Bat By David H. Lawrence
-David H. Lawrence
At evening, sitting on this terrace,
When the sun from the west, beyond Pisa,
Beyond the mountains of Carrara
Departs, and the world is taken by
surprise
When the tired flower of Florence is in
gloom
Beneath the glowing
Brown hills surrounding…
When under the arches of the Ponte vecchio
A green light enters against stream,
flush
From the west,
Against the current of obscure Arno…
Look up, and you see things flying
Between the day and the night:
Swallow the spools of dark threat sewing
The shadows together
A circle swoop and a quick parabola
under
The bridge arches
Where light pushes through;
A sudden turning upon itself of a thing
in the air
A dip to the water
And you think
“The swallows are flying so late”
Swallows?
Dark air-life looping
Yet missing the pure loop…
A twitch, a twitter an elastic shudder
in flight
And serrated wings against the sky,
Like a glove, a black glove thrown up at
the light,
And falling back
Never swallows!
Bats!
The swallow are gone.
At a wavering instant the swallows gave
way to bats
By the Ponte vecchio…
Changing guard
Bats and an uneasy creeping in one’s
scalp
As the bats swoop overhead!
Flying madly
Pipistrello!
Black piper on an infinitesimal pipe
Little lumps that fly in air and have
voices
Indefinite, wildly vindictive;
Wings like bits of umbrella.
Bats!
Creatures that hang themselves up like
an old
Rag, to sleep;
And disgustingly upside down
Hanging upside down like rows of
disgusting
Old rage
And grinning in their sleep
Bats!
In china the bat is symbol of happiness
Not for me!
A brief biography about the poet
David Herbert Lawrence was born September 11,
1885 in England at Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, to a coal miner. He was a poet, playwright and a
Journalist. He is regarded as one of
the most influential writers of the 20th century. He published many novels and poetry during
his life time, including Sons and Lovers and
Women in Love but is best known for his infamous Lady Chatterley’Love. The graphic and highly sexual novel was
published in Italy in 1928 and was banned in the United States until 1959. He
died in 1930.
Background/Setting of the Poem
The poem “Bat” is a 20th century
poem which seeks to reflect the shift in human consciousness that is an
essential part of modernist thought. In
this era, we noticed that there is a change in human relations and the same
time a change in religion conduct, politics and literature. The theme that
explores this shift in human consciousness lies at the essence of modernism and
is a significant theme in this poem “Bat” 20th century society was
characterized by abnormality and violence and that is why Lawrence used the
poem to represents it, as it also represents the pain of being in the modern world. The Bat “hanging
upside down like rows of disgusting old rags/any grinning in their sleep”
also add to the shift in being in the world.
The fact that the poem ends with “not
for me” is a sign of rejection of modernism. His poem dwells on loss of innocence into
experience on the change that Woolf identities as part of modernism's essence. This experience is the cause of human
predicament.
Lawrence employs animals in his work as a means
to explain his political and social ideas.
The poem “Bat” reveals man’s fear of, or rather disgust or dislike for
the animal and his endless determination to never let the insane bat rest.
CONTENT ANALYSIS: SUBJECT MATTER/SUMMARY
The poem “Bat” explores the common views or
opinions held by different individuals about certain things in life and the
factor of individualism that dominates the 20th century
society. This poem symbolically
represents such society that was occasioned by outright abnormality such as
violence, war, invention of weapons of mass destruction and hatred. The same poet that paints a graphic picture
of Bat bad with hatred that also says at the end of the poem that it is a
symbol of happiness to people in China.
This is evident in our old adage “one
man’s meat is another man’s poison”.
Stanza 1-3: The poem which opens with the description of
scenery is the poem which is about a “Bat”,
that is, nocturnal animal with wings that flies and feeds at night. It is a very strange and mysterious animal
which people find difficult to identify its specie. The poet therefore descriptively paints a
grotesque picture of the animal, pointing out its strange characteristics,
antics and several appearances. The poem
also reveals the impression and attitude of the poet towards bat, a nocturnal
bird which sees at night but blind during the day. This flying animal is also call “Pipistrello”
in Italy which actually means little piper.
The poet begins the poem by introducing us to the setting of the poem
which is Italy. Names of ancient cities
and places in Italy like Pisa, Florence Mountains of Carrara, Ponte Vecchio and
River Arno are referred to in the poem.
This makes the poem rich in allusions.
The first three stanzas of the poem show that
the time of the incidence is a certain evening.
The persona sits on a terrace looking towards the Ponte vecchio, and old
bridge built in arches over the Arno River in Florence. At this point, the poet imagines the sun
rising off “from the west, beyond Pisa,
beyond the mountain of Carrara”, as opposed to the known fact that the sun
rises from the east. Having taken the
world by surprise, the flower of Florence has changed its colour because it is
affected by the scorching sun during the day.
The flower is also tired and dejected.
Under the arches of the old bridge, Ponte vecchio, the poet observes “a green light against the stream”,
which is the river Arno.
In
stanza 4-8,
the persona suddenly sees “things are
flying” that evening. They were “swallows are birds that have pointed wings
and often deeply long tail in “a circle swoop, and quick parabola”. He
observes the acrobatic display of the swallows “under the bridge arches”.
The general belief is that swallows fly late in the night. Then comes the rhetorical question from the
poet “Swallow?” this is deliberate
attempt by the poet to compare swallows with a bat, a nocturnal bird that
reigns at night, and this clearly shows the poet’s disdain for bats.
As the poem progresses the attention of the
poet moves from swallows to bats. The
poet is trying to draw out the similarities between the swallow and the bat in
contrast. As the night draws closer, the
swallows give way to bats/by the Ponte vecchio”. The poet describes this in military terms as
“changing guard. The persona aptly describes
how the swallow flies. The bird makes a
circular or curve shape in the dark air.
It twitches and makes a sudden quick movement and also makes a series of
short high sound a “twitter”, the
swallow moves violently in the sky with its serrated wings like a black
glove. Thrown up in the light (air) and
then falling back because of the law of gravity. When the swallow is done with its flying, it
moves away, and then the bat comes to the scene. The appearance of swallows is a sign of hope
and fulfillment because whenever a sailor sees swallow on the sea it is a sign
that the destination is near, for swallows never travel far out to sea, their
sighting or presence meant that the long voyage is coming to an end.
This fact has made many sailors to start
adopting swallow tattoo designs as a symbol of hope and a successful finish to
a long journey. At first the, persona
wonders whether the swallows also fly so late at night which is quite unusual. Contrarily, the flight of bats causes some
uneasiness as they suggest darkness and bad luck in human fortunes and
experiences. People therefore have
deferent attitudes towards Bats.
To further show his dislike for bats, the poet
points to the movement of bats as they “swoop
overhead (flying madly)”. More
description of bats according to the poem are “wildly vindictive”, wing-like
bats of umbrella”, they “hang themselves up like an old rag to sleep”,
“disgusting old rags”. The persona says the bat is dark and it is dark as
it flies in the air with no definite voice and it has strong desire for
revenge. He also describes the bat as
bits of umbrella “creatures that hang
themselves up like an old rag to sleep hanging upside down like rows of
disgusting old rags”.
In conclusion, the persona contrasts his
opinion about bat. In spite of the fact,
that he finds the bats disgusting and repulsive, in China. It’s a symbol of happiness and good
luck. Also, Bat is eaten in China. That gives credence to the proverb that says
one man’s meat is another man’s poison. The poet asserts absolutely that “Not for me”|. This means that in European and North
American folklore, bats in buildings generally portent or suggests misfortune,
evil or bad omens, same thing applicable to some African societies.
Themes
Strong hatred for nocturnal animal
In the poem, the persona
expresses strong dislike and hatred for the bat.
One can admit here that the poet is
chiroptophobic, that is, phobia for bats or fear of bats. This is due to common misconceptions and
suppositious belief about bats. Bats are
seen as ugly creatures with beady eyes and large leathery wings, yet they are
not dangerous to humans. In medieval
Europe a bat entering a house was a sign that death would soon visit that
family and the people wished to avoid bats because of this. Today also, many
people associate bats with darkness, vampires and Halloween.
Also, the poet expresses his disgust and
hatred for bats because of their strange and unusual characteristic
features. Firstly, scientists have placed
them in a different group called “chiropteran” which means “hand wing” as they
are not flying mice or rodents. Some of
these unusual features include the fact that they have teeth like mammals; give
birth to children instead of laying of egg, carry baby on their stomach. They also “hang
themselves up like an old rag, to sleep” and “Disgustingly upside down.
To further show his dislike or
hatred for bats, the poet points to the movement of bats as they “swoop overheard/flying madly”. Another absurd description of bats according
to the poet is that bats are wildly vindictive. This means that they have
excessive desire for revenge. The poet
also uses negative adjectives to also describe the bat. In his words, he says they are “Black piper on an infinitesimal
piper/little lumps that fly in air and have voices indefinite, wildly
vindictive; wings like bits of umbrella”.
The poet ends the poem with a note of strong distaste and rejection when
he says “not for me” despite the fact
that bat is a symbol of happiness in China.
Theme of Choices and Human Existence
The poem dwells on the essence of human
existence which is awash with lots of choices and the different views held by
people or countries. In the poem, Bats
represent both good and bad, fortune and misfortune, happiness and ill-omen,
revenge and rebirth or death. At the
beginning of the poem, the persona paints a grotesque picture of bats as he is
not pleased with their strange features.
This is because bat is neither a bird nor a rodent and when the persona
sees it, he feels confused as he could not distinguish it from the
swallow. “And you think/ the swallows
are flying so late/swallows? “The
persona exclaims. The poet does not also
like the bat since it would have to sleep upside down disgustingly.
However, the persona contrasts
his opinion about bat. In spite of the
fact that he finds the bat disgusting and repulsive, in China it is a symbol of
happiness and good luck. Also, bat is
edible (eaten) in China. This substantiates
the common proverb which says “one man’s
meat is another man’s poison”. The
fact that bat is eaten in another country does not change the poet’s ageless
belief or widely held opinion about bat as he asserts absolutely that “not for me” in the last line of the
poem.
Theme of Superstitious Belief
Though this theme is not broadly evident in
this poem, but it is implied in some of the line of the poem. In some African communities bats are seen as
weird animal that are capable of bringing ill-omen or bad luck to people: for
they avoid buts at all costs. It also
suggests that death is imminent in European and North American folklore. For instance, bats in buildings generally
potent or suggests misfortune, evil or bad omen. In the poem, the poet condemns bats using
some disgusting adjectives to describe them as creatures that hang themselves
up like an old/rag, to sleep. He also
superstitiously sees them as being vindictive animal that is animals that are
vengeful.
Another instance of
superstitious belief is seen in the last two lines of the poem. Thus “in china the bat is a symbol of
happiness” This implies that the poet’s
widely held opinion or belief is contrary to this above mentioned one. The persona’s attitude towards this belief is
further demonstrated when ghe says “not
for me”. The poet therefore rejects
the fact that bat is a symbol of happiness and hope which is contrary to
existing belief.
Essence of Modernism (20th
Century society)
This poem questions the
essence of modernism which seeks to reflect the shift in human consciousness,
that is, an essential part of modernist thought. Lawrence uses the poem “Bat” to represent 20th century society which was
characterized by war, religion, different beliefs and politics. It is a well-known fact that there is a shift
or change in thinking and relation which has caused unrest in our modern society. “Bat”
for instance, is an animal that is neither a bird nor rodent. It hangs upside down to sleep. This is symbolic of abnormality which is a
product of 20th century society.
The birds do perch and sleep in their nest which is contrary to the bat.
The fact that the protest poem ends “not for me” is also a sign of
rejection of modernism. This poem dwells
on loss of innocence into experience or the charge that Virginia Woolf
identifies as part of modernism. This
experience is the cause of human predicament.
Also, Lawrence resets the idea about modernity which marks the
advancement of technology, nuclear weapon because they are meant for
destruction. Despite the fact that bat represents happiness in china which is
symbolic of technological invention, the persona is not moved by such revelation.
Poetic
Devices
1.
Simile: The singular
use of direct comparison in the poem occurs within three lines such as “(line
29)
(i)
“Like a glove, a black glove
thrown up at the light”
(ii)
Wing like bits of umbrella” (line 46)
(iii) Hanging upside down like rows of
disgusting old rags” (lines 51)
The above comparisions are meant to
complement the persona’s hatred and dislike for the Bat. And they all depict the Bat in the poet’s
assessment as ugly, tiny and odious creatures as he never presents the Bat in
good light.
2.
Personification: Natural objects or phenomena are given human
attributes in the poem to project the odious characteristic of the Bat. They includes; (i) “When the tired flower of Florence is in gloom” (ii) “A green light enters against stream”
(iii) “Where light enters through”. Also
“changing guard” is also a personification because one can hardly imagine
the swallows and bat changing guard like soldiers. Basically, personification is used here to
explain the period of the day.
3.
Alliteration: The sound in the following lines enhances the
musicality of the poem. Examples; (i) “flower of Florence (ii) “flush from” (iii) “swallow the spools of dark thread sewing”
4. Metaphor: The poet employs a few numbers of indirect comparisons
in the poem. They are: (i) “Black
piper on an infinitesimal pipe” - metaphor for small but mighty, singer
with sonorous voice (ii) “little lumps
that fly in air and have voices indefinite, wildly vindictive”
5.
Repetition:
Some words in the poem such as ‘swallow’,
‘bat’, ‘swoop’, ‘light’ are repeated for emphasis and to reinforce the
subject matter.
6. Apostrophe: The poet addresses the birds and bats as
though they are listening to him in a face of dialogue. Also, senses of sight and vision are quickly
employed when the persona exclaims: ‘swallow/Bats’, pistrello, etc.
7.
Symbolism:
In the last past of the poem, we are told that in china, the Bat itself
stands for a symbol of happiness and it is a great meat for Chinese. It also symbolizes the beginning of night
life. Bats are often seen as sign of
ill-omen or bad luck in some societies.
The appearance or presence of swallows in the poem is also symbolic as
they also represent hope and fulfillment.
Sailors often use swallows to know the distance of a Journey, such that
the presence of a swallow means the Journey is near.
8. Oxymoron: This is a sharp contrast of two words sets
side by side in a “glooms” beneath the
glowing” “gloom is a partial
darkness, while “glowing means shining, a day and night.
9.
Onomatopoeia: The words listed below suggest their meaning
through its sound which adds to the sound and clarity of the poem. Examples are: ‘gloom’, ‘obscure’, ‘scoop’,
‘serrated’, ‘pipestrello’, lump’, ‘trotter’, etc
10.
Tone:
The attitude of the poet-persona to bats, in Lawrence’s “Bat” is one of
hatred and contempt. The poet abhors bat
because of its weird features as he refuses to portray it in good light.
11.
Elision: In the poem, words are omitted to sustain the
reader’s interest.
Elision is found in line 4,7,26 and 37.
12. Diction and
language: The poem is written in simple prose-like
style, as the poet demonstrates his power of description and brilliance which then
enhances vividness and succeeded in creating an emotional and sensory impact in
the following expressions. “Black piper of an infinitesimal pipe,
‘serrated wings’, wings like bit of umbrella”. The clear choice of words
help to create in our mind eyes, a clear descriptive imagery of the bat and
swallows even if one has not seen a bat or swallows for the first time.
Also, note that pipistrello is an Italian word for bat, meaning little
piper, Other Italian word such as “River Arno’, mountain of Carrara and vecchio
help to fix the setting and background of the poem.
LIKELY WAEC
AND NECO 2021-2025 QUESTIONS
1.
With adequate examples, give a detailed account of the poem.
2.
Discuss the poet’s attitude towards bats in the poem.
4.
Comment on the use of symbolism in the poem.
5.
Diction and imagery are powerful tools in poetry. How effective is their
deployments in “Bat”?
6.
Examine the theme of hatred and disgust in the poem.
7.
Discuss the major preoccupation of the poet in “Bat”
8.
In what ways does the setting contribute to the effective understanding
of the poem?
9.
Assess how the poet approaches the essence of modernism in the poem.
Comments
Post a Comment
Comment from message gained, lessons learned, and suggestions to improve this blog.