The Dead Crab The poem The Dead Crab
The Dead Crab
The poem The Dead Crab by Andrew Young is a short and seemingly simple piece of work. However, its length and subject matter do not diminish the poem’s rich stylistic qualities. In a general outline of the poem, it is a sonnet with an AABBCCDDEEFFGG rhyme scheme.
It is divided into two parts, which deviates from the conventional sonnet of 3 stanzas with four lines each and an ending couplet. The first part starts from line 1 to line 9, while the second part from line 10 to line 14. The first part is the persona’s physical description of the crab, but the second is his reflection of the subject
The crab’s physical description takes on a more menacing image from Lines 3 to 8. Words like sharp edge projected out, black pin-point eyes, cote-armure, power, plated joints and stiletto points may come very well under the semantic field of a soldier’s uniform. The reference to shield, cote armoure, plated joints and stiletto points makes it.
And rather evident that the persona likens the crab as being dressed for war like a soldier; indeed, he returns to that idea in the second half of the poem in Line 12, referring to the crab as “heavily armed. ” The comparison reveals the extent of the creature’s power, danger and connotes a sense of invincibility.
The poet also employs an almost similar stylistic technique in Line 9, using a simile to liken the claws to mouths to note its physical resemblance.
The word stiletto here creatively functions as a lexical cohesion for two lexical sets used in the crab’s description by the persona. While before well-knit was foregrounded for being a semantic violation, stiletto now helps it to achieve lexical cohesion.
Thank you Rasha Al Najim
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