Police Baton
The baton that the police use to assault Jim, in “Sonny’s Lettah”is symbolic of police’s ferocity. The violence is barbaric as the unharmed civilians cannot defend themselves, and it results in the spilling of blood and physical injuries. Instead of using the baton, to implement the law, the police should have arrested Jim amicably without inflicting harm on his body.
Passion Fire
The motif of “Passion Fire” appears in the poem “Poems of Shape and Motion”. The motif denotes the enthusiasm that triggers the composition poems. The enthusiastic drive is as feverish as combustion; thus, it is irrepressible. The poet’s experience when composing a poem about “shapes and motion” is reflected in the diction that describes the speaker’s walking and the ramifications of elements such as wind, rivers and sea on the motion.
Symbol of a Letter
‘Sonny’s Lettah’ represents the linkage between Sonny and his mother. Sonny lays bare is experiences and feelings in the letter. The letters acts as a channel of contact between him and his mother , as they are physically separated. The final line of the poem asserts that their mother/son relationship is still unsevered despite the happenings that separate them.
