Analyzing Grenville Kleiser's The Most Vital Thing In Life
“The Most Vital Thing in Life” Poem Analysis
There are many obvious reasons for the enchanting tone of most children’s poems, songs, and stories such as their superfluous imagery, weightless plot, and infallible characters; however, a more undetected explanation for the happiness exuding from these pieces of literature is the regular, relaxing rhythm effortlessly moving throughout the piece. Rhythm is the heavy bass that drives the literature, creating a mood that intertwines with the plot, tone, and message of the text.
Although not creating fictional elements or uncommon scenarios evident in a children’s poem,
“The Most Vital Thing in Life” by Grenville Kleiser contains a similarly regular rhythm, denoted by meter and rhyme, which elevates the poem’s …show more content…
message of keeping inner peace when confronted with adversity.
A prime aspect of rhythm, meter, ensures the poem’s key words will not go unnoticed in the poem, therefore thrusting both the peaceful and negative diction into the spotlight. By having a regular meter, the stress is placed on the end rhymes as well as certain words that focus on its syllabic quantity. For example, the last stanza reads: “If you are poised and tranquil / when all around is strife, / be assured that you have mastered / the most vital thing in life” (Kleiser 20-24).
The meter here switches from iambic to anapest after line 22, which accentuates important words because of their valued meaning in the poem. Iambic meter intensifies you, poised, and the first syllable of tranquil in line 20 which, it is almost too clarion to miss, epitomizes what the poem
Evans 2 tries to evoke from the reader: poise and tranquility. Line 23 emblematizes anapest meter, as the second syllable in assured, you, and the second syllable in mastered are amplified by the meter.
So without the unstressed words one can infer that the poem wants to ensure that you, the reader are poised and tranquil so you can be assured mastery over the most vital thing in life. Most sets of lines throughout the poem subsume their own meter, with iambic and anapest being the most common, and the emphasis on these words creates regularity even with the regular rhythm. By instituting this type of meter, the poem keeps its flow easy and calm, which directly affects the reader’s mood and interpretation of the poem.
It really gets the reader to buy into Kleiser’s words and compels them to stay positive because there really is no immediate hostile environment worthy enough to subjugate inner peace. The meter magnifies the poem’s diction and overall message with its controlled and precise emphasis, demonstrating pure peace can and should be found at all times.
By illustrating the even rhythm through end rhymes, Kleiser further constructs a resemblance between regular rhythm and the tranquility of his moral message. The poem uses a simple, yet effective rhyme scheme: ABCBDEFE for each of the three stanzas, which correlates directly with the simplicity of the moral value to stay calm during an outlying emotional torrent.
The rhyme pattern not only enhances the equable, smooth rhythm, but the value of the poem as a whole. End rhymes such as “regret”, “forget” (2 and 4) and “defied”, “denied” (10 and 12) contain a unity in the meaning of the words that reflect on their respective stanzas. Even though the negative connotation that comes with all of the four words seems counterintuitive to the positive flow that falls just short of enjambment, in context, they express the awful situation
that calls for “the time to curb resentment”. Their lines present the cumbersome situations that will make humans “peeved and disappointment” without the mastery of calm. The rhythm associated
Evans 3 with the end rhymes ensures that even through these disappointing times of adversity, the peaceful state of mind should not waver, just as the rhyme scheme never changes. “The Most
Vital Thing in Life” proves to be a solid sense of tranquility during times of strife and is noted throughout the poem’s regular rhythmic disposition.
To express that he believes is the most vital thing in life is to always have a calm mental peace, Kleiser creates a seamless flow of regular rhythm throughout his poem that enhances the poem’s meaning with its resolute rhythm. In respect to other poems and stories developing a path to the realization of a specific moral value, “The Most Vital Thing in Life” is no different in that the literary devices within the poem affect the reader’s mood in a positive way. Without rhythm the poem would not be able to entice the reader’s attention to the value, so rhythm cannot be overlooked when analyzing poetry. In fact, rhythm just might be the most vital thing in poetry.
There are many obvious reasons for the enchanting tone of most children’s poems, songs, and stories such as their superfluous imagery, weightless plot, and infallible characters; however, a more undetected explanation for the happiness exuding from these pieces of literature is the regular, relaxing rhythm effortlessly moving throughout the piece. Rhythm is the heavy bass that drives the literature, creating a mood that intertwines with the plot, tone, and message of the text.
Although not creating fictional elements or uncommon scenarios evident in a children’s poem,
“The Most Vital Thing in Life” by Grenville Kleiser contains a similarly regular rhythm, denoted by meter and rhyme, which elevates the poem’s …show more content…
message of keeping inner peace when confronted with adversity.
A prime aspect of rhythm, meter, ensures the poem’s key words will not go unnoticed in the poem, therefore thrusting both the peaceful and negative diction into the spotlight. By having a regular meter, the stress is placed on the end rhymes as well as certain words that focus on its syllabic quantity. For example, the last stanza reads: “If you are poised and tranquil / when all around is strife, / be assured that you have mastered / the most vital thing in life” (Kleiser 20-24).
The meter here switches from iambic to anapest after line 22, which accentuates important words because of their valued meaning in the poem. Iambic meter intensifies you, poised, and the first syllable of tranquil in line 20 which, it is almost too clarion to miss, epitomizes what the poem
Evans 2 tries to evoke from the reader: poise and tranquility. Line 23 emblematizes anapest meter, as the second syllable in assured, you, and the second syllable in mastered are amplified by the meter.
So without the unstressed words one can infer that the poem wants to ensure that you, the reader are poised and tranquil so you can be assured mastery over the most vital thing in life. Most sets of lines throughout the poem subsume their own meter, with iambic and anapest being the most common, and the emphasis on these words creates regularity even with the regular rhythm. By instituting this type of meter, the poem keeps its flow easy and calm, which directly affects the reader’s mood and interpretation of the poem.
It really gets the reader to buy into Kleiser’s words and compels them to stay positive because there really is no immediate hostile environment worthy enough to subjugate inner peace. The meter magnifies the poem’s diction and overall message with its controlled and precise emphasis, demonstrating pure peace can and should be found at all times.
By illustrating the even rhythm through end rhymes, Kleiser further constructs a resemblance between regular rhythm and the tranquility of his moral message. The poem uses a simple, yet effective rhyme scheme: ABCBDEFE for each of the three stanzas, which correlates directly with the simplicity of the moral value to stay calm during an outlying emotional torrent.
The rhyme pattern not only enhances the equable, smooth rhythm, but the value of the poem as a whole. End rhymes such as “regret”, “forget” (2 and 4) and “defied”, “denied” (10 and 12) contain a unity in the meaning of the words that reflect on their respective stanzas. Even though the negative connotation that comes with all of the four words seems counterintuitive to the positive flow that falls just short of enjambment, in context, they express the awful situation
that calls for “the time to curb resentment”. Their lines present the cumbersome situations that will make humans “peeved and disappointment” without the mastery of calm. The rhythm associated
Evans 3 with the end rhymes ensures that even through these disappointing times of adversity, the peaceful state of mind should not waver, just as the rhyme scheme never changes. “The Most
Vital Thing in Life” proves to be a solid sense of tranquility during times of strife and is noted throughout the poem’s regular rhythmic disposition.
To express that he believes is the most vital thing in life is to always have a calm mental peace, Kleiser creates a seamless flow of regular rhythm throughout his poem that enhances the poem’s meaning with its resolute rhythm. In respect to other poems and stories developing a path to the realization of a specific moral value, “The Most Vital Thing in Life” is no different in that the literary devices within the poem affect the reader’s mood in a positive way. Without rhythm the poem would not be able to entice the reader’s attention to the value, so rhythm cannot be overlooked when analyzing poetry. In fact, rhythm just might be the most vital thing in poetry.