Kite
Against the deep blue sky
the multi-coloured kite
flew
over the top of the green trees
heavy with fruit
the golden green waves
on the ripening rice field
stared up at the
blue and red tail on the kite
at the other end of the thread
the little boy
in ragged shorts
ran along the road
trying to hold aloft
the used polythene bag
tied to a piece of tape
from a discarded video cassette
black acrid smoke
spewing out of factories
settled slowly on
rotting garbage
in blocked drains
Author Daya Disanayake
Summary and Analysis
Details
Subject-matter: A multi-colored kite
Main Theme: Urbanization and its bad effects ( invasion of pollution and poverty)
Sub-themes: Environmental pollution, Poverty that exists in the city Natural environment in the village and the artificial environment in the city
TECHNIQUES
Appropriate words and phrases:
deep blue sky
multi-coloured kite
heavy with fruit
golden green waves
ripening rice field
ragged shorts
trying to hold aloft
polythene bag
discarded video cassette
black acrid smoke
rotting garbage
blocked drains
Contrast:
“against the deep blue sky
the multi-coloured kite flew”
Symbols:
kite: invasion
blue sky: natural environment
green trees
heavy with fruit
ripening rice field : prosperity
ragged shorts: poverty
used polythene bag
discarded video cassette
black acrid smoke
rotting garbage
blocked drains: pollution
Personification:
the golden green waves………………. stared up…………………
Implication:
trying to hold aloft pollution: trying to exist
Language:
The language is simple but figurative. It is powerful and rich in expression.
LITERARY STUDY
Daya Dissanayake talks about urbanization and its bad effects using a very appropriate symbol, a multi-colored kite. The inevitable outcomes of urbanization are environmental pollution and poverty. He uses the pure and natural environment of the countryside as the background against which the kite is flying and thus makes a contrast between the two extremities.
“against the deep blue sky
the multi-coloured kite
flew”
Dissanayake actually, creates a very natural and extremely beautiful environment making us visualize the purity and prosperity of the village.
“over the top of the green trees
heavy with fruit
the golden green waves
on the ripening rice field”
The kite is also visualized as a very attractive object when the poet says;
“the multi-coloured kite over …….”
“blue and red tail on the kite……”
But actually it symbolizes the picturesque and sophisticated city and its society. At the same time, the poet makes a contrast between the purity of the village and the complexity of the town.
“………..against the deep blue sky’
He further says that the green waves of the river stared up at the kite. It conveys the feelings of surprise and fear. Surprise denotes alienation and fear denotes the oncoming threat to the village by urbanization. The kite is flying in the sky but who is at the other end of the kite? A little boy in ragged shorts. Urbanization brings not only pollution to the village but also poverty. The poet also hints the low economic condition of the low com unities of the city and how they struggle to exist.
“ran along the road
trying to hold aloft”
Then he goes on to describe the polluted environment of the city using a number of appropriate words such as ‘used polythene bag, discarded video cassette, black acrid smoke spewing out, rotting garbage and blocked drains’. Thus, the poet using a very simple language makes a profound analysis of the influence of the city on the village. He does it using the figures of speech and a language that is near to the heart of the ordinary reader.
SYMBOLISM IN “KITE”
Daya Disanayake seems to use symbolism as the main technique of his poem, ‘Kite,’ from the beginning to the end. The very topic kite is a symbol. It is a very appropriate symbol in that this kite is made of a polythene bag and a discarded cassette tape. The polythene bag and the discarded cassette tape are symbols for environmental pollution. The kite flying in the sky symbolizes the urban invasion of the village with its pollution. It flying over the green trees signals the danger of urbanization which bring with it the three-fold pollution. The kite is multi-colored, symbolizing the sophisticated urban society with no match to our rural Sinhalese culture.
The poet thoroughly describes the natural beauty of the countryside using appropriate symbols, the blue sky, the green tree, green waves and the ripening rice field. The boy is a symbol of poverty which prevails in town.
“—————the green trees
heavy with fruit”
The ‘little boy in ragged shorts’ is a very appropriate symbol for the poverty which is existing in the urban area. Ragged shorts symbolize poverty thoroughly well. The golden green waves, the green color paddy stared up at the blue and red tail on the kite. The paddy is staring up at the tail of the kite because they are afraid of the threat of the pollution that may be brought with urbanization. Thus the reader is instilled with the idea that the clean and clear village is going to be dirty and disgusting like the town which is already polluted with factory smoke and the smoke of the vehicles and the other modes of pollution.
The last verse describes the real situation in the town. The factories symbolize the environmental pollution. They are spewing out black and acrid smoke polluting the air and the land and thus making the region uninhabitable. ‘Rotting garbage’ and ‘the blocked drains’ also symbolize the air and land pollution. Thus we see how cleverly the poet uses symbols in order to bring out his themes, urbanization, pollution and poverty.