Song for a Spent 100w Bulb: Themes & Linking Poems
Song for a Spent 100w Bulb: Themes & Linking Poems
Themes in “Song for a Spent 100w Bulb”
Impermanence and Change
- The life cycle of the bulb serves as a vivid metaphor for impermanence and change.
- The bulb’s journey from being new and bright to becoming spent and dull mirrors the transient nature of human life.
Respect and Recognition
- Despite the bulb’s spent state, the speaker offers acknowledgement and honour.
- This suggests a theme of respect and recognition for service, regardless of one’s current abilities or status.
Nature vs Man-made
- The poem contrasts the natural cycle of day and night with the artificial lifespan of the bulb.
- This juxtaposition may reflect on the limitations and transitory nature of man-made objects compared to natural phenomena.
Linking “Song for a Spent 100w Bulb” with Other Poems in Jacob Sam-La Rose’s Collection
Link with “Stand Still”
- Both “Stand Still” and “Song for a Spent 100w Bulb” explore the theme of transiency and the passage of time.
- Time is perceived differently; in “Stand Still”, speeding up, while in “Song for a Spent 100w Bulb”, reflecting on a lifespan.
Link with “Sonnet”
- The connecting theme is respect and acknowledgement.
- The subject of admiration in “Sonnet” is not immediately clear until the closing lines, similar to the indirect praise of the bulb in “Song for a Spent 100w Bulb”.
Link with “Break”
- Both poems deal with objects that stop functioning or ‘break’.
- “Break” similarly invests emotional depth in a common object (breakable ‘totem’), which evidences Sam-La Rose’s ability to create profound reflections from everyday experiences.