Offerings

The poem was written by Hilary Tham and its title is Offerings. From reading the title the reader expect the poem to be about some offerings. The title is very short and creates many questions in the reader’s mind. The reader is curious to know who is offering something to someone and for which reason.

The poem is composed of four stanzas. The first three stanzas are made up of four lines, the last stanza of five lines. Every stanza follows the same scheme:

• The first line sets the events in a definite part of the day (sunrise, midday, sunset, midnight). It also describes the attitude of the person (speaking voice) that brought the offerings (came, danced, crept, strode).
• The second line describes the offerings that the person brought, introducing them with an adjective that characterizes them.
• The third line describes the way the offerings were brought by the speaking voice and one of his/her features.
• The fourth and the fifth line tell the reaction of the person who received the offerings.

The poem is about an unrequited love. A person tells about one for his/her past personal experiences. The poem records the change of mood and offerings of the speaking voice according to different parts of the day. It is also the recording of a passage from hope to delusion. The use of Simple Past underlines that the relation between the two persons is completely finished. The different parts of the day can also coincide with the phases of a love story (sunrise: the beginning of a love story; midday: the most intense moment, the mature love; sunset: when love is dying; midnight: the end of love).

First, the speaking voice came at the sunrise (the beginning of the love story) and offered the beloved person silvery dew on sleeping lotus, so a half-opened flower. The speaking voice was very happy, and the flowers were sparkling in his/her hands. The other person put them in the sun, so the flowers probably got dry and died. Notice that the flowers were covered by dew (water) and finished in the sun (fire).
In a second moment, the speaking voice came at midday (the most intense moment) and danced for the beloved person. The speaking voice bought the other person blossoms, so full-opened flowers and they were flaming in his/her ardent arms. The other person didn’t care about them and dropped them in the pond. From fire (flaming, ardent) to water (pond).
Then, the speaking voice came creeping (so with a sort of fear about what was going to happen) at sunset (love is dying). He/she bought the other person pale lilac orchids and his/her lips were uncertain. The orchids were pale as his/her hope. The other person didn’t appreciate the offering and shredded the petals in the sand.
At the end, the speaking voice strode to the other person (he/she was sure, didn’t want to waste more time and wanted to end it all that quickly) at midnight (the end of the love). The speaking voice didn’t brought flowers, but gravel hard and cold, clenched in bitter fists. He/she was tired to be refused and full of resentment. For the first time, the other person offered him/her something: hybrid orchids. The same flower the speaking voice had offered her/him at sunset, but hybrid, so not naturally born, artificial. But then, the other person crushed them, desperate, because she/he had lost the love of the speaking voice.

It is hard to define if the speaking voice is a man or a woman. Both two could have act in both roles. Maybe the poet didn’t specify the gender of the speaking voice and the other person so that anybody could identify him/herself with the speaking voice.