Poetic Imagery

Felicia Heman’s Casabianca is a powerful poem that uses a great deal of imagery to portray devastation as a brave young boy loses his life to a burning ship. An image that is prevalent throughout and that greatly serves to offer an interpretation of the poem is the young boy standing bravely in the eye of the fire, all that represents his unfortunate and untimely death.

The young boy refuses to leave the ship without the permission of his father whom death has come upon. His braveness is illustrated as he stands alone “whence all but him had fled” (line 2). Standing in death’s way does not distract the boy, however, from his first priority which is to make sure he does the right thing. Though he is young, one can not deny that the boy’s maturity and strength in facing what will bring him to his ultimate death is what makes this poem so powerful. Lines five and six quote “yet beautiful and bright he stood, as born to rule the storm” which on the surface appears quite contradictory due in part to the fact that the storm ultimately rules him. This indicates that perhaps winning the battle does not always mean that the winner survives; in this case the young boy is victorious because he was “the noblest thing that perished there” (line 38).

Many can not understand exactly why the young boy stood his ground and did not flee as “fast the flames rolled on” (line 20). What makes the boy an admirable figure is the fact that he, instead of following his desire to leave the ship and preserve his life, followed his duty which was to stay with the ship until he was told to leave. The youthful, innocent boy standing at “that lone post of death in still, yet brave despair” (lines 23 and 24) is the image that recurs throughout the poem to exemplify the immeasurable strength contained within this one small boy.

Other Images In Casabianca:

1. Youthful boy standing on the burning deck

2. Flames consuming the boat but the boy stands bravely

3. The boy’s father peacefully laying dead below the deck while chaos erupts overhead

4. Huge flames consuming everything but the boy

5. The boy standing in brave despair as death is inevitable

6. Flames moving over the boy through “sail and shroud” (shroud = cloth to cover dead bodies)