No, master, never

David Taaffe

Mrs. Jernigan

AP English Lit.

February 7, 2011

“No, Master, Never!”

            In this poem our beloved author Joshua Mccarter Simpson employs dialogue, repetition, and irony in order to display a slave’s desire for freedom which exposes the injustice of slavery.

            I believe that a slave named Jack narrates this poem. In the which, he quotes himself, his master, and others. Dialogue makes up most of this poem. The author uses dialogue to characterize Jack and the master. According to what the master said, the master trusts Jack and thinks of him as a noble man. Jack respects his master as person as well. But his dialogue shows the reader that he would much rather have freedom, even with the risk of freezing to death, than remain in bondage.

            Repetition clearly stands out to anyone who reads this poem. Simpson utilizes to show how Jack feels, and he also uses it for ironic purposes. The author repeats the word “never” a multitude of times throughout the poem. At times it foreshadows the fact that Jack will eventually run away from his master. At other times, the author uses it for irony as the owner predicts that Jack will “never” leave him.

            I always find it difficult to decipher who the audience of a poem is. It seems in this one that the narrator tells a story. So his audience could be his children, a friend, or some random person that he met on the street. Or maybe the audience is simply supposed to be the reader of the poem.