Allegory in “First Lesson”
Many times writers of poetry choose to make use of allegory, a story
told on two levels of meaning, one literal and one figurative or symbolic. In
this way the writer can speak of something very simple and easy to
understand, but he may create a deeper more symbolic meaning that his or
her reader must analyze to understand. Philip Booth uses allegory in his
poem “First Lesson.” In this poem the narrator, a parent, is giving his child
a swimming lesson. However, if the reader looks closely into the poem, he
can see that on a more symbolic level the parent is really teaching his child
about life.
Since, in the first part of the poem, the parent tells his daughter to lie
back in the water and look at the gulls in the sky, it seems as though the
parent is teaching his child how to float. Looking more carefully, however,
the reader can tell that the parent is telling the child that heis there for her.
In the early years a child needs a parent for many things, but when she gets
to be a teenager, she will want more freedom. The parent in the poem
knows that the child will be ready all too soon for her independence from
him when he says, You will dive/ and swim soon enough where this
tidewater/ ebbs to the sea” (lines 6-8).” He wants her to accept his help now
while he is there and able to help and teach her.
The parent wants the child to learn his lessons now, while she is
young, so that when finally she must go out into the world, she will be
prepared. The father tells his daughter that life is sometimes difficult, but
when times get tough, she should remember his lessons so that she can
endure: “when you tire on the long thrash/ to your island, lie up, and
survive” (lines 9-10). In the last lines the narrator tells the child that he will
eventually let go of her, but that when she becomes afraid to remember that
he is with in his heart.
Philip Booth uses allegory in his poem “First Lesson.” He shows, on a
very literal level, a loving parent who is teaching his child how to swim.
However, with deeper analysis the reader can see that the lesson is more
than how to float. The parent teaches his child about life and how to survive
the ups and downs of living. The use of allegory helps the reader to take
something very simple, a swimming lesson, and find something much more
complex about life.