The Tattooed Man
The poem The Tattooed Man consists of seven stanzas with each stanza containing a couplet that does not rhyme. This structure of the poem is almost similar to that of a sonnet. However rather unconventionally like the typical Shakespearian sonnet this poem does not follow any rhyming metre. This could also be an ironic tool in order to portray the rejection of love and amy also be a metaphor in itself to portray the disjointed rhythm of the characters life. It is a sonnet like form in its visual effect, the 14 lines and couplets are proof of this. However the content of this poem presents the opposite of this as the central idea of love is banished from the readers thoughts almost immediately. This can be explored in several aspects of the
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poem, in the form of the poem and the symbolism of the tattoos.
The structure of the poem is split into seven stanzas each with its own couplet, which goes onto describe different aspects of The Tattooed Man. The introduction of the poem is the first stanza of the poem, in which Raine introduces the parallels of religion and tattoos to describe the physical features of the man. This is where the reader can draw parallels to the tattoo artist being God himself. The reader can also draw religious parallels to the making of man out of clay as portrayed by the Bible, Raine subverts this and uses the form of tattoo instead to describe the creation of man. From lines 1 and 2 the character of man is presented as irrelevant in which no specific detail has been appointed to his character by God, “Someone, God perhaps, has scribbled hair all over his chest and shoulders” (1-2). Almost immediately the language conveys the idea that the man is described as normal on the surface, he is not important but rather is just normal maybe even an irrelevant member of society. Also the fact that he is presented as in the form of plural conveys emotions of displacement, the man is from the start alone there is no other companion presented from the author. In the drawings in the first line can also be interpreted as quite literally, the drawings are in fact under the hair.
The third person narrator who as an observer outside of the action being described. It can be argued that the narrator is a third person omniscient narrator, in which the narration is focalised through the poems one particular character. Rather than describing how the character has seen the world, the reader is introduced to the narrators view of the character. It is also interesting of how the intimacy of the narrators thoughts toward the man may suggest that the narration is autobiographical. One could interpret that this is an analeptic view of his life analysed in the future. This is supported by the intimate feelings portrayed by the narrator: “the drawings are there underneath” (3), from the surface of the man’s appearance the narrator understands that there is another story other than the tattoos appearance.
In the second stanza pain is displayed as ambiguously, it is described as being advertised by the tattoos themselves, in which one may interpret it to be a metaphorical pain as well as the physical pain of the tattoo. The author intentionally presents the tattoos as ironic in order to add to the rejection of pain. The narrator also understands the man’s imperfections, this is a display of intimacy as it does not appear as a form of a tattoo but is interpreted as: “the bruised names of love”. This is explicitly the narrators insight to the man and his tattoos as the tattoos have not been taken as their literal meaning. It is evident that the narrator has now forgotten the external appearance but rather focuses on the internal emotional form and their own interpretation as there are particular tattoos that have been noticed such as the tattoo the blue bird mentioned (on line 5) can be interpreted ironically, bluebirds carry the connotation of love and good luck. Also according to the Valentine myth the bluebird also represents a man of laughter and love, which to the portrayal of the man on behalf of the narrator seems unlikely as he describes him as looking like lost property. There is no longer this sense of love or belonging rather it has been buried as explained by the narrators views of the tattoos in the present sense; (12-14) “I read his crowded arms and think of tattooed gravestones- love letter lost in all the long grass”. This also suggests that to the reader the man himself is a presentation of where love goes to die, for love has been portrayed in the past tense and the rejection in the present: “Girls have held him fiercely” (9), the past tense is very important in portraying the rejection of love and the non existence of it now. The poem does display some form of consistency in terms of rhythm through stanza one and two , in which Raine chooses to use nine syllables for each line. However this is shortly disrupted as Raine introduces inconstancies in terms of pattern in the rhythm, the poem then consists of a random array of syllables in each line of each stanza. This dishevelled structure could indeed be a symbol as intended by Raine to express how the character of the poem is received by the narrator, a dishevelled and disrupted rhythm. This is then support by claims in the poem that lead the narrator to believe that he is, as Raine portrays “lost property” Line reference, it is presumed at once he may have been apart of something like society much like the lost rhythm of the poem, but now he is disjointed like the poems rhythm.
Tattoo by Judith Berke is a poem that follows no particular form, the poem has twenty-five lines and embodies the story of an evolving women and the symbols her tattoos stand for. The poem carries no specific metre or rhyme scheme, rather it is closer to spoken word poetry as the poet uses enjambement. This brings us to the subject of narrative. It is the narrative that suggests that the speaker is in fact the main character from the poem, in which she has entered a state of analepsis continuing to tell the reader the story of her overcoming the days she spent in the holocaust movement. In which the reader can gain an insight to the intimate feelings of the reader. The narrative is told in the first person narrative, purely form the narrators aspect and so all information is first hand therefore the narrator is deemed a reliable one.
The poem can be read as a way of reversing the image of women as weak individuals, also drawn from the content the poem can also be read in the way of a form of retaliation against concentration camps.
The poem is depicted from the sketch that the women in the poem has drawn, in which she wishes everything to “be its opposite’’ (23). The tattoo is a powerful symbol within the poem, it has been used to represent resilience against the holocaust and the empowerment of women. The dragon (9) that is represented in the poem has quite an intimate meaning in its symbol. the dragon can be perceived as a symbol of freedom, the narrator admires the flames: “ I said to the artist, more flames’’ (24), the tattoo emerges as this transformative capacity and clearly form this the narrator wants to form an alternative identity for herself. the dragon completely transforms the tattoo and can also be interpreted to act as the mythological Phoenix. The reference to the mythological Phoenix is supported by the reference to ashes, the dragon or symbol of the phoenix emerges from the ashes to signify a rebirth of the author. by fusing these images the theme of empowerment arises for women in particular as focus from the dragon can also be focused on the maid: “ in fact if I flex the muscles a certain way, the flames would appear from her mouth’’ (18-21). it is evident that the tattoo can be seen as an auto biographical creature of the poem for the character as a symbol of retaliation and rebirth against the concentration
camps.
The tattoo also holds many significant symbols of her life, however so do past tattoos. This can be seen as a possible link to the historical context of the character and the holocaust, as she explains: “The artist said we shouldn't detract from the one on my arm” (1-2). It could be interpreted that the one on the arm my be in reference to the bands they wore during the holocaust to identify them to their particular groups, race or sexuality. The tattoo is there to serve as a reminder of her past life, and the new tattoo may be a form of moving on.
In conclusion both poems are similar in which the character is represented by the tattoos they have on their bodies. The physical appearance of the tattoos are an apt reference to their mental state. The tattoos are important in portraying the past and the present. The tattoo is a powerful symbol of resistance for the women in Tattoo, whereas in The Tattooed Man it is a powerful symbol for the narrator gain an insight into his life.
poem, in the form of the poem and the symbolism of the tattoos.
The structure of the poem is split into seven stanzas each with its own couplet, which goes onto describe different aspects of The Tattooed Man. The introduction of the poem is the first stanza of the poem, in which Raine introduces the parallels of religion and tattoos to describe the physical features of the man. This is where the reader can draw parallels to the tattoo artist being God himself. The reader can also draw religious parallels to the making of man out of clay as portrayed by the Bible, Raine subverts this and uses the form of tattoo instead to describe the creation of man. From lines 1 and 2 the character of man is presented as irrelevant in which no specific detail has been appointed to his character by God, “Someone, God perhaps, has scribbled hair all over his chest and shoulders” (1-2). Almost immediately the language conveys the idea that the man is described as normal on the surface, he is not important but rather is just normal maybe even an irrelevant member of society. Also the fact that he is presented as in the form of plural conveys emotions of displacement, the man is from the start alone there is no other companion presented from the author. In the drawings in the first line can also be interpreted as quite literally, the drawings are in fact under the hair.
The third person narrator who as an observer outside of the action being described. It can be argued that the narrator is a third person omniscient narrator, in which the narration is focalised through the poems one particular character. Rather than describing how the character has seen the world, the reader is introduced to the narrators view of the character. It is also interesting of how the intimacy of the narrators thoughts toward the man may suggest that the narration is autobiographical. One could interpret that this is an analeptic view of his life analysed in the future. This is supported by the intimate feelings portrayed by the narrator: “the drawings are there underneath” (3), from the surface of the man’s appearance the narrator understands that there is another story other than the tattoos appearance.
In the second stanza pain is displayed as ambiguously, it is described as being advertised by the tattoos themselves, in which one may interpret it to be a metaphorical pain as well as the physical pain of the tattoo. The author intentionally presents the tattoos as ironic in order to add to the rejection of pain. The narrator also understands the man’s imperfections, this is a display of intimacy as it does not appear as a form of a tattoo but is interpreted as: “the bruised names of love”. This is explicitly the narrators insight to the man and his tattoos as the tattoos have not been taken as their literal meaning. It is evident that the narrator has now forgotten the external appearance but rather focuses on the internal emotional form and their own interpretation as there are particular tattoos that have been noticed such as the tattoo the blue bird mentioned (on line 5) can be interpreted ironically, bluebirds carry the connotation of love and good luck. Also according to the Valentine myth the bluebird also represents a man of laughter and love, which to the portrayal of the man on behalf of the narrator seems unlikely as he describes him as looking like lost property. There is no longer this sense of love or belonging rather it has been buried as explained by the narrators views of the tattoos in the present sense; (12-14) “I read his crowded arms and think of tattooed gravestones- love letter lost in all the long grass”. This also suggests that to the reader the man himself is a presentation of where love goes to die, for love has been portrayed in the past tense and the rejection in the present: “Girls have held him fiercely” (9), the past tense is very important in portraying the rejection of love and the non existence of it now. The poem does display some form of consistency in terms of rhythm through stanza one and two , in which Raine chooses to use nine syllables for each line. However this is shortly disrupted as Raine introduces inconstancies in terms of pattern in the rhythm, the poem then consists of a random array of syllables in each line of each stanza. This dishevelled structure could indeed be a symbol as intended by Raine to express how the character of the poem is received by the narrator, a dishevelled and disrupted rhythm. This is then support by claims in the poem that lead the narrator to believe that he is, as Raine portrays “lost property” Line reference, it is presumed at once he may have been apart of something like society much like the lost rhythm of the poem, but now he is disjointed like the poems rhythm.
Tattoo by Judith Berke is a poem that follows no particular form, the poem has twenty-five lines and embodies the story of an evolving women and the symbols her tattoos stand for. The poem carries no specific metre or rhyme scheme, rather it is closer to spoken word poetry as the poet uses enjambement. This brings us to the subject of narrative. It is the narrative that suggests that the speaker is in fact the main character from the poem, in which she has entered a state of analepsis continuing to tell the reader the story of her overcoming the days she spent in the holocaust movement. In which the reader can gain an insight to the intimate feelings of the reader. The narrative is told in the first person narrative, purely form the narrators aspect and so all information is first hand therefore the narrator is deemed a reliable one.
The poem can be read as a way of reversing the image of women as weak individuals, also drawn from the content the poem can also be read in the way of a form of retaliation against concentration camps.
The poem is depicted from the sketch that the women in the poem has drawn, in which she wishes everything to “be its opposite’’ (23). The tattoo is a powerful symbol within the poem, it has been used to represent resilience against the holocaust and the empowerment of women. The dragon (9) that is represented in the poem has quite an intimate meaning in its symbol. the dragon can be perceived as a symbol of freedom, the narrator admires the flames: “ I said to the artist, more flames’’ (24), the tattoo emerges as this transformative capacity and clearly form this the narrator wants to form an alternative identity for herself. the dragon completely transforms the tattoo and can also be interpreted to act as the mythological Phoenix. The reference to the mythological Phoenix is supported by the reference to ashes, the dragon or symbol of the phoenix emerges from the ashes to signify a rebirth of the author. by fusing these images the theme of empowerment arises for women in particular as focus from the dragon can also be focused on the maid: “ in fact if I flex the muscles a certain way, the flames would appear from her mouth’’ (18-21). it is evident that the tattoo can be seen as an auto biographical creature of the poem for the character as a symbol of retaliation and rebirth against the concentration
camps.
The tattoo also holds many significant symbols of her life, however so do past tattoos. This can be seen as a possible link to the historical context of the character and the holocaust, as she explains: “The artist said we shouldn't detract from the one on my arm” (1-2). It could be interpreted that the one on the arm my be in reference to the bands they wore during the holocaust to identify them to their particular groups, race or sexuality. The tattoo is there to serve as a reminder of her past life, and the new tattoo may be a form of moving on.
In conclusion both poems are similar in which the character is represented by the tattoos they have on their bodies. The physical appearance of the tattoos are an apt reference to their mental state. The tattoos are important in portraying the past and the present. The tattoo is a powerful symbol of resistance for the women in Tattoo, whereas in The Tattooed Man it is a powerful symbol for the narrator gain an insight into his life.