Analysis Of Advertising By A S J Tessimond

Literature is the mirror of life and poetry is a vital element for its reflections. A. S. J. Tessimond in the poem "Advertising" showcased what the motive behind advertisements in a poetic way. The poet prove that advert is conversion (it shows the seller has better knowledge than the consumer in terms of the products that will be of usefulness to the consumer)

The use of punctuation marks in the poem signifies a lot. Question mark used in line 10 is basically to clear the buyers' doubt on the hyperbole seen between lines 9-10 (Who tells you that ten million men have long/ Called a stone bread_ and can ten million men be wrong?) Exclamation mark used in lines 3-4 is to command the actions, to compel the emotions, to further push the desires of the buyer.

In accordance with the voice of the poem speaker, the poem has an affirming, commanding, and assuring tone. Like a soothsayer, the voice of the poem shows that the seller or advertiser knows the buyer or consumer better than himself or herself. With the use of metaphors the speaker placed himself or herself higher than the buyer by saying:
"I am your wish and I its answer.
I am the drum and you the dancer.
I am the trumpet-voice, the Stentor.
I am temptation, I the Mentor"

The quoted lines above also carry some anaphora. There are instances of word repetition; words like "voice" "men" "save" "spend" "turning". Alliterations in the poem are "gleam or glint" in line 1. "the almost-gems
that glisten' in line 4. "I am the drum and you the dancer" in line 6. "ten million men" in line 9. Metonymy in line 14 "cradle to grave". Antithesis in line 11 "you spend to save and save to spend".

The themes evident in the poem are Advertising as a vital tool for selling. This is the central theme of the poem which doesn't only show as the title of the poem but also in the words of the persona. Another theme of note is the inevitability of buying and selling among humans. In the ending part of the poem, the words of the poet emphasized that buying and selling makes the world go round and everlasting:
But always spend that wheels may never end
Their turning and by turning let you spend to save
And save to spend, world without end, cradle to grave." (lines 12-14)

A. S. J. Tessimond is an English poet with the full name Arthur Seymour John Tessimond. He lived between 1902 to 1962.

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Samuel C. Enunwa aka samueldpoetry
(the Leo with wings flying)