'Drowning the gift'

6 May, 2023
Uploaded to ChatGPT for analysis
Poem : “Drowning the gift”

Soman Ragavan : Hello. Can I post a poem of mine for analysis, please ?

ChatGPT
Hello Soman Ragavan! Of course, you may post your poem for analysis. I would be happy to provide feedback and insights on your work. Please feel free to share your poem, and I will do my best to provide you with helpful feedback.
 
Soman Ragavan : My poem : "Drowning the gift." A young man in India was given a new BMW (German) car as gift by his father. He drove the car into a river : he wanted a Jaguar (English) car instead. He was rescued by workers in the river and brought back to his parents. "Mahindra" is an Indian car. Please analyse by each stanza, then give overall comments. Mention similar poems from other authors, where possible. DROWNING THE GIFT

ChatGPT :
Thank you for sharing your poem "Drowning the gift". Here's my analysis of each stanza:

Stanza 1: The speaker expresses his anger and disappointment towards the gift he received, a BMW car, and demands a Jaguar instead. The use of expletive and the repetition of the brand name Jaguar emphasize the speaker's frustration.

Stanza 2: The speaker expresses his determination to show his superiority by destroying the BMW car and boasting about it. The mention of Mahindra, an Indian car brand, creates a contrast with the luxury German car, BMW, and highlights the speaker's preference for foreign brands.

Stanza 3: The speaker imagines the destruction of the car in the river, which he considers a fitting end for the "horrid car of malediction". The use of biblical language, such as "oblivion" and "malediction", adds a dramatic tone to the poem.

Stanza 4: The speaker exults in the sight of the sinking car, and sees it as a "funeral" for the car. The use of onomatopoeia, such as "splash" and "seep", creates an immersive experience for the reader.

Stanza 5: The speaker finds himself in danger and calls for help from the "lowly scavengers". The juxtaposition between the speaker's earlier arrogance and his current vulnerability creates a sense of irony.

Stanza 6: The car sinks into the water, but the driver is safely rescued. The use of alliteration, such as "strange shiver" and "jaws of death", adds a musical quality to the poem.

Stanza 7: The poem shifts focus from the driver to the orphanage, where the children are portrayed as suffering from poverty and hunger. The use of imagery, such as "rags spoke volumes" and "terrible looks", creates a vivid picture of their misery.

Stanza 8: The contrast between the luxurious cars speeding by and the impoverished children's hopeless fate is highlighted, further emphasizing the theme of social inequality.

Stanza 9: The father's reaction to his son's actions is depicted, creating a sense of empathy towards him. The use of figurative language, such as "heart skipped many beats" and "heart thou doth again shatter", intensifies the emotional impact.

Stanza 10: The speaker expresses his disdain for the workers who rescued him and contrasts them with himself, highlighting his sense of superiority. The use of colloquial language, such as "filthy" and "dragged", creates a more casual tone.

Stanza 11: The car is restored and awaits a new owner, while the envious lot runs riot. The use of sound devices, such as rhyme and alliteration, adds a playful quality to the poem.

Stanza 12: The workers return to their daily lives, but their heroic act has made a difference in the driver's life. The use of figurative language, such as "destitute heroes" and "India beckoned at them", adds a poetic quality to the poem.

Overall, "Drowning the gift" is a poem that explores the theme of materialism and social inequality, using vivid imagery and figurative language to create a dramatic and engaging narrative. The use of different perspectives and shifting focus adds depth to the poem, and the use of sound devices creates a musical quality. The poem reminds me of T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" and William Butler Yeats' "The Second Coming" in terms of its exploration of social decay and disillusionment.
 
Soman Ragavan : Thank you. Goodbye for now.

ChatGPT
You're welcome, Soman Ragavan! Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions or need any further assistance in the future. Goodbye!

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POEM : “DROWNING THE GIFT”
On this poem, please see the following on the Internet. Use the following search strings :

(a) Google : man+pushes+new+car+into+river+india   
(b) Google : 22-year-old-pushes-bmw-into-a-river-because-he-wanted-a-jaguar-instead   
(c) Google : photos+of+man+pushing+new+bmw+car+into+river+in+Haryana

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                                            DROWNING THE GIFT

Out of my sight ! Get lost, goddam car !
The worst chariot I have seen by far !
I ask’d for a Jaguar, JAGUAR, old man :
Phew ! My rage verily doth thou fan !

He might as well have given a Mahindra :
He is out of his mind, this old fella !
I will show to all what I wield as mettle :
A lightning move : the masses will I baffle !

This wreck shalt sink into the dirt of the river :
It shalt drown : it shalt rust down under.
Hence, damn’d antelope ! Get out of my path :
I demand’d a Jaguar : don’t increase my wrath !

                                      * * *
Lo ! The watery grave be in sight :
I will now correct forever this slight :
Thou shalt sink down into oblivion,
Thou, horrid car of malediction !

Hurray ! Old man, here be to thy gift !
Ne’er again with me wilt thou seek a rift :
What I demand, thou shalt forthwith give :
By this lesson, I will teach all how to live !

                                      * * *

A splash from the dive ! Ha ha ha ! A joy to see :
For the horrible cart, a funeral : fitting and free !
A dumping for this horror : here be thy final ride !
Hell, the murky water doth seep and rise inside !

Lo ! Into the river the shiny chariot doth sink :
Good riddance ! Soon ‘twill be gone, in a wink :
I must get out while there be still time :
Somehow I have to survive in this clime.

                                          * * *

Help ! I be drowning in these treacherous waters :
Take me back to the shore, ye lowly scavengers !
Carry me ashore : do ye know who I am ?
Whisk me away from all this flotsam !

                                             * * *
Slowly sank the car into the water,
Giving those around a strange shiver;
The driver to the shore safely was brought :
From the jaws of death, he had been caught…..

                                            * * *

At the orphanage, the skinny children languish’d :
Hunger gnaw’d at them : poverty star’d at them :
Day after day, their life was nothing but mayhem :
The meagre meals gift’d to them they relish’d.

Their rags spoke volumes. Their looks said it all.
From despair, their eyelids would droop and fall.
For them, a morose wait : just unending misery.
From their forlorn fate, they had turn’d jittery.

For them, visions of despair, of gloom :
No prospects of a better life : just doom;
‘Pon their faces, terrible looks :
Images unable to be set in books.

Powerful chariots roar’d on : shining cars sped by :
Leaves, dust rose in the air : into their faces flew :
Ah, how ‘pon others a “treasure” destiny blew…..
For themselves, no hope : everyday they would cry.

                                               * * *

The father jump’d wildly : his heart skipp’d many beats :
From the boy, this was the worst of the cruel feats :
Clutching at the furniture, the man stagger’d about :
Of heart attacks, he was bound to get another bout….. 

The man sobb’d piteously : a funeral would be too grim :
Mother India ! Save my child : for his sins, forgive him :
My boy ! My child ! Come back to me, to thy father :
Ah, me ! How my poor heart thou doth again shatter !.....

                                     * * *
I’ve dump’d the car : now let me have a shower :
For, by the lowly hordes had I been dragg’d :
They be more filthy that the muddy water :
And, about the “rescue” have they bragg’d…..

                                         * * *
The car would be valet’d. ‘Twould be fully restor’d.
Awaiting a new owner, ‘twould be carefully stor’d.
Muffl’d luxury. Royal setting. An exquisite chariot.
Hark ! Yon clamour : the envious lot do run riot…..

                                           * * *
Their duty done, the workers head’d to the shore :
Their tasks resum’d : to their bodies the mud clung still :
They turn’d their heads and look’d at yon distant hill :
India beckon’d at them : the words stoically they bore……

Their rags drenched, panting from the rescue,
To raise the chariot, they look’d for some cue;
Nothing would change in their lives, in their destiny :
Yet, the man they had return’d safely to his family……

                                          * * *
Immortal India ! Thy genius thou doth revive :
Thy destitute heroes into the river did dive :
The poor son, who was lost along the way,
He was sav’d, to live on for many a day…..
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