Icarus
By Edward Field
Only the feathers floating around the hat
Showed that anything more spectacular had occurred
Than the usual drowning. The police preferred to ignore
The confusing aspects of the case,
And the witnesses ran off to a gang war.
So the report filed and forgotten in the archives read simply
“Drowned,” but it was wrong: Icarus
Had swum away, coming at last to the city
Where he rented a house and tended the garden.
“That nice Mr. Hicks” the neighbors called,
Never dreaming that the gray, respectable suit
Concealed arms that had controlled huge wings
Nor that those sad, defeated eyes had once
Compelled the sun. And had he told them
They would have answered with a shocked,
uncomprehending stare.
No, he could not disturb their neat front yards;
Yet all his books insisted that this was a horrible mistake:
What was he doing aging in a suburb?
Can the genius of the hero fall
To the middling stature of the merely talented?
And nightly Icarus probes his wound
And daily in his workshop, curtains carefully drawn,
Constructs small wings and tries to fly
To the lighting fixture on the ceiling:
Fails every time and hates himself for trying.
He had thought himself a hero, had acted heroically,
And dreamt of his fall, the tragic fall of the hero;
But now rides commuter trains,
Serves on various committees,
And wishes he had drowned.
Summary of Icarus
- Popularity of “Icarus”: Written by a US veteran and poet, Edward Field, this concise poem “Icarus” first appeared in 1963. The poem is based on the mythical figure of Icarus and his father Daedalus who changed the world of trust as well as aviation. However, Edward Field’s idea is to present the situation of the postmodern man, even if, he is a pilot and has just landed after a flight. This is why the poem has become popular.
- “Icarus” As a Representative of Modern Man: The poet presents a modern man who has tried to mimic Icarus by leaving this prison of the world by flying with wings and then landing in the stream. However, the police have been after him but they do not find anything except the wings and the hat. Therefore, it transpires in the official files that the man has drowned but actually, he has not drowned. Rather he has swum to the bank to restart his life. He rents a house, lives as Mr. Hicks, a nice man, and is very popular in the neighborhood. However, it happens that the people never try to ask him about his past and he has never tried to inform them. Therefore, he lives the life of a middle-class person yet he tries to live heroically that suits his stature and grandeur. Therefore, it happens that this life has routinized his life into a commuter of trains and members of committees to be busy in this modern life, making him wish he has rather drowned.
- Major Themes in “Icarus”: Memories, heroic past, and modern routinization are major themes of this poem. Although the man recalls that his heroic past has a mythical aura around his personality, his new life has put that heroic past into oblivion. He just remembers that long ago in the past he has wings and that he has tried to break the prison. Yet, he has to come to the same routine of the world to commute here and there in the city and head or participate in the meetings of the committees. This routinization vis-à-vis that heroic popularity and fame has put the modern man in a quandary that despite becoming Mr. Hicks with no responsibilities and a highly attractive reputation in the area, he wants to have drowned at that time.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Icarus
Edward Field used various literary devices to enhance the intended impact of his poem. Some of the major literary devices are as follows.
- Allusion: It means to use references from society, history, or culture to stress upon the main idea. The poet has alluded to the Grecian mythical characters of Icarus and Daedalus.
- Alliteration: It means to use initial consonants in successive words. The poem shows the use of consonant sounds, such as /f/ in “feathers floating.”
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /a/ in “The confusing aspects of the case” and the sound of /a/ and /o/ in “No, he could not disturb their neat front yards.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /w/ and /b/ in “What was he doing aging in a suburb?” and the sound of /f/ and /s/ in “Fails every time and hates himself for trying.”
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Edward Field has used imagery in this poem, such as “He had thought himself a hero, had acted heroically”, “And dreamt of his fall, the tragic fall of the hero” and “But now rides commuter trains.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects that are different in nature. The poet used the extended metaphor of Icarus and Daedalus.
- Personification: It means to attribute human emotions to inanimate objects. The poet personified eyes as “defeated eyes” as if they have emotions and life of their own.
- Rhetorical Question: It means to show or use a question not to elicit an answer but to tress upon the main theme. The poem shows the use of rhetorical questions, such as “To the middling stature of the merely talented?” or “What was he doing aging in a suburb?”
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols, such as feathers, police, war, report, and city to show the impacts of the modern world.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Icarus
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: It means the type of language. The poem shows good use of informal and yet poetic diction.
- Free Verse: It means to use verses having no rhyme scheme or metrical pattern. Edward Field shows the use of free verse in this poem.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. This is a single-stanza poem having 31 verses in total.
- Tone: It means the voice of the text. The sonnet shows extolling tone in the beginning that turns ironic.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful to quote when talking about the tragic failure of somebody.
Fails every time and hates himself for trying.
He had thought himself a hero, had acted heroically,
And dreamt of his fall, the tragic fall of the hero;
But now rides commuter trains,
Serves on various committees,
And wishes he had drowned.