Rising Five –(Title creates curiosity in the readers)

Norman Nicholson

I’m rising five” he said - The poem starts with a dialogue, as the little boy claims to be
rising five not four, which becomes the base for the rest of the poem, the child’s response
initiates the thought process of the narrator.

“Not four” and the little coils of hair – visual and auditory imagery or hair unclicking
portrays the image of the child and also suggests the passing of time

Un-clicked themselves upon his head.

His spectacles, brimful of eyes to stare visual imagery -childhood innocence
At me and the meadow, reflected cones of light-reminds us the passing of time
Above his toffee-buckled cheeks. He’d been alive – suggests it is such a short period of
time that he had been alive but already claims to be older

Fifty-six months or perhaps a week more;

_____________Not four
But rising five.

Around him in the field, the cells of spring 2nd stanza create imagery of constantly changing
spring

Bubbled and doubled; buds unbuttoned; shoot - repetitive alliterative pattern and
assonance resonates with the rapid changes happening all around highlighting the fleeting
nature of time

And stem shook out the creases from their frills,

And every tree was swilled with green.
It was the season after blossoming,
Before the forming of the fruit:
_____Not May Rather than focusing on the beauty that we see all
around in spring , humans are looking forward for the future without living in the present

But rising June._____

And in the sky - when the sunlight creates these beautiful patterns, we are focused
on the fact that soon it is going to be night

The dust dissected the tangential light:

_____Not day - Use of repetitive negation reinforces the idea that humans are always
preoccupied by the future and as a consequence, we always miss the beauty or the essence of
the presence

But rising night;

_____Not now
But rising soon.

The new buds push the old leaves from the bough.- with the passing of time how the
youth will replace the older generation

We drop our youth behind us like a boy -the simile suggests how careless people are
with their youth, despite the fact that it is the most beautiful period of life, people just let it pass
by as if it is nothing

Throwing away his toffee-wrappers. We never see the flower,

But only the fruit in the flower; never the fruit,
But only the rot in the fruit. We look for the marriage bed
In the baby’s cradle; we look for the grave in the bed;
_____Not living the poem ends in this realization as the last two lines mirror the last two
lines of the first stanza , the boy’s words, ending the poem in a more negative tone as the poet
reminds us how we miss our life as we always focus on the future.
But rising dead.

This poem shows how humans are always focused on the future and
consequently, are not living in the present. This makes them miss all the
happiness they would have found in the present, when they are constantly
looking forward for the next step in everything, instead of seizing the moment
and enjoying that moment in the present.
The poem starts creating a visual image of a small boy who is very keen about
claiming to be older than he is with his “brimful of eyes staring” at the narrator,
and with his “toffee- buckled cheeks”- a typical image of childhood innocence.
The image is made more vivid with the boy’s “little coils of hair” which are said to
be unclicking upon his head, where the combination of visual and auditory images
perhaps reminds us how the time is passing and he will soon actually pass his
childhood. However, this typical behaviour of children as they try to insist they
are older than they are , as in this case, “I am rising five- not four”, makes the
narrator think more deeply about this common human characteristic; being
always focused on the future and looking forward for the future which seems to
be common even for children, as if it is an inherent quality of the humans. It
brings a smile to the readers as we imagine this little boy insisting to be older than
he is and the poet brings it up in a humorous tone as he says, “He’d been alive
Fifty-six months or perhaps a week more” which suggests that it is only a short
period of time that he had been lining in this world but already boasting about
this age, repeating the boy’s words in a humorous tone, “Not four but rising five”.

As the narrator thinks along this line, he realizes how what the boy just said is not
just a childish thought but that is what we all do, even the adults. To demonstrate
this, he draws a parallel between the human life and nature , to show how things
are constantly changing and how we always miss the present as we are obsessed
with the future. Even at this moment of encounter with the boy, the narrator
notices how the change is occurring around him as if to remind us how fleeting
the time is, how inevitable things are. With an array of nature imagery, “cells of
spring doubled and bubbled, buttons unbuttoned” ..etc and very effective use of
alliteration and assonance , the poet effectively reinforces the idea of change ,
how time rushes pass us. Use of enjambment and caesura (rhythmical pause in a
poetic line or a sentence. It often occurs in the middle of a line, or sometimes at
the beginning and the end. At times, it occurs with punctuation; at other times it
does not.) also reinforces the idea of time rushing past. To further assert how
humans frequently and habitually ignore the present, instead of naming the
present time as spring , the poet says, “ It was the season after blossoming,
Before the forming of the fruit”. Resonating the boy’s words, the poet says “not
May but rising June”.

This idea is further emphasized in the next stanza as the poet creates another
imagery of how “in the sky the dust dissected the tangential light”. Instead of
focusing on the beautiful pattern created here, we are preoccupied with the
thought that it is going to be night soon even though it is still the day time, “not
day but rising night”. Ultimately we are focused on “not now” but always “rising
soon”. There seems to be an undertone of mockery at our own selves as the poet
says this.

The last stanza summarizes the whole concept of being focused on the future, not
living in the present, in an even more authentic light as the poet now directly
connects it to human life towards the end of the poem. Use of the first person
plural pronoun “we” suggests that even the narrator can identify himself with the
rest of the people who do the same. It is inevitable how old will be replaced by
new as it is the ultimate truth. Yet, we do not seize the present and live in the
moment, but instead waste our youth looking forward for a future that we do not
see. This idea is reinforced through the use of the simile, “We drop our youth
behind us like a boy throwing away his toffee wrappers”. The last few lines
contain lot of negation as the poet expresses the grim reality of life and highlights
the waste of life as we unconsciously let the life pass by so quickly while we are
focused on the future, ignoring the joy of the present moments.
“We never see the flower,
But only the fruit in the flower; never the fruit,
But only the rot in the fruit. We look for the marriage bed
In the baby’s cradle; we look for the grave in the bed;” With these lines , the poet
conveys this sad reality and highlights how humans always miss the best things in
life due to their constant obsession with the future. Ultimately, we do not even
realize how quickly the time has passed by and we are only left with death where
there will be no more looking forward, “not living but rising dead”. This final line
brings realization and reminds the readers what we are missing out.

Form
The four stanzas of the poem starting from one idea always return to the same in
each stanza- not the present but the future.
"not four, / But rising five”-1st stanza
"not May, / but rising June."- 2nd stanza
"not day, / But rising night; / not now, / But rising soon."- 3rd stanza
"not living, / But rising dead."- 4th stanza
By the end of the poem the poet presents this sad reality of an unlived life

Lack of regular rhyming could suggest the inevitability of life, how things
constantly change.