Page 4 - LN 2

THEME:

This poem reflects that Patriotism is not found on the nationalistic
attitude of all wealth, weapons ,and powerful leaders. It is the moral
courage and strength of a nation. It lies with its people and their
willingness to move their nations forward, by working together, and
determination.

MESSAGE

In this beautiful poem titled “A Nation's Strength,” . In this poem Ralph
Waldo Emerson reveals the secret of a nation's success. The success of
a nation lies with the power of its woman and man, and not with jewels
and gold.

IMAGERY:

Imagery and metaphors are usually employed to enhance the meaning
of a text and have the purpose of embellishing it. In this poem ,several
other figures of speech are also employed.

METAPHORS:

The first metaphor employed in the poem appears in the first stanza,
particularly in the first line of the poem. The word “pillars” creates the
metaphor of a building; the poet associates a nation with a building
which needs to have a strong foundation in order not to collapse.

Metaphoric term is used in this poem by the poet to emphasize his point
of view to the reader.

SYMBOLS:

In the poem several elements symbolise the decay of past nations. For
instance the “sword” symbolises war and the thirst for blood. History has
witnessed many nations that fought only for the sake of conquering
others and destroying ; eventually, those warrior nations have
disappeared for good, turning “their glory to decay”.

RHYTHM AND RHYME:

The poem, “A Nation’s Strength” by Ralph Waldo Emerson” is a six –
stanza poem , each stanza having four lines. The poem follows the
rhyme scheme ABAB, which is also called alternate rhyme. Here the first
line rhymes with the third while the second line rhymes with the fourth.

RHETORICAL QUESTIONS:
In this poem the poet asks the readers many questions in the rhetorical
manner. In this way the poet does not require answers from the readers
but he can convey his message to us.