Silhouette Essay

794 Words4 Pages
Silhouette Poetry is written to reflect a poet’s idea, thoughts, background, traditions and customs in which the poet lives. Pauline Johnson’s poem “Silhouette” is a perfect example of this, for it reflects the tragedy that happened to her people long ago. In the poem, “Silhouette”, Pauline Johnson creates a melancholy and tragic tone through a variety of techniques. This tone is developed through Johnson’s use of imagery, structure, and persona. To begin, Pauline Johnson uses imagery to describe the chief and the abandoned lands of the Sioux. Johnson uses “Silhouette” as a metaphor for the decay of the chief and all of his surroundings falling apart around him. Consumed by the loss of his people and the land, the land begins to evaporate around him as he becomes the dark “And shadow-like” (12) figure that was once the leader of his tribe. “A solitary Indian Teepee stands” (6), “And near the open doorway, gaunt and lean, / And shadow-like, there stands an Indian Chief” (11-12) and “With eyes that lost their lustre long ago” (9) depicts the chief. The use of the word “solitary” emphasizes the chief’s sadness and loneliness over the loss that he is feeling. The chiefs “eyes that lost their lustre” (9) represents that he is not happy; therefore his eyes are lacking enthusiasm. What remains are regret, sadness, and perhaps even disgust. Johnson also uses the word “melts”, “The sky-line melts from russet into blue” (1) that creates an image of change. The melting represents the tragic slow loss of the land and chief himself. The imagery here reflects the chief’s feelings, who is very connected with his roots and his land, but as the land dies, the chief is slowly dying inside with it. Secondly, Pauline Johnson uses a lyric format which is appropriate to fulfill the purpose of this poem. As tune and feelings are absolutely necessary characteristics in a poem,
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