Poetry Analysis Essay on Finding Hope by Pat A. Fleming

Introduction

The title of the poem "Finding Hope" by Pat A. Fleming is an honest invitation to the reader to ponder over the question: "Where and how can you find hope in the hardest times?" The poem that follows is the author's answer to this question. The speaker in the poem is a person who looks back at her life and regrets not living it fully because of her fears and doubts. Most likely, the speaker is a mature middle-aged person because "the wisdom of age" (Fleming, 2017) is mentioned in the sixth stanza. The speaker shares with the reader her insight that one is to stop comparing, to leave the past in the past and to finally start living.

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The most effective technique used by the author is ingeniously involving metaphors to convey the message in a more subtle and poignant way. Through using metaphors the author compares life to a match ("I've always viewed life from the side lines" (Fleming, 2017)), a journey ("...no matter what path we each take" (Fleming, 2017)), and a battle ("So the time has now come to conquer my fears" (Fleming, 2017)). These metaphors help show the speaker's inner growth. The evolution of the speaker's self-image from a spectator watching a match to a traveler and finally to a warrior fighting a battle reflect the change in her attitude to life from passive observation to a pro-active attitude. Thus, as the poem progresses, its mood changes from disappointment to hope. The shift happens in the sixth stanza and it is marked by a conjunction "but" which shows that the speaker's insight has brought about a change in her worldview. So, the title of the poem, "Finding Hope," is a very literal indication of what the author is doing in the poem: she reviews her painful attachment to her past, her fears, and insecurities, and finds hope in the idea that we are all only human beings, we all make mistakes, but we can and should leave them behind and move on with our lives.

Finding Hope

"Where does your hope live?" you will ask.

It lives in string lights in the dusk,

The Christmas tree that's all aglow

With magic dust and sparkling snow.

It's in a hot cocoa mug,

A box with presents on the rug.

This Christmas night, it's shining bright

Reflecting golden candlelight.

Where does my hope live? This I know.

It's in the eyes of those I love,

It's in the carols that they sing,

It's in the joy they always bring.

My hope will never fade away.

My hope is here with me to stay.

My hope and I will never part.

I'll always find it in my heart.

The poem I have written has the same title and dwells on the same question "Where and how can you find hope in the hardest times?" The poem is set at Christmas because it is that time of the year which is usually spent thinking about such eternal and universal things as kindness, love, faith and hope. The speaker answers the question by saying that she finds hope in the festive mood of Christmas and in the love that she feels for her family and friends.

The poem employs a lot of metaphors, the first of them being the personification of hope which is represented as a living being which can live at some place. It is also compared with the light of candles, the warmth of a hot drink, and the sound of music and singing - all those things that have always delighted human beings most of all in the holiday season. These metaphors help create a festive, joyful and optimistic mood. The shift in the narrative occurs in the third stanza when the speaker switches from comparing hope to material objects to talking about the feelings of love and joy. So, in the last stanza of the poem the answer to the question asked by the title is given - the speaker finds hope in loving her family and friends, and this makes her hope invincible.

Reference

Fleming, P. A. (2017, July). Finding Hope. Retrieved December 22, 2018, from https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/finding-hope.