Flames+And+Dangling+Wire

This poem is about someone driving out to a burning dump and comparing it to the world he has come from and the world that one was and is now outdated. Robert Gray warns the reader about the serious implications of change.

This poem has quite a dark tone with the constant talk of shadows, smoke and the mention of the fires of hell, the devil and life after we are gone from this earth. "As in hell the devils might poke about through our souls, after scraps of appetite with which to stimulate themselves." It also seems to give a feeling of sadness at the things that are still to come. "knowing al that he does about us, how can he avoid a hatred of men?" There is also a small feeling of reflective nostalgia towards the end when he is giving the image of the radio and the voices and music still traveling on.

This poem explores the ideas of change through the comparison of what was, what is and what will inevitably be. It explores the idea that too much change can be bad and when we leave this world it will be a wasteland of things that once worked but no longer do. It compares the old fashioned radio with its dangling wire and its voices still traveling around in the space, no longer being heard. The author also gives a sense of fascination through the voice of the poem, as if showing what the world would will be like once we are gone it will simply be fill of things that once worked but no longer do. "Standing where i see the mirage of the city I realise I am in the future. This is how it shall be after men have gone. It will be made of things that worked."

code change is represented in the poem through the use of metaphor when the voice says that they are in the future. “I realize I am in the future. Change is also represented through the use of repetition, in the constant mention of the smoke, “the smoke of different fires in a row” “distant buildings are stenciled in the smoke” “a sour smoke is hauled out everywhere” “we approach another through the smoke” This represents change by showing the opposite of change. The smoke is described to be unending, never ceasing, this creates contrast to the image created of the world around them because it is painted to be fragile and unstable.

The poem often begins a new line or stanza mid sentence, this is particularly obvious in the last stanza. This gives the idea of being un-conventional or less structured, fitting in line with the image of the falling apart and chaotic, possible future the poem refers to, the consequence of constant change.

The imagery used allows the reader to be drawn in and through the descriptions, used to paint an image of the world. The use of familiar, recognisable objects such as skyscrapers, newspaper and radios gives the reader "anchors" withing this “world” with which they can relate to and explore the desolate wasteland described in Gray's apocalyptic poem. The metaphor of the radio’s voices, constantly travelling out in the universe, as well as representing unheard warnings, could suggest a life beyond this one on earth,, a concept which has passed through the minds of almost every person, easily relating to the reader.

The purpose of the poem is to warn the audience of the consequences of change, through dark imagery the audience is positioned to take realize that our world is headed to be nothing but a wasteland of things that no longer work. It is written to invoke change in the reader. To try and stop the constant changing that is leading the world down this path, destroying the planet. It also aims to teach us not to take what we have for granted always wanting more, and getting by any, often violent, means necessary. code