Daniel L
Authors often write fiction as a means of social commentary. Explore how Baxter has done
this in one of his works.
The opposite of living is dead
Baxter uses stylistic and structural features to provide social commentary on
1 paragraph: The symbolism of the cave – underworld “tree”, “kingdom”, “bones of sheep”,
“dazzling daylight”
2 Paragraph: What is he hiding from – criticism of society + time is short “love”, “age”,
“beasts” “rivulet” “alone”
3 Paragraph: Cave can provide social commentary on mental health + alcoholism
4 Paragraph: Spirituality something – essence + nature “souls”, “bones” only dead in the
cave, “no man it seemed”
A key component of many poems is the social commentary that they provide, as these aid in
keeping the poem relevant and thought-provoking. This is evident in James K Baxter’s poem,
‘The Cave’, in which Baxter provides social commentary on many aspects of today’s world.
Baxter comments on how often people seem to want to hide from the world and from their
struggles, how people today seem to be disconnected from nature and by extension
spirituality, while criticising essential parts of life like love, aging, and human connection.
These commentaries seem to be so disjointed and yet, Baxter manages to intertwine them
through this one, 4-stanza poem by using stylistic and structural features, all with deep
purpose and meaning.
First, the cave symbolises the underworld and by entering it, Baxter is trespassing. In the first
stanza, Baxter describes the entrance to the cave, “A tree whose roots are bound about the
stones, broad-leaved, hides well that the crevice at the base,” The cave is hidden by a tree
bound to the stones meaning it is immovable. The tree symbolises a permanent guardian
protecting the secrecy of the cave from outside intruders. The following line makes the
allusion to the underworld more obvious, “That leads, one guess, to the sunless kingdom
where souls endure the ache of Proserpine.” Proserpine is the Roman goddess of the
underworld. Diction is used with the word “sunless” to contrast the light and the dark, which
is explored further in the poem. The word “ache” instils in the reader a sense of suffering and
torment, all key aspects of the underworld. The metaphor comparing the cave to Proserpine’s
kingdom creates an unsettling and haunting tone, as if Baxter does not belong there.
However, at the same time, comparing the cave to a kingdom creates a sense of beauty. In
stanza 3, Baxter describes the contents of the cave, “Further in were the bones of sheep that
strayed and died in nether darkness.” Here, the imagery further contributes to the feeling of
death and unsettling tone. In this context, nether refers to ‘underground’ however it also
alludes to the netherworld. Baxter heavily compares the cave to the underworld to emphasise
how he does not belong there. In life, there are good and bad parts, and we must accept that.
Baxter suggests that you cannot hide from the struggles of life because then you are not truly
living, you are the opposite, ‘dead’ in a figurative sense. There is only death in the cave except
for Baxter, a living man, an outlier trespassing in a foreign place. The cave rejects Baxter to
remind him, to remind us that we are part of the living and therefore must be with the living.
At the end of the poem, Baxter “came to dazzling daylight out”. This alliteration has positive
connotations and symbolises how Baxter will no longer hide from his struggles but instead
will face them head on. In today’s world, Baxter emphasises that we must persevere through
bad times in order to also enjoy the joys of life.