"An Eastern Ballad" Allen Ginsberg

“An Eastern Ballad”

I speak of love that comes to mind:

The moon is faithful, although blind;

She move in thought she cannot speak.

Perfect care that made her bleak.

I never dreamed the sea so deep,

The earth so dark; so long my sleep,

I have become another child.

I wake to see the world go wild.

Title:

A ballad is a style of writing. It can be a slow sentimental song, which I think can be applied to this poem. There is an ethereal sense to the poem, therefore I believe this sentimental song applies to it.

Paraphrase:

The speaker is fascinated with the moon and see. There is an unknown factor that he is intrigued with and fonds over.

Connotation:

The moon is the domination figure in this poem. It has complete control over the sea, yet it is not sure how it makes the sea so submissive. The last two lines indicates the speakers reverence and obsession to this earth (world and society), just as a little kid gets intrigued. The speaker is waiting for the day that the world changes and loses its sense of dominance.

From: There is an “aabb” pattern in each of the two paragraphs.

Diction: Blue text

Imagery: Red text

Point of View: This is an adult looking at the world and being amazed and captivated by in natural being.

Symbolism: The sea symbolizes the submissive areas in society. For the moon has complete dominance over the sea, thus there is no way for the sea to be an individual and break free.

Literary Devices: Personification: the moon is being personified, “The moon is faithful, although blind; She moves in thought she cannot speak” (1-2).

Attitude/tone/shifts:

There is a naive and childlike tone that is illustrated in the last two sentences. This also illustrates hope that the speaker possesses. He wants to wake up one day and find that the world around him has changed. There is a shift in line 5, because it first talks about the moons dominance and then transitions into the seas submissive behavior. I believe there is also a shift in line 8 because it brings the readers attention to the speakers hope.

Theme:

Hopeful reverence is held within the hands of an idealist.