Barter
By Sara Teasdale
Life has loveliness to sell,
All beautiful and splendid things,
Blue waves whitened on a cliff,
Soaring fire that sways and sings,
And children’s faces looking up
Holding wonder like a cup.Life has loveliness to sell,
Music like a curve of gold,
Scent of pine trees in the rain,
Eyes that love you, arms that hold,
And for your spirit’s still delight,
Holy thoughts that star the night.Spend all you have for loveliness,
Buy it and never count the cost;
For one white singing hour of peace
Count many a year of strife well lost,
And for a breath of ecstasy
Give all you have been, or could be.
Summary of Barter
- Popularity of “Barter”: Published in 1917, in her collection, Love Song “Barter” is an optimistic poetic piece by Sara Teasdale, a brilliant American poet, and writer. In this poem, she shows that one should enjoy life to its extreme. Also, it stresses upon the need to stay joyous. How the speaker counts the reasons for being happy has become the reason for this poem’s unparalleled fame.
- “Barter” As a Representative of Joy: The poem accounts for the blessings life offers to human beings. It begins when the speaker states that life is full of beautiful things as it has loveliness to sell. Also, she talks about the variety of beautiful moments it offers. First, she talks about blue waves which turn white when they crash against the cliff. Then, she talks about the soaring fire that sways and sings in the air. Another sublime moment that she discusses is the children’s innocent faces looking up at the sky.
All these images help people count even the little unnoticeable blessings. In the second stanza, she brings in more joyous experiences life offers to human beings, such as the extraordinary quality of music described as being like a curve of gold. Moreover, it also sells spiritual delights in the form of good thoughts and positive thinking. Therefore, she suggests that one should spend time pursuing loveliness. - Major Themes in “Barter”: Natural beauty, blessings, and optimism are the major themes of the poem. The speaker of the poem urges her readers to be optimistic in life. To her, one should count life’s blessings and be thankful. If we focus on positive things, we may avoid various calamities in life. It means life is not a bed of roses; it throws challenges our way. But it has many lovely things one can enjoy, such as mesmerizing movement of ocean water, the fire that glows on winter nights, the innocent faces of the children, and the holy thoughts that light our hearts. To her, one should spend all his riches to buy these bounties and never count the cost. In other words, she says we should enjoy life to the maximum.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Barter
literary devices are tools that help writers to create meaning in their simple poetic pieces. Sara used some literary devices in the poem, whose analysis is as follows.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /e/ in “Life has loveliness to sell,” and the sound of /o/ in “They are both gone up to the church to pray.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /t/ in “Count many a year of strife well lost” and the sound of /n/ in “Scent of pine trees in the rain.”
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;
“And for a breath of ecstasy
Give all you have been, or could be.
- Epigraph: It is a device used in the form of a poem, quote, or sentence, usually placed in the beginning of the poem to suggest the overall theme of the poem. Sara used this device in the opening line where it is stated as; “Life has loveliness to sell.”
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Sara used imagery in this poem, such as “Spend all you have for loveliness,”, “Count many a year of strife well lost,” and “Give all you have been, or could be.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects different in nature. The poet used life as an extended metaphor in the poem to show how it offers wonders to the people.
- Simile: It is a device used to compare something with something else to make the meanings clear to the readers. Sara used this device in the first stanza of the poem, where it is stated as;
“And children’s faces looking up
Holding wonder like a cup.”
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem uses symbols such as wonder, life, happiness, and loveliness.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Barter
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction: The poem shows descriptive, formal, and poetic diction.
- End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. Sara has used end rhyme in this poem, such as; “up/cup”, “hold/gold” and “cost/lost.”
- Repetition: There is a repetition of the verse “Life has loveliness to sell” which has created a musical quality in the poem.
- Refrain: The lines that are repeated at some distance in the poems are called a refrain. The verse, “Life has loveliness to sell” is shows the use of a refrain in this poem.
- Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows the ABCBDD rhyme Scheme, and this pattern continues until the end.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are three stanzas in this poem with each comprising six verses.
- Tone: It means the voice of the text. The poem shows the use of suggestive, advisory, and positive tones.
Quotes to be Used
The following life quote is useful to count the blessings life offers to human beings.
“Life has loveliness to sell,
All beautiful and splendid things,
Blue waves whitened on a cliff,
Soaring fire that sways and sings,
And children’s faces looking up
Holding wonder like a cup.”