ZAINAB MAJEED

2136-BH-ENG-2020

POETRY AND ONE ACT PLAYS

Critical Analysis

"APE"

The poem "Ape" depicts the relationship between nature and human beings. It shows how man is
destroying the natural environment without a certain intention. There is irony in the poem, as
first he preserves the picture of Silverback in his calendar. This represents and promotes the
significance and preservation of the silverback as specie. Later on, tearing the pages of a
calendar signifies how careless and selfish a human being is. He cares for things until they serve
him. Later on, he finds every possible way to get rid of them. The last line signifies that
Silverback is pleading for his rights, which the man neglects.

It seems that the speaker of the poem is a conservationist who continuously emphasises the
immoral acts of human beings, which later on become a threat to other species of nature. And he
is addressing the reckless human beings who indulge in activities like deforestation. Here, one of
the main themes of the poem is the act of deforestation. Deforestation later on affects the climate,
wildlife and ecosystems.

The poet uses several literary devices to make the true meaning of the poem understandable to
the readers. There isn’t any pattern of rhyming scheme followed in the poem, so it is a free verse
poem. The poet uses visual imagery in the poem by creating a whole portrait of a silver back
behind him. The Jungle is defocused, which symbolises how professionally we neglect those
things which we consider don’t have any specific value for us at a certain time. Here, the
defocused jungle behind the silverback is a motif that gives the idea of how human beings
neglect the importance of nature. Most of the lines in the poem are end-stop lines. The usage of
specific species like silverback is representative of the whole ecology, which refers to
metonymy.

In short, it is true to say that the poet successfully draws a portrait of the scenario of how human
beings are destroying the well-being of wild life.