The-Tally-Stick

“TheTallyStick”ByJaroldRamsayInJaroldRamsay’s“TheTallyStick”,It’sclearthatthereisastickandaman,andtheman“Herefromthestart,fromourfirstofdays,look:/Ihavecarvedourlivesinsecretonthisstick”(Ramsay1--2)untiltheir“blamelesseyesgoblind”(27).Themancarvedallhismarriageonthestick.ByanalyzingRamsay’snarrativestyle,useoffiguresofspeech,suchasimagery,metaphorandcontrast,wediscoverthatone’smarriedlifewilllastforeveronlyiftheyhavetrueloveandcommonunforgettableexperiences.First,trueloveiscertainlythebasicemotioninthebeginningofone’smarriage.Basedonlove,acouplestartstheirlife.Inthepoem:Herefromthestart,fromourfirstofdays,look:Ihavecarvedourlivesinsecretonthisstickofmountainmahoganythelengthofyourarmsoutstretched,thewoodclearred,sohardandrare.(1--4)Ramsayusedimagery,sowecanclearlyseemanyimagesinthispartofpoem.Themostimportantimageis“stick”and“thewood”whichstandforthecouple’smarriagebecause“Ihavecarvedourlivesinsecretonthisstick”.Ramsayalsousedthebrightcolor“red”tosymbolizetheirearnestandpurelovebecausethecolor“red”areoftenusedbyauthorstostandforhonestandpassionateemotions.FromthenarrativestructureofRamsay,it’sevidenttoknowasensethattheman’slifewasfullofearnestandpureloveandpassionat“thefirstofdays”.Then,thecouplesharesbothjoysandsorrowstogetherintheirlife.Forexample,“Nearthebutt,thisintricatenotchwherethegrains/convergeandjoin:itisourwedding.”(6--7)Themancanclearlyremember“whodanced,whomadeupthesongs,whomeantusjoy”(9)becausetheweddingisthemostimportanteventinhislife,so“Icanreaditthroughwithathumb”easilyandexactlyeventhoughyearshavepassed.And“Theselittlearrowheadsalongthegrain,/theyarethebirthsofourchildren.”(10--11)Thereasonthemanpointsout“thebirthsofourchildren”isthatpeopleusuallyregardchildrenascrystalsofacouple’sloveandit’sthemwhocombinetheirparentsandfamilytogethersolidly.It’sclearthatimageryandmetaphorareusedbyRamsayforhecomparesjoyswith“ourwedding”and“thebirthsofourchildren”andsorrowswith“thedeathsofourparents,thelossofourfriends”(13).Thecouplesharesnotonlyjoysbutsorrowstogether,butthesorrowshurtthemmuch,so“theymakeakindofdesignwiththeseheavycrosses”.(12)What’smore,thecouplealsoshareseverythingthathashappenedintheworldintheirlifetime,because“Overitall,asitgoes,ofcourse,I/havechiseledEvents,History--random/hashmarkscutagainsttheswirlinggrain.”Suchas,“theYeartheWorldWentWrong”and“theGreatMenFell”.Thereasonthemancanstillpointoutwhichhashmarkstandforwhatisthatheandhisbelovedwifeexperiencedalltheseeventstogether.Eventhough“theworld”haschangedalot,thecoupleisstillstaytogether.Therefore,wecannaturallyassumethatnomatterhowtheworldwillbeinthefuture,theywill“runthroughitall”(19)andstillbetogether.Finally,“asitgoes”,(14)“ourtallystickiswhittlednearlyendtoend”(20)justlikethemanisbecomingolderandolder.Thenthestickgraduallybecomes“delicate”(21)and“itwouldnotbearyouup”.(21)Usingmetaphorandimagery,Ramsayseemstotellthereadersthatthemanisasweakastheoldstick.However,Regretshavepolishedit,handoverhand.Yet,letustakeitup,asourfingerslikechildrenleadingonatrailcrybackourunforgottenwonders,signaftersign,wewilltalksoftlyasofordinarymatters.andinoneanother’sblamelesseyesgoblind.(22--27)Byusingcontrastandsimilehere,Ramsayseemstotellusthateventhough“regrets”existintheman’slife,themanstill“takeitup”ifonlyhehaspassionandloveonit,just“likechildrenleadingonatrail”.Ramsaytriestostateinacalmandpeacefultonebecausethemanhastakenboth“regrets”and“unforgottenwonders”into“ordinarymatters”.Inthelastmomentoftheman’slife,hecaresnothingbuthisbelovedwifewhohascompaniedandsharedeverythingwithhimallherlife.Theywilllookinto“oneanother’sblamelesseyes”,handinhand;gototheheaventogetherwhentheireyes“goblind”.Inaword,“TheTallyStick”isaromanticpoembecauseRamsaycomparesone’swholelifewithastick.Tosomedegree,“TheTallyStick”isawitnessofthecouple’smarriage.Fromthebeginningtotheend,thestickiscoveredwith“crosses”and“notches”representingtheimportanteventsthathavehappenedthroughoutthecouple’slife.Aslongastheyhavegoldenmemoriesandloyallove,theywillbeabletoremaintogetherforever.