On Living and Leaving
By Sums Paguia
The ones who live are at lost
Of the joys of living. The ones
Who dwell, and continue to strut
Are those who carry Sorrow on
Their tired backs. As they ache for
Closure, the Universe plays with
Their fate. They drag their tired
Bodies, struggling to move
Forward. Struggling to reach
For the sunset. No. They don’t
Get the privilege to leave. They
Are force to stay and rot within.
The ones who live die, always, as
The sun rises.
Summary of On Living and Leaving
- Popularity of “On Living and Leaving”: Written by Sums Paguia, an English teacher teaching at Xavier Ateneo – Senior High School, this beautiful poem first appeared in 1930 in her collection, Twenty Poems. The poem highlights her predicament of living and dragging one’s body along to carry on living. This state of being condemned to live and yet to meet the same painful fate has made this poem remarkable.
- “On Living and Leaving” As a Representative of Condemned Life: Dilating upon her personal thoughts of living and continuing to live, Sums Paguia, the Filipino poet, presents two types of lives; the one that is lost in enjoying and the other that is lost in living. In both cases, the one lost in the joys of living is wasted, and the other lost in carrying sorrow on the back continues to torture the person. It happens that this type of life tortures the person passing it, and when he feels the pain to end it, the whole universe turns against him. Therefore, such persons continue living this type of life to reach the end yet they do not feel privileged to die soon to get rid of it. Rather, they are forced to live this rotten life and continue living, and the people who truly live taste death when the sun rises the next day. In other words, man is condemned to live this type of life whether he likes it or not.
- Major Themes in “On Living and Leaving”: The absurdity of life, futility, and enjoying this life are major themes of this poem. Although this Filipino poet has presented two types of lives, it appears that she wants to show that the life of those who live with their heads high and meet their end at an appropriate time is worth living. Yet the other type just faces this life to live as it continues. Therefore, they seem to understand the absurdity of life in that whether they are happy or sorrowful, they are condemned to live in this meaningless void. That is why the universe prolongs the life of those who feel the pain of living. This state of absurdity continues even with those who enjoy this living. In other words, the poet feels anguish over this meaningless complication of life.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in On Living and Leaving
Sums Paguia used various literary devices to enhance the intended impact of his poem. Some of the major literary devices are analyzed below.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /a/ and /o/ in “The ones who live are at lost” and the sound of /o/ in “Are those who carry Sorrow on.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /th/ and /r/ in “Their tired backs. As they ache for” and the sound of /t/ in “Get the privilege to leave. They.”
- Enjambment: It is a device in which the meanings of verse roll over to the next without having any pause or punctuation mark. This poem shows the use of enjambment, such as;
Struggling to reach
For the sunset. No. They don’t
Get the privilege to leave. They
Are force to stay and rot within.
The ones who live die, always, as
The sun rises.
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Sums Paguia has used imagery in this poem, such as “Of the joys of living. The ones”, “Are those who carry Sorrow on” and “Their fate. They drag their tired”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects that are different in nature. The poet used different implicit metaphors of sorrow as a weight that the people carry on their backs.
- 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 life, the universe, sorrow, and backs to show the absurdity of life.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in On Living and Leaving
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 formal and poetic diction.
- Free Verse: It means to use the free verse that has no rhyme scheme, rhythm, or meter. This poem is a free verse poem.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. This is a single-stanza poem having fourteen verses.
- Tone: It means the voice of the text. The poem shows a painful, sorrowful, and tragic tone.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful to quote when talking about the absurdity of life.
No. They don’t
Get the privilege to leave. They
Are force to stay and rot within.
The ones who live die, always, as
The sun rises.
