The Voice by Shel Silverstein

From Shel Silverstien's Book Falling Up, page 38

The Voice by Shel Silverstein

For this week’s assignment, I will be doing a poem explication. I chose to do this poem because I grew up reading poetry by Shel Silverstein. I remember as a child having the books around my house as well as a lot of my relative’s houses. Back then I didn't understand the meaning behind those poems. Today however, I am able to look at them at a much deeper level. I chose The Voice because I am at an important time in my life and I believe that there is no better time than now to listen to your heart to lead you down the right path.

This poem is fairly short and skinny. It is only 8 lines long and each line is no more than 5-8 words.  The poem has both rhyme and meter. The second and fourth line rhyme as well as the sixth and eighth line. The language of this poem is simple. I like this because it allows a variety of age groups to read and understand it. Silverstein starts off right away making the poem personal. He does this by using the word “you”. “There is a voice inside of you” starts out the poem and immediately makes it personal. It made me sit down and think back to all the times when there has been a tough decision I had to make and my heart told me one thing, while my head told me another.

The first four lines of the poem start by providing a very common situation that most people have gone through. It makes the reader think back to times in their life when they have had to decide what was right. The next part of the poem says how there are going to be all sorts of people who try and give you advice on what is the right decision. And the poem ends by encouraging the reader to “listen to the voice that speaks inside”. This gives emphasis that it is important to listen to your inner voice and that no matter what people tell you, you are the only one that can make the decision.

I like this poem a lot because it can be applied to many different situations and to a wide range of people. Although it may be simple and short, it has the ability to speak to a lot of people. All in all, remember no matter what happens and what you are faced with, always base your decisions on what you want to do and what you think is right. Only you can make the right decision for yourself.

Nurse, Wounded Soldier and Child by William Hatherell
Photo Credit: IWM

Today I will be giving a visual description of the painting Nurse, Wounded Soldier and Child by William Hatherell constructed in 1915. Being that this is the first time I will be writing a visual description and formal analysis, I ask that you bare with me! With that being said, I chose a painting that I could relate to; nursing.This painting resides in the Imperial War Museum and is a 45.7 x 32.3 cm, oil on canvas.

At first glance, you notice the immediate white, floor length dress of the central figure that seems to stand out compared to the darkness of the background. Marked vividly, in red, is a cross suggesting that she is a nurse.It resides in the middle of her chest. She wears a white medical cap on her head, that has flaps that hang down just below her ears covering most of her blonde hair. Her facial expression seems strong, which seems to be appropriate due to the two figures standing next to her. She supports a young child with her left hand. This young child comes up to about the height of her hip. Her hair is blonde and seems to be in place. She wears a long, orange dress with no shoes. The expression on the child's face is one of sadness or fear. As she leans against the nurse, and lies her head on her, her hands are cupped together just below her face on the nurses leg.

On the left side of the painting, there is a man dressed in an olive green military suit. He is slightly hunched over, putting weight onto a crutch on his right side that he grips strongly with his right hand. It appears that one of this legs is wounded due to him putting all of his weight on his left leg, which is stretched out straight to the ground like normal. The other is pulled back slightly behind his body in a partially bent position.  His other arm locks arms with the nurse. He looks to the ground with no facial expression, although you could assume that he is in pain. A white bandage is wrapped around most of his head covering all of his brown hair except for a small part on the very top of his head.

The background of the painting is low keyed, with a dark area taking up half of the picture. The bottom half of the background, which includes the ground that they are standing on,could be considered more middle keyed. It is several different colors of tan, whites, dark yellows, etc. There are no outlines of any figures in the background. Instead, there are several colors mixed together and painted in different directions. It enhances the three characters that stand prominently in the middle, making them the focus of the picture.

Although I do not know the reason for the painting or the message that was supposed to be portrayed, I can relate to the nurse in the middle. I think that she is depicted as strong because she is the support system for the young child and wounded soldier next to her. A nurses responsibility is not only to take care of those in need, but to be a strong figure they can look to and lean on in times of trouble. I can also see her being a beacon of light in a time of darkness, which could have been portrayed by the dark figures all around her, yet she stands out in white.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! This blog is for my online Humanities course on art and literature. This course is taught by Ann Hostetler and is provided by Goshen College. Ann is the author of Empty Room with Light and editor of A Cappella: Mennonite Voices in Poetry. I am enrolled in this course to meet my general education requirements. Here you will see and read about some of my favorite poetry and artwork.

My name is Kelsey Smucker and I am a senior nursing major at Goshen College. I was born and raised in Goshen, Indiana. I have a younger sister who will be attending IPFW this fall majoring in graphic design and photography. Throughout the years, I have grown up surrounded by my sisters artwork, pottery and photographs. I have come to love and enjoy the creativity she has acquired and look forward to seeing how she will continue to blossom over the years to come. Through her I have learned to appreciate the art that surrounds me and through this class I am eager to learn more about a subject that to me, is very foreign.