If There Were Watching God Literary Devices

Whilst stressing the meaning and importance of certain aspects in life, one often alludes to symbolic or metaphorical devices in order to have their message more easily connect or resonate within the reader by bounds they may more often outwardly observe. Doing so enables an accessible relationship between the obscure concepts of life and the tangible realities that which we are most accustomed. This is precisely the method Robert M. Drake and Erin Hanson use in their poems in order to convey the difficult yet important connection that which we have to one another. Although different by personal or broad perceptions, Drake and Hanson utilize the use of symbolic metaphors and unique personification to convey the important, interpersonal connection

“Your journey”, “lost sight…glory”, and “destroy…ourselves” in Robert M. Drake’s Unheard Glory exhibit these devices throughout the poem with reflective diction, thus highlighting the non-immediate, yet true presence we have in each others lives. One’s “journey” often encounters those who have forgotten their direction in life, or those who “have lost the sight for their glory” and importance. Following, Drake makes a point to state that we must “love them”, “for to give up on them is to destroy a reflection of ourselves”, accurately deciphering that individually we are society, thus highlighting the purpose for the poem: to identifying our interrelatedness and consequences of our actions. Similarly, this is also presented symbolically through the metaphorical growth and “roots” we hold as individuals, in Erin Hanson’s poem over a “tale” of life. Hanson’s abstract comparison between the roots of trees and our own growth creates a

Specifically, the line “lost sight...glory” in Robert. M. Drake’s poem resembles this unique personification by stating that one might have lost sight of their glory, thus indirectly identifying the effortless act of undermining one’s importance. Subsequent to this statement, Drake ends his poem with the idea that one may destroy a reflection of themselves by giving up on others, therefore solidifying the initial thought that together individuals make up society and highlighting one’s important role in loving not only others, but ourselves. Erin Hanson also utilizes her in- depth interpretation of this notion by stating “nothing quite…untangling your roots”, “life has…again”, and “unless you…still remain”. By highlighting the difficulty of these actions enhances the reality of the idea in that we are all connected. In doing so Hanson identifies and strengthens this concept once again through the importance of taking care of one’s self. Whether it be in relation to each other through the representation of trees or the earth itself, the fact that we must properly remove our “roots” additionally corresponds to the unique portrayal of human