The Oral Tradition: Structure & Language Techniques

The Oral Tradition: Structure & Language Techniques

Overview and Themes

• “The Oral Tradition” by Eavan Boland is an exploration of Irish mythology, feminism and personal identity.
• It brings to the foreground the marginalization and silence of women in canonical literature and mythologies.

Structure and Form

• The poem is composed in free verse, devoid of any regular rhyme or rhythm.
• This frees Boland to explore complex ideas naturally, giving her voice an organic, spontaneous feel.

Language and Style

• Through simple, everyday language, Boland links profound mythologies to daily realities.
• The language used evokes Irish mythological elements, “In a cornfield at harvest”, creating a landscape that fosters nostalgic reflection.

Imagery and Description

• Imagery in the poem is vivid and tactile: “wet flesh of an apple” introduces an element of raw sensuality.
• The poem uses powerful visual imagery, like “in a raw climate”, to capture the temporal and geographical setting of the tradition being recalled.

Metaphor and Symbolism

• Apple, symbolises forbidden knowledge, and its ‘wet flesh’ underscores the fertility aspect associated with the feminine.
• The use of the metaphor “stone boat” signifies the weighty, age-old but shadowy tradition Boland seeks to excavate and draws attention to the inertial resistance to change.

Final Thoughts

• The poem dwells upon the inner strength of women marked out by “a difficult knowledge”, who have been unnoticed, unappreciated but decisively present throughout history.
• The last couplet, “Beneath these fields, in the demi-lune, the salt-sunk mouth of a cave”, with its evocation of subterranean depths, signifies the unearthing of silenced narratives, the buried voice of women.