“Advice to My Son” by Peter Meinke is an allegoric poem about a father who gives advice to his son about challenges faced in life, and also the sweetness that comes out of life. Life is full of ups and downs and everyone has to go through it in some point in time. Meinke uses symbols in the poem to speak about life and death.
The poem presents itself with a mixture of imagery, rhyme, diction, rhythm, combining it with humor and some seriousness. Meinke uses different kinds of tone in addressing the poem. As he said “the trick” in the first line, which shows that the father is trying to give a secret to his son about life. But going on the tone changes to be aggressive as the father makes the son aware that “young men lose their lives” (3). Meinke talks about the negative aspect of life in the first stanza of the poem. How life can be difficult and also struggles one goes through in life. “The trick is, to live your days, as if each one may be your last” (1-2), describes paradox letting the son know that he should be able to live the life and present, and also plan and prepare for the future. Because no one knows tomorrow. Metaphorically Meinke uses “windshield” (which represents crash) and “bursting shell” (representing bullets) as images to represent the hard times in life and also ways of death. In the first …show more content…
“Therefore, marry a pretty girl after seeing her mother.” (17-18) This statement sounds humorous but also it is one of the best advice a father can give his child. It is known that mothers are representatives of their children in their old ages so in the future, his wife is bound to resemble her mother. Also, the father advice the son to “speak truth to one man” (19), who is God. That no matter what situation he finds himself in, he should never forget to involve God in what he does. This is an advice a lot of parents give their children to have a smooth relationship with
The poem presents itself with a mixture of imagery, rhyme, diction, rhythm, combining it with humor and some seriousness. Meinke uses different kinds of tone in addressing the poem. As he said “the trick” in the first line, which shows that the father is trying to give a secret to his son about life. But going on the tone changes to be aggressive as the father makes the son aware that “young men lose their lives” (3). Meinke talks about the negative aspect of life in the first stanza of the poem. How life can be difficult and also struggles one goes through in life. “The trick is, to live your days, as if each one may be your last” (1-2), describes paradox letting the son know that he should be able to live the life and present, and also plan and prepare for the future. Because no one knows tomorrow. Metaphorically Meinke uses “windshield” (which represents crash) and “bursting shell” (representing bullets) as images to represent the hard times in life and also ways of death. In the first …show more content…
“Therefore, marry a pretty girl after seeing her mother.” (17-18) This statement sounds humorous but also it is one of the best advice a father can give his child. It is known that mothers are representatives of their children in their old ages so in the future, his wife is bound to resemble her mother. Also, the father advice the son to “speak truth to one man” (19), who is God. That no matter what situation he finds himself in, he should never forget to involve God in what he does. This is an advice a lot of parents give their children to have a smooth relationship with