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Discussion of 'The Birth Day' by Mary Robinson
The first thing we can discern about Mary Robinson's poem 'The Birth-Day' is its short, eight syllable lines that end in a straight forward ABAB rhyme; this gives the poem a light and rhythmical tone that is in sharp contrast to its bitterly satirical content.
If we examine the first four verses of the poem we can note the distinct difference between the first two lines and the last two: the former describe the glories and riches of royalty and the latter the poverty of the homeless and the penniless:
- Here bounds the gaudy gilded chair,
- Bedeck'd with fringe, and tassels gay;
- The melancholy mourner there
- Pursues her sad and painful way.
Here, for instance, we can see how the poet uses opulent imagery in the first two lines, with reference to gaudy gilded chair and tassels gay, only to contrast this with images of death and sadness in the last two. This point is further exemplified in the second verse, where the first two lines outline a motley train and a pamper'd countess and the last two, misery mingling with the throng.
Robinson, however, not only contrasts the two states through imagery but also through the sound of the language. In the first two lines of the poem, for instance, we can note a heavy use of g and b sounds, this gives the lines a bright, musical feel that is reflective of the subject matter. However, in the last two lines of the verse we see a repetition of m and p, this seems to slow the rhythm of the language down, as the reader is made to mourn and ponder on the fate of those who pursue their said and painful way along with the poet.
This use of alliteration is repeated in the second verse that again relies on g sounds in the first two lines (guarded by a motley train and countess glares along) and then switches to m sounds to give a sonorous, mournful tone (Pale Misery mingles with the throng). The over all effect of this on the reader is to constantly undercut the pomp and ceremony of the royal procession by describing its opposite, the misery and the hopelessness of poverty and death.
This point brought home further as the poem continues. In the fourth verse, for instance, the difference between rich and poor is described in starkly contrasting images:
- Here four tall lackeys slow precede
- A painted dame in rich array;
- There the sad shivering child of need
- Steals barefoot o'er the flinty way.
Here, the poet juxtaposes the depiction of wealth and opulence with a portrait of the desperation of a poor child shivering by the roadside. Robinson asks us to question the morality of such a situation, especially as in the next verse, the child is unceremoniously pushed out of the way to make room for the countess' train. We see here especially how the poem's light musical rhythm provides a counterpoint to the seriousness of the message.
The portrait of the countess in verses six and seven depicts a child unmindful of the deprivations that surround her:
- Here amidst jewels, feathers, flowers,
- The senseless duchess sits demure:
- Heedless of all the anguish'd hours
- The sons of modest worth endure.
There is the sense here that the countess is a metaphor for the whole of her class, that Robinson is describing not an isolated incident but a social situation where the rich of eighteenth century Britain are unable or are unwilling to acknowledge the presence of an underclass.
In verse nine, the poet contrasts the image of the countess with the poor infant who craves relief In one thin tatter'd garment drest. These two images of childhood form a single metaphor for the opposing worlds of the rich and the poor, a metaphor that is constantly suggested through word selection and imagery. In verses six and seven, for instance, we are presented with images of wealth and gaudy ostentation, the countess sits amidst jewels, feathers and flowers. All silver'd and embroider'd like an object, perhaps, or something more than human, something to be looked at and admired.
In contrast to this, in verse nine the mother is described as poor and wan and the child pining and creeping, they are described as something less than human, something to be pitied. Both in her use of language, rhythm and imagery Mary Robinson describes a society of two worlds based on fortune and misfortune, riches and poverty, happiness and misery.
The concluding verse of the poem adds a bitter, ironic twist to that which has preceded it:
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- "Take physic, Pomp!" let Reason say,
- "What can avail thy trappings rare?
- The tomb shall close thy glittering day,
- The beggar prove thy equal there!'
Robinson here suggests that all social inequalities are rectified in death; in the tomb the rich man and the beggar are of equal status and wealth is, ultimately, meaningless.
'The Birth Day', then, is a poem that focuses on a specific incident but that can be seen as a satirical attack on the mores and social norms of a wealthy society, unmindful of the poverty and misery that lie just a few steps away from them. Robinson adopts the rhythms and rhyme structures of a folk song or a popular ballad and creates a political statement that is both specific to an historical time and universal.
As we have seen, in terms of word order and, more obviously, line structure, the poet constantly makes the comparison between rich and poor, firstly by showing an image of wealth and opulence only to then contrast this with one of abject misery and need. In this way the political message of 'The Birth-Day' is reflected in the very structure and rhythm of the poem itself, a fact that may only become apparent through close examination. Robinson not only uses imagery and description to convey her message of contrasts and opposites but also, as we have seen, alliteration, verse and line order and poetic tone.
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