Poem Analysis ~ The Legend by Garrett Hongo

Although I don't read poetry too often, the poems that I do read really stick with me. The Legend by Garrett Hongo is an example of one of these poems. I genuinely enjoyed this poem, from it's artful vocabulary to it's flowing prose. The poem had many different tones and I thought that I would upload my analysis of them!

In the poem “The Legend,” the author Garrett Hongo ponders the lack of compassion that people of the world have towards strangers around them. This insensitivity is displayed in the poem when a crowd of onlookers ignore the cries of an ordinary man who is shot down by a thieving boy. Hongo’s disturbance towards society’s indifference is made clear through the remorseful and elegiac tone he takes on towards the end of the poem; thus moving the reader to emerge from apathetic habits into empathetic actions.

            Many different tones are used throughout the poem, and each is established through the use of many literary techniques. For example, in the first stanza, the author utilizes soft language to create a calm and contended tone. The intricate visual and tactile descriptions of the “warm laundry and crinkled paper” (7) demonstrate simple joys the poor man enjoys, pulling the reader towards the development of a personal connection to the man. This connection that the reader makes with the man at the beginning of the poem allows for a stirring of sympathy when the man is unjustly murdered. Furthermore, the use of alliteration, “snowing softly” (1) and “wash for the week” (2), along with soft language and sounds allow the reader to get comfortably acquainted with the homely man as he carries out his simple chores. The abundance of soft sounds and alliteration that soothes the reader is contrasted with the sudden chaos and rigid sounds that follow in the second stanza, thus shocking the reader into the realization of the great injustice that has been committed against the innocent man. The use of these subtle details in the first two stanzas contributes to the serene tone that the author establishes.

            In the beginning of the second stanza, Hongo develops a factual and objective tone that depicts the man’s insignificance and simplicity. To begin with, the repetition of verbs at the beginnings of lines 17 through 21 show parallelism in the grammatical structure. This parallelism indicates what the speaker assumes are simple, repetitive, and unimportant habits of the man; it contributes to the construction of the slightly detached and factual tone. The author also exposes the poor man’s alienation from the rest of society. In line 13, the man is described as “Asian, Thai or Vietnamese, / and very skinny, dressed as one of the poor.” His unrecognizable identity and plain appearance show how negligible he is to those around him, including the speaker. Everyone’s dismissal of the man as unimportant comes to shape the tone of remorse presented towards the end of the poem. The alienation of the man is further exhibited in line 34, when Hongo states: “The noises he makes are nothing to them.” Nobody around is able to understand the dying man, let alone comfort him, thus leaving him in an isolated position for which the reader cannot help but feel sympathy. The author makes an effort to evoke this compassion from the reader through the use of a somber tone, therefore underlining the fact that people of the world must aim to be empathetic rather than apathetic.

            Hongo’s remorseful tone is clearly projected towards the end of the third stanza, contrasting with the detached tone of the previous stanza. He becomes much more direct and personal through the shift from third person to first person, even candidly stating, “I am ashamed” (43). The speaker’s admittance to the guilt he feels for his insensitive and unresponsive manner is critical in encouraging sympathy. The guilty tone is also reflected in the curtness of the last few lines; this terse structure represents the lack of words one has when experiencing strong feelings of shame. Overall, the idea of compassion for others is stressed repeatedly through the intensely ponderous and remorseful tone.

            Finally, a solemn and mournful tone is established in the last stanza. The author uses very comforting language to send off the man in hopes that he will find peace in the afterlife. For example, in line 44, Hongo states, “Let the night sky cover him as he dies.” Since the connotation of covering someone is very protective, the speaker’s words provide the man with the sympathy and care that he was unable to offer earlier. He hopes the man’s afterlife will compensate for the injustice done to him on Earth. In addition, an allusion to the weaver girl legend is made; much like the how the universe allowed the weaver girl and her lover to meet once a year in the sky, the speaker wishes the universe would show compassion to the man and ensure that he is comforted in the heavens.

            Throughout the poem, the author weaves the different tones together to create one underlying message of the need for sympathy. He instills in his readers a hope that society will emerge from a state of indifference to connect with the rest of humanity. Through the poor man’s story, Hongo immortalizes this message of compassion and will pass it on for years to come, truly honoring the man his appropriate title: The Legend.