I am wrapped in a strange enchantment
Caught in an island spell,
Snared by an age-old magic
Of a love no words can tell.
Not for me the far-away places,
Not for me the thirst to roam,
The tug at my hungry heart-strings
Is the call of my island home.
I am drowned in her great, green waters,
Burnt by her golden sun,
Dazed by her starry heavens
When her purple dusks are done.
I have drunk the wine of her moonlight,
I have lain at her breast thro' the years,
I have shared her joys and her laughter,
I have bled with her sorrow's tears.
I have lain on her yellow beaches
With my ear to a fragile shell,
And heard in its low sweet murmur
My wordless island spell.
The poem “Island Spell” by Wendy Whatmore is about the motherland of the poetess; Sri Lanka. The poet starts her poem by explaining how deep her love has been to her motherland and goes on appreciating its beauty, wealth and uniqueness.
Her poem is about “a love no words can tell”. She makes a clear statement that there is no place as precious as her motherland in the whole world and attempts to prove her statement by the time she finishes the poem.
The poetess forwards vivid reasoning for her statement. She details the beauty and the value of the natural resources this island possesses. The great green waters, the golden sun, starry heavens and the purple dusks are beyond comparison for her.
She also explains their impact on her as a daughter of this beautiful motherland. The poetess says that she is “drowned”, “burnt”, “dazed”, “drunk”, “lain”, “shared” and “bled” which are indicative of lifelong experiences that enriches someone so much.
She gives a comprehensive list of things she has been enjoying for a lifetime and shows her feelings of gratitude for them. The beautiful moonlight and the warmth of the soil or the sandy beaches are a few to name.
She has been blessed by the good times the country has had and has equally shared the sorrow of the bad times. She has been part and parcel of this blessed place whereas this place has been an essential part of her life.
The poetess uses very strong words to express her love and attachment towards everything that her motherland has bestowed upon her. She does not go in search of any other place in the thirst of luxury or happiness. She is quite fulfilled with what she owns at this place.
The poem creates a vivid picture of a beautiful island and each stanza contributes to the gradual development of a beautiful painting of a paradise on earth. The reader too gets emotionally attached to this amazing island described by the poet due to the sentimental articulation of love and attachment done through the effective poetic expressions found in the poem.
I am wrapped in a strange enchantment
Caught in an island spell,
Snared by an age-old magic
Of a love no words can tell.
The first few lines of the poem talks about a powerful magic spell that the speaker is caught in. The poet refers to her love towards her motherland as an age-old magic that works on her as an enchantment which binds her body and soul alike. She calls it an age-old magic since her love has grown so strong over so many years ever since she was born to her motherland. Her love for her motherland is so strong that she cannot put it into words.
Not for me the far-away places,
Not for me the thirst to roam,
The tug at my hungry heart-strings
Is the call of my island home.
In the second stanza, the poetess directly states that she has no willingness to leave this country in search of a better place or for the least to go on a tour. She has such a strong bond that pulls her back to her mother country. By stating how contented she is, she ridicules those who leave the country looking for riches and happiness. She strongly establishes that it is none other than this beautiful island that can bring forth bliss and contentment.
I am drowned in her great, green waters,
Burnt by her golden sun,
Dazed by her starry heavens
When her purple dusks are done.
Stanza 3 shows that she has no option but to be amazed by the surprisingly beautiful features that this island has for those who live there. There are forces which are beyond her control that take control of her sentiments. She is drowned, burnt and dazed by them. They are the creations of mother nature; the great green waters, golden sun, starry heavens and purple dusks.
I have drunk the wine of her moonlight,
I have lain at her breast thro' the years,
I have shared her joys and her laughter,
I have bled with her sorrow's tears.
Stanza 4 talks about how the poetess has immersed herself in the enchantment of this island. She has experienced the beautiful nature around her and immersed in it over many years. She has absorbed the beauty of the beams of the moon light as if she has drunk wine. She has cuddled herself at the comforts of her mother island. Despite sharing all the good times she has also been there with her motherland during her bad times.
I have lain on her yellow beaches
With my ear to a fragile shell,
And heard in its low sweet murmur
My wordless island spell.
The poetess has had a relaxed time and amply rested, having felt the warmth of its beaches. The speaker shows how much she cares and is concerned over even a tiny little thing around her such as a fragile shell. On the other hand, every tiny thing around her is precious to her and works as a spell on her.
This poem is a lyrical expression of the speaker’s love and devotion towards her motherland. The poetes celebrates her strong emotion of love towards her paradise island and evokes similar emotions in the reader.
The poem goes beyond a typical love poem and expresses the speaker's deep and unconditional love towards nature and the surroundings of her motherland. Her tone sometimes becomes cynical about those who have no value for the precious gifts they have inherited by birth. The reasoning forwarded by the poetess proves her argument and supports the theme of the poem.
The patriotic sentiments expressed here are so strong that the reader tends to rethink and reconsider his or her own sentiments about motherland. The poetess invites the reader to realize the beauty and the wealth around one’s self , to value the unassessed and to explore the unexplored. The objective of the poetess is to let the readers understand and realize the real value of the things they have inherited and been blessed with.
Island Spell is a lyric poem that talks about a strong emotion of the speaker towards her motherland. The opening lines of the poem arouses curiosity since the poet mentions a strange enchantment that she is ensnared in. On the surface it brings a negative connotation but as the reader moves to the last line of the stanza, it is realized that the poetess is referring to a strong feeling of devotion to her country.
In the next few stanzas the poetess describes how this age-old magic impacts on her and she also explains the substances which give origin to this magic. Stanza two clarifies how strong her bond is. Stanza three is all about the natural delicacies of her motherland which work as a sell on her. Stanza four speaks about how she has been enjoying these resources she has been bestowed upon with. By the time the reader reaches the final stanza, one can realize the kind of peaceful life she has led all these years being enchanted by the island spell.
The poetess creates a magnificent portrait of this beautiful island in the readers’ mind and shows how we could admire the beauty and wealth in it. The message the poetess wants to communicate is the bliss of mind one can enjoy with a strong feeling of love and dedication towards this beautiful island. The poet uses many poetic techniques to serve this purpose.
The poetess uses words like “wrapped, caught, snared” in the first stanza and “drowned, dazed and burnt” in the third stanza. These words generally have a negative connotation.
Use of these words show how powerful the enchantment works on her. Still they do not create a negative impact, the impact is quite desirable to the speaker.
The untouched natural surroundings have a strong effect over her life. She is contented and satisfied with life in her motherland.
“An age-old magic” in the third line of the first stanza refers to her age-old love towards her motherland. She has been in this indulgence for so long. “Hungry heart-strings” in the third line of the second stanza stands for the never ending attachment or longing she has towards her motherland.
When she says “I have drunk the wine of her moonlight” , the rays of the moonlight are referred to as wine which is tender, sweet but at the same time intoxicates you. Finest wine is made with fermentation and aging over 5 years which then becomes so strong over time. She is drunk by the moonlight with a similar effect. It suggests that she has been intoxicated by the beauty around her when the moon lights the surroundings.
When she says “I have lain on her yellow beaches” the yellow beach stands for the beauty of the beachside when the rays of the sun are on. She bathes in them and rests.
“Burnt by her golden sun” does not literally mean that she is hurt but it suggests that the sunlight tans her skin and she enjoys it. Therefore, she does not merely refer to it as sun but “golden sun”.
“Dazed by her starry heavens” does not suggest negativity based on the literal meaning of the word “dazed". The poetess needs the reader to understand that the night sky is so amazing that it shocks her with its beauty.
“I have bled with her sorrow’s tears” literally creates someone being stabbed and bleeding. Poetess suggests here that she has been part of her motherland’s difficult times. She has not let her motherland suffer all alone during the times of violence or terrorism. She is proud of herself that she has not left her motherland behind and escaped during bad times. The metaphorical language here creates a strong feeling of patriotism.
The last few lines of the poem talks about something that is seemingly not a big thing to pay attention to, which is a small Sea shell. The poetess refers to it as a “fragile shell” which shows that every tiny bit of a thing in this island is precious for her.
The word “Fragile” suggests that you should handle it with so much care. It shows the value she gives to it. It is indicative of a strong feeling of gratitude.The message delivered with this is that we should value and care for the things we have inherited by being born to this precious island.
The metaphorical language used in this poem suggests that the poetess is a proud daughter of this motherland and she is so comfortable being one and expresses a humble feeling of deep gratitude through the poem.
The following stanza creates mesmerizing poetic imagery in this poem.
“I am drowned in her great, green waters,
Burnt by her golden sun,
Dazed by her starry heavens
When her purple dusks are done.”
Visual imagery created using words like “great , green waters” , “golden sun” , “starry heavens” and “purple dusks' ' are very effective. They create a colourful picture. The adjectives used by the poetess do an effective job here enabling the reader to visualize what the poetess is describing using selective words.
When she says “drowned in her great green waters” there is a kinesthetic imagery created in a very effective manner.
When she says “burnt by her golden sun” it creates tactile imagery for the reader.
All the poetic imagery altogether creates an enchanting portrait of her paradise island through this stanza.
The poem becomes more lively and pleasing to the ear with the rhyming patterns found there. The second and fourth lines of the first, fourth and the last stanzas rhyme with each other. Second and third stanzas enjoy the alternate rhyming pattern; ABAB scheme.
I am wrapped in a strange enchantment
Caught in an island spell,
Snared by an age-old magic
Of a love no words can tell.
Not for me the far-away places,
Not for me the thirst to roam,
The tug at my hungry heart-strings
Is the call of my island home.
I am drowned in her great, green waters,
Burnt by her golden sun,
Dazed by her starry heavens
When her purple dusks are done.
I have drunk the wine of her moonlight,
I have lain at her breast thro' the years,
I have shared her joys and her laughter,
I have bled with her sorrow's tears.
I have lain on her yellow beaches
With my ear to a fragile shell,
And heard in its low sweet murmur
My wordless island spell.
The poetess repeats selected words and phrases in order to emphasize her attitude towards the matters discussed. The repetition of the words “ Not for me” shows that she is cynical about those who run here and there in search of better places of comfort while they have everything in their motherland to make them happy and content.
“Not for me the far away places
Not for me the thirst to roam”
She repeats the words “I have” at the beginning of each line of stanza 4 to bring out the fact that she is expressing her views based on her own first hand experience which gains strong validity in the minds of the reader. In fact, the poetess uses Present Perfect tense repetitively to talk about her experiences. This repetition intensifies the emotions the poetess needs to convey.
I have drunk the wine of her moonlight,
I have lain at her breast thro' the years,
I have shared her joys and her laughter,
I have bled with her sorrow's tears.
Hyperbole used in this poem evokes strong feelings. The poet uses words with rather negative meanings on the surface and exaggerates on the impact they have on the narrator whereas the idea underneath is rather positive. Thereby, the poet creates a strong positive impression.
“I am wrapped in a strange enchantment
Caught in an island spell,
Snared by an age-old magic
Of a love no words can tell.”
“I am drowned in her great, green waters,
Burnt by her golden sun,
Dazed by her starry heavens
When her purple dusks are done.”
The poetess uses Passive Voice Construction throughout the first and the third stanzas of the poem which suggests that all the outside powers are controlling her and she is merely a passive receiver of the happening around her.
I am wrapped ….caught…snared…
I am drowned….burnt ….. dazed ….
Infact, the sentence arrangements suggest that the speaker is not at all in a position to control her feelings but they control her. However, she speaks with the utter joy of being an impulsive receiver of this magical incantation. She is a victim with no regrets and is compelled to be enchanted by the spells that govern her.
I have drunk the wine of her moonlight,
I have lain at her breast thro' the years,
I have shared her joys and her laughter,
I have bled with her sorrow's tears.
Through this stanza, the motherland of the speaker is personified to a mother and the speaker to her daughter. The most comfortable place for a child is her mother’s breast. They feel protected and soothed there. The speaker is visualized as a little one who cuddles in her mother’s breast and creates a warm feeling here. The last few lines of this stanza says that she is happy when her mother is happy and she is sad when she is sad. It suggests that the love for her motherland is everything for the speaker.
The poetess has chosen the most appropriate title for the poem. The poem commences mentioning that there is a spell and the nature of the spell is discussed in the middle. The poem also winds up mentioning the fact that the poetess is unable to explain the spell in words.
“And heard in its low sweet murmur
My wordless island spell”
With the last two lines, the poetess suggests that not everyone is capable of hearing this age-old spell of the motherland. It is a low murmur and you should carefully pay attention so that you may hear the low sweet murmur. And only then you are capable of being enchanted by this spell of great love and attachment that keeps you happy and content for a lifetime.
Wendy Whatmore is a Sri Lankan poet born in Matara in 1918. Her real maiden name was Gwendolen de Kretser and Wendy is under which her poems were published. She first wrote a poem at the age of nine. She founded the Wendy Whatmore Academy in 1940 and contributed immensely for the development of the English Language and Drama field of the country. She published 115 beautiful poems in her first publication in 1983 and “Island Spell” was included there. She died in 1989.
Wendy Whatmore says “ I am wrapped in a strange enchantment ..” What does she refer to as “a strange enchantment” here. Discuss.
What poetic techniques does the poetess utilize in her poem “Island Spell” in order to convey her message to the reader? Explain with examples.
“A Poison Tree” is from WIlliam Blake’s volume “Songs of Experience”. The poem discusses the emotions of people, how suppression of emotions can lead to bitter results for those who harbour them and also for those who are subjected to them....
Read More
The Snare by James Stephens relates a simple story. It is a simple poem with simple words but very effective in bringing out the intended message...
Read More
A modal verb is a type of verb that indicates an opinion about something or someone. Modal verbs come under the category of Auxiliary verbs in English. Each and every modal verb expresses different opinions. This opinion or feeling is called “modality”......
Read More
Do, Does , Did are different forms of the verb “To Do”. It is used as an Ordinary verb as well as a Primary Auxiliary.....
Read More
“You had better’ is a very popular expression in conversational English. Let’s learn how to give advice in English using the semi-modal “had better”...
Read More
Hello!
I'm here to guide you
Learn English easy way, with simple clarifications along with suitable examples. Good luck on your new journey !
