Can somebody tell me what type of approach does this poem convey?

Question

The types of approaches:

1.Mimetic-based on the subject matter, theme, and content

2.Expressive-based on the background/life of the artist/poet.

3.Pragmatic- based on the audience/reader.

4.Formal/aesthetic-based on the forms/literary,elements of poetry.

Dream of Knives

Alfred Yuson

Last night I dreamt of a knife

I had bought for my son. Of rare design,

it went cheaply of its worth – short dagger

with fancily rounded pommel, and a wooden sheath

which miraculously revealed other miniature blades.

Oh how pleased he would be upon my return

from this journey, I thought. What rapture

will surely adorn his ten-year princeling's face

when he draws the gift the first time. What quivering

pleasure will most certainly be unleashed.

When I woke up, there was no return, no journey,

no gift, and no son beside me. Where do I search

for this knife then, and when do I begin to draw

happiness from reality, and why do I bleed so

from such sharp points of dreams?

The speaker dreamt about a wonderful knife that he "had bought for my son." A knife "Of rare design" and it was not as expensive as it could be, "it went cheaply of its worth." It had a short dagger "with fancily rounded pommel, and a wooden sheath/

which miraculously revealed other miniature blades." In other words, it had a pretty wooden container which also showed/revealed small blades (small sharp cutting edges).

This was the gift the speaker intended for the son. The rest of the poem he reflects how the son will be mesmerized by this wonderful knife, how happy the son would be and how the ten-year son's face would be decorated as excitement overcomes him, "What quivering

pleasure will most certainly be unleashed."

And here is the anti-climax: He was dreaming, remember that?

Now he suddenly awakes and realizes he has no son he realizes, he cannot return to the place with the knife, he cannot return to the dream nor return to the journey where he was, he cannot retrieve the gift for his son, "When I woke up, there was no return, no journey,/no gift, and no son beside me." But still he is baffled. He longs to give his son the gift but "Where do I search/for this knife then"? He wonders! It is plain that his dream gave him a false sense of reality and in a metaphorical sense, the dream used the knife to pierce him so that now he bleeds because of the sharp blades "why do I bleed so/from such sharp points of dreams." Significantly, he does not even have a son!!

Dont you now see the point of the poem! Life itself is like a dream deferred. We make promises, we nurse a lot of dreams about what we would wish to do for our loved ones but by crude and rude turn of events, our dreams keep on escaping us!!

Answer 1

I would assume that the poem fits mostly into the expressive category, since it seems to focus on the author's thoughts and hardships, but there is some aesthetic mixed in with the use of all the metaphors to create a realistic notion.

Answer 2

I see this as expressive inasmuch it conveys a sense of remembered confusion (upon waking) and emotional pain at the realisation the joy of giving was a dream.; the son was a construct of his own mind.

He asks why does he bleed from such sharp points of dreams?  In other words, how can a non existent situation or event cause real pain, real emotional loss?

He bleeds inside from the (emotional) wound caused by the fact that he has no son to give happiness to and having felt that joy now suffers from the loss of it's actuality.

His dream has shown him what he desires and now he asks when that reality may be attained.

Our dreams do not need to elude us though, if we but have the courage to accept the journey to them.