Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Please explain Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Vagabond."

Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Vagabond" is a poem which
glorifies travel for the sake of travel.


Robert Louis
Stevenson's (1850-1894)  poem "The Vagabond" celebrates the glorious freedom and
independence of a tramp's life. All the four stanzas of "The
Vagabond" repeatedly emphasize the unrestrained joys of an independent life in the
outdoors free from all its
hassles.


All that the vagabond is
interested in is a life of unlimited travel. He wants to completely avoid all human
associations - "nor a friend to know
me."
All that he wants to do is travel and travel from one
place to another without any restraint whatsoever, not concerned about the weather or
material wealth or possessions or anything else around
him:


readability="10">

"Give the face of earth
around,
And the road before me.
Wealth I ask not, hope nor
love,
Nor a friend to know me;
All I ask, the heaven
above
And the road below
me."



He
would like to spend his entire life in the outdoors even in the cold autumn and winter
months with the sky as his roof:


readability="6">

Not to autumn will I
yield,
Not to winter
even!



Most
importantly, he wishes for a completely carefree life and is not bothered or frightened
about death at all:


readability="6">

Let the blow fall soon or
late,
Let what will be o'er
me.



In
the last stanza R.L. Stevenson reiterates what he has already emphasized in the earlier
three stanzas, namely, all that he wants to do throughout his life is to travel and to
travel till he drops dead.


In the second stanza the
verb "seek" would mean 'to endeavor to
obtain.' The action is voluntary, conscious and deliberate. He says that all that he
will endeavor to obtain is a life of travel and travel
only.


Whereas, in the last
stanza "ask" would imply a prayer to
God. All that he asks of or requests God is to give him a life of travel and travel
only.

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