temptation, but it is presupposed that there is failure.

The major presupposition in the entire poem is intertwined with Cary cheering the boy on. Does the boy even want to fight? This entire poem assumes that this boy wants to fight this battle of self control. Never is the subject given any other option besides fighting. Every line of this poem hangs on the fact that the boy wants to fight, if the boy

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ever wanted to give up or simply did not feel like working on this eternal fight, the poem would be useless as a form of support or inspiration. Through this presupposition of Cary’s that the boy is fighting, the reader can learn that this fight is a subject that Cary thinks is worth fighting for, that there are no other options besides fighting for the right at all costs. Through analysis of the semantics used by Cary one can find ambiguous structures, presuppositions, and synonyms which can all be used to help understand the meaning of the poem.

Through analysis of the sense of the words that Cary chooses to use in Our Heroes a deeper meaning or possibly even a new meaning can be found in the poem. Certain words in the poem are words that most people would not use, but through analysis these words add meaning to the poem. One such word is in line twelve, which is as follows “who’s strength puts a legion to rout”. The word ‘rout’ is not a frequently used word. One can guess at the meaning using context clues. Cary is showing how that one boy that says no is stronger than an entire army, so one can assume that putting a legion ‘to rout’ must be a powerful thing to do, something that a normal army would not be able to do. However, with the definition of ‘rout’ being,

“A disorderly, tumultuous, or disreputable crowd of persons. . . an assemblage of three or more persons proceeding to commit an unlawful act. . . the whole number of persons constituting a certain (disreputable) class. . . common or vulgar. . . riot, disturbance, stir, uproar”

a new meaning comes forward. To rout means more than what an educated guess can get close to. To rout a legion means that a single boy with the strength to say no could cause

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an entire legion of people turn into a mob. Cary gives the stalwart man enough strength to affect hundreds of people, showing just how much inner strength and power it must take to say no to ones self. This meaning within the poem can only be learned through lexicographical research into the words that are used.

Another word that at first glance gains a negative connotation is ‘comrades’. At first the reader instantly thinks of communist Russia with everyone calling everyone else comrade. This skews the meaning of the poem if viewed this way. The poem about personal strength and the power it takes to control oneself is suddenly disrupted by the images of a hammer and sickle and ruin the poem’s imagery for a split second. The definition of comrade helps fix this misunderstanding,

“One who shares the same room, a chamber-fellow, ‘chum’; esp. among soldiers, a tent-fellow, fellow-soldier (also comrade-in-arms); hence gen., an associate in friendship, occupation, fortunes, etc., a close companion, mate, fellow”.

This helps show that a comrade is more than just a member of a socialist society, but also a peer, colleague, or friend. Without the lexical analysis of ‘comrade’ there is a possibility that a reader could misinterpret the poem, and interpret a tainted meaning from the poem.

There are a few words that have multiple meanings and depending on which way you choose to describe the word, the poem changes it’s meaning subtly. One of these words that has multiple meanings is ‘battle’. Battle can mean, “A hostile engagement or encounter between opposing forces on land or sea” or it can also mean, “Strife, conflict, contest, struggle for victory”. This changes the meaning of the poem in lines four, nine,

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fifteen, and twenty-one where the word battle occurs. Depending on which definition the reader decides to use battle can mean that there is a war involving conflicting armies at hand, or the word battle can mean a something as small as an internal conflict. I personally would interpret the poem as using the second definition where the word battle is meant to portray any sort of conflict, wither it be large or small. Another word that has multiple definitions is ‘brave’. Brave can be defined as, “Courageous, daring, intrepid, stout-hearted” or can simply be defined as “a general epithet of admiration or praise: Worth, excellent, good, ‘capital’, ‘fine’, ‘famous’”. With the first definition the word brave in line eleven creates the idea that the boy who says no is a courageous man as brave as any soldier or man alive. However with the second definition the same line makes out the solitary boy to be simply a good person. Both options praise the young man that says no, however one creates the idea that the boy is a courageous man that is doing a noble act, while the other definition is simply showing the boy to be good kid. My opinion is that the poem is better interpreted by the first definition which praises the young boy who says no against the temptations that he faces. Another word that has multiple meanings is the word fight. To fight is defined as, “to contend in battle or single combat,” a description which describes the war aspect of a fight. This is the first term in the dictionary and the term that people generally think of when the word fight is said. This definition of a fight being a battle or single combat is not the only definition; there is another definition, “to strive with for master . . . to struggle against (something of overwhelming power)”. This alternate definition of fight fits better in the poem. When fight is interpreted this way the fight that the “brave little soldier” must wage is no longer

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a physical war, it is instead a war of mastery of ones self. The war goes from being a war of guns and violence to a war of emotions and internal conflict. Through analysis of these words a deeper meaning is found in the poem, and a deeper sense of admiration for the boy in the poem is found.

When analyzed linguistically Our Heroes becomes a more meaningful poem. Through analysis one can uncover the art of poetry through phonemic transcriptions, simple meaning through semantic analysis, and deeper meaning of the poem through lexicographical analysis. When used together these three aspects of linguistic analysis add to Our Heroes by Phoebe Cary.