Wedding-Ring - A poem by Denise Levertov

Comment 1 of 3, added on November 5th, 2008 at 8:22 PM.

Denise Levertov’s “ Wedding-Ring”: An Analysis Of Figure Of Speech And Literary Devices That Enhances The Symbolism Of Wedding Rings And Tone Of Sadness.

Spending so much money and having so much for fun, picking the best and the most beautiful ring ever. There is more to wedding-ring than just receiving or given it on a wedding day. Denise Levertov’s uses figure of speech and literary devices to depict the symbolism of a wedding-ring showing the tone of sadness and the pain at an end of a relationship. Wedding-ring symbolizes commitment, which can also be viewed as burden depending on the perspective of whoever owns the ring.
Figure of speech can be used to convey feelings or give magnitude or perception of an idea. Simile was used in the poem “wedding–ring” likening the bottom of a basket to the bottom of a well. This indicates how far away the woman wanted the ring to be kept, this mimics the idea of out of sight is out of mind. According to the poet- Denise Levertov- biography, she divorced around 1974 and this poem “wedding- ring” was written in 1978, this can be termed as a reflection of what was happening in her life; although, the poem Wedding was never recognized as part of her works nor critiqued as a poem Layman).
Choice of words and arrangement of sentence can give more meaningful message and idea about something. The literary device used in the poem wedding ring is a good example of how to show loss of interest about an item that has seized to be of importance to somebody: “It lies among keys to abandoned houses, nails waiting to be needed and nailed into some wall”. This shows that this entire item may never ever get used. It also shows the finality of the relationship when it is “nailed into some wall”.
Symbolism of wedding ring is another item that can be critically viewed, wedding ring symbolizes a token of love, commitment, trust, sharing and eternity. All these are expected to be found and shared in marriages. A marriage without happiness is more like a burden because of the commitment that is expected of you. The Author of “wedding ring” described the marriage has irrevocable as the ring cannot be given away for fear of bad luck to the receiver. This shows that the ring to her is like a symbol of bad luck if given to someone else since the protagonist marriage is apparently not successful.
The tone of sadness can be explained as the mood of protagonist in the poem. Just like it is portrayed in the “wedding ring” with the use of tone that depicts sadness, example was where it says “It can’t be sold for the marriage was good in its own time, though that time is gone”. One can feel the pain of the speaker in the word “Gone” wishing wedding rings can be made to symbolize much less than it symbolized so that it will not hurt so much when one’s expectations are not met.
Meeting the end of a relationship is more painful especially when one has put all one’s hope and effort wishing it to work only to realize it was not meant to last to eternity when wedding rings are exchanged. This made it harder to even wanting to see the wedding ring and also making up one’s mind that nothing in the world could fish it back to one’s finger like the third line in the first stanza of the wedding-ring. Wedding day to couples, especially to the bride, is the happiest day. Wedding rings are exchanged between the husband and the wife. To the wife, the wedding ring is a symbol of commitment, sharing, ones and everlasting love. If the marriage fails, the symbol of the union, the wedding ring is like an albatross to the woman. Denise Levertov uses symbolism, similes and tone of sadness the wedding ring represents in a marriage.

Tolani Bankole from United States

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