Edward Field Icarus

Modernity has certainly evolved from the time of the ancient Greece. However, the advancements in technology have not necessarily created a Utopian society. In “Icarus,” a poem by Edward Field, a mythological character is placed in the bustling and oxymoronic reality of the modern world. Figurative language, irony, syntax, and perspectives are essential elements of Field's relocation of Icarus, whose relocation exposes an alienating and unrelenting 20th century setting.

Irony and contrast are immediately evident as Icarus's story unfolds in the second millennium of the common era. Beginning be depicting the setting and its inhabitants, the speaker highlights some oxymorons in current behavior. Witnesses to Icarus's mishap run off to a “gang war,” a cruel satire of urban life and ironical reversion of roles in just one line. Furthermore, Icarus's report at the police station is “filed and forgotten,” one element denying the purpose of the other. In addition to this, modern practices appear to contrast those of Icarus's original setting; in ancient Greece, tales were not written but sang, and they certainly weren't forgotten. Thus, though lacking mention to the protagonist, the first stanza
Hicks” in modernity. As the speaker begins to describe Icarus directly, another allusion to modern tenets is made; Icarus's suit “concealed arms,” which we soon find out though that they are not the “arms” used in gang wars but those with which he attempted flight. Icarus's neighbors cannot perceive his sadness at the failure of his deed, though, and the gentle time (and air) traveler does not wish to upset them by revealing the truths. In this case, a metonymic “front yards” is used by the speaker to symbolize the suburban lifestyle and “moralistic” attitude of the people surrounding