Night Vision is a collection of poetry written by St Lucian
poet and playwright, Kendel Hippolyte.
Poetry can be described as the spontaneous overflow of powerful
emotion. Hippolyte’s poems “Hurricane”,
“The Piper’s Song” and “Snow” all reflect this viewpoint, and their emotional
impact is felt by readers especially through the poetic techniques found in
each.
Firstly, in the poem “Hurricane” by Kendel Hippolyte, many
techniques are employed which create emotional impact. Throughout the poem, Hippolyte uses words such
as “flailing”, “straining” and “chasing” to describe the actions of the
hurricane. This personification of the
storm causes the readers to see the hurricane as one of them, and allows them,
to their dismay, to realize that they themselves are the ones who create the
havoc and separation they face. Furthermore,
by stating that the hurricane is “desperate for stillness, for a god-like
glance”, Hippolyte alludes the calm eye of a hurricane to God, or an entity
greater than ourselves who can bring us the peace we so desire and cannot
attain by our nature. This causes readers to seek this greater
entity in the hopes that it would bring them peace. Hippolyte also uses visual imagery as he compares
our ways to “hard-set fences”- he speaks of our set behavior which keeps us divided
and prevents us from gaining harmony. He
further states that it is the hurricane which “shatters” the wall, and that
this causes the “gods eye” to see. We
realize that havoc may be bring good as the hurricane’s action on the land and
people gives us a chance of change, and also take responsibility for having
caused the need of havoc in the first place.
Additionally, in Hyppolyte’s poem “The Piper’s Song”,
emotional impact is created through the use of techniques. “The Piper’s Song” speaks to our materialism
and greed, and the ways try to achieve our wants. The “piper” mentioned to in line 1 and also
in the title, alludes to “The Pied Piper of Hamelin”, a German nursery
rhyme. By alluding to such a foreign
nursery rhyme, and stating that the people do recognize the piper’s presence
and “Rich Yankee Doodle Trill”, we understand that we as Caribbean people are
picking up a foreign culture. As we “scuttle after the notes “of Americanism,
we deprive our culture of development and our people of help, and with this
understanding we are hurt by our past actions.
This feeling of hurt is emphasized by the the triple s alliteration used
in line 4 – there was “something subtly disturbing” about the piper’s presence
and we understanding that we are the ones who embraced it, rather than our own
culture. In line 20, the rhetorical questions “He
playing for free? Who’s paying?” emphasizes how blinded by greed we were , and
that the deprivation of our culture is the great price we had to pay, leaving
us with feelings of regret.
Moreover, in the poem “Snow”, Hippolyte uses poetic
techniques to create emotional impact. “Snow”
highlights our growing lack of concern for our neighbours. The paradox “snow in the tropics” line 16,
creates a remarkable thought in the mind of readers- snow in the Caribbean
which is known for its hot climate. By
doing thus, we understand that as snow is foreign to our lands; we should
welcome our warm ways again and make our carelessness for each other
foreign. The thought of the extent of
which we have changed saddens us and urges us to change. The repetition of the word “snow” throughtout
the poem constantly evokes the image of
snow in the minds of readers and reinforces, each time greater, cold our
attitudes to each other and how our separation as one people began – by one
layer of snow followed by another. This
constant image of snow frightens us and incites us to change quickly before the
snow “buries our mindscape completely – before its too late.
In conclusion, Kendel
Hippolyte’s Night Vision is a collection of poetry in which the poems
“Hurricane”, “Snow” and “The Piper’s Song”, through various techniques, impact
readers emotionally.
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