Analysis Of Nab Enlightenment

Chelsea Codrington’s poem “Numb Enlightenment” deconstructs the inner thought of a person who battles depression. Depression is depicted in a way that clearly shows what someone struggling with this mental illness goes through in attempts to stay sane. Codrington uses an assortment of poetic elements to create a vivid picture of these inner struggles some have to battle every day. She shows how important it is to feel in control of one’s life even in moments of great misery. Some people will seek out extreme measures in hopes to achieve this sense of control.
The word enlightenment means to gain knowledge so, it is unusual for the author to pair enlightenment with the adjective numb (Enlighten). Choosing to combine these two words is the author’s

Although they are all different, they each relate to a common topic. Codrington wrote the first four verses in the same format with four lines each but, the fifth and sixth are made up of three and five lines. This is because there is a change. In the fifth stanza, the speaker begins questioning how others feel with the same illness as them and whether or not they go through the same battles as them. In the last verse, the speaker goes back to talking about themselves and what they see in front of them. Most lines of the poem are different lengths. There are no sentence fragments but, there are sentences made of only two or three words opposed to the few sentences that make up several lines. This use of compressed language is significant because it is allowing the author to say something great or profound without having to use lots of words. By doing this, it gives the reader room to analyze what the author is trying to say and come up with their interpretation. The first short phrase is “A marvel.” (Codrington 3). Marvel is a descriptive word that means a wonderful or astonishing thing. The use of this word in “Numb Enlightenment” is ironic though because it is referring to pipes that are dripping onto veneer. This scenario is the opposite of what the word marvel means; Codrington is using it in a sarcastic matter to show how terrible the speaker is doing. Another line that is short but has great meaning behind it is “It’s something relatable.” (Codrington 9). This sentence is referring to the feeling of loneliness. Everyone goes through life feeling lonely at times; it is never a feeling someone wants but yet everyone has