In “Casabianca,” Felicia Dorothea Hemans describes a boy’s valor and loyalty as he faces his imminent death aboard a battleship engulfed in flames. Nearly all of the imagery throughout the poem depicts the poem’s two main forces: the powerful fire, which “wrapt the ship in splendor wild,” and the boy, “bright and beautiful.” Images of the boy’s father, who lays “faint in death below,” also recur a few times, as the boy desperately tries to elicit a response from the lifeless captain.
The repeated images of the boy and the flames contrast each other, and ultimately serve to glorify the boy’s remarkable courage. “Casabianca” portrays the boy as childlike and small, while making the fire seem immense. The fire destroys the entire ship and “stream[s] above the gallant child.” The flames are overwhelmingly greater than the boy in both power and size. The boy represents youth and innocence, and has just started his life; he demonstrates his vivacity in his attempts to awaken his father. The fire, in opposition, brings an end to life. The fire has complete control over the fate of the boy.
Considering all of these comparisons, it would seem that the fire defeats the boy in this poem; indeed, the boy dies in the fire at the end of the poem. However, the poem shows boy as the true hero. He displays unwavering loyalty in the face of the inferno that surrounds him. Such courage would be admirable from any adult, but the poem emphasizes the boy’s youth and innocence, making his courage seem truly exceptional.
Photo courtesy http://flickr.com/photos/peasap/1752872124/
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