“Green Apples” by Dudley Randall
The theme of this poem is love. Basically Randall describes how young people are not responsible enough to comprehend what real love is, physically or emotionally. Randall tries to show that love becomes better as one gets older.
Imagery is shown, when Randall likens a woman below thirty to a green apple. He states that the lady is fresh, but not full and mellow. Randall portrays the image of a woman below thirty as that of an unripe green apple; hence he believes that women under thirty should develop fully before engaging in love. Another instance where Randall portrays imagery is when he likens the love making of women below thirty to that of a bull, as they moan and sigh like puppies.
Another literary element used by Randall in the poem “Green Apples” is repetition. Repetition is used in the third line of the second stanza, “as she talks and talks and talks about herself”. Randall uses repetition to emphasize, just how women below thirty talk about nothing but themselves.
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The green apple is used by Randall to symbolize the immaturity and rawness of the women below thirty. The green apple symbolizes just how inexperienced and unwise young people are when it comes to relationships and love in general.
The tone used in the poem “Green Apples” by Randall is contempt. In the third line of the first stanza, Randall disregards young women and terms them as raw and unformed. In the second verse, Randall disapproves their behavior of non- stop chattering about themselves, and in third verse he criticizes their lovemaking which he compares to an attack from a bull.
The form in which “Green Apple” poem is written, is that of a sonnet where the poem has fourteen complete lines. This can also be supported by the fact that this poem falls under love poetry. There is also the use of vivid imagery which is very common in sonnets. For instance, Randall shows an image of young women’s lovemaking to that of an attack from a bull.
Themes comparison
Both themes try to bring out the aspect of love and relationships, but in a very twisted way. In “Green Apples” by Randall the theme is different from “Ballad of Birmingham” by Dudley Randall in that, the persona in the “Green Apples” feels contempt towards young women. He even has no regard, for young women who get hurt when they get involved with young men, claiming they deserve what they get. While in the “Ballad of Birmingham” the persona portrays a mother’s love towards her child and suffers a deep loss when she loses her only child in a blast.
