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This stanza gives you an update on the condition he is in. It's kind of the opposite of the first stanza because the first stanza described how great he was but now he is badly beaten,bruised, and wet.
To be broken- knuckled is actucally a lot hard to do when fighting an actual pro fight, boxers get EXTRA padding on the knuckles so to be able to break them shows how hard this fight was. Also skinny- eyed refers to bruised and swollen eyes, because when they swell up you can barely see through that eye.
The Boxer (by Emma Payne)
The Great iron figure crouches,
Scabs like flowers on his knees,
And his chest is like a mountain
And his legs are thick as a tree.
He spits blood like a cherub
In a fountain spouting foam,
Ringed around by swing ropes
And punters going home.
Broken- knuckled, skinny eyed,
Battered, bruised, and wet
With droplets like cold rubies,
And laced with bitter sweat.
He crouches in a corner
In his pool of sparkling red
And dreads the jeers which soon fall
Like blows upon his head.
At the beginning of this stanza the word “crouches” is used again, but with a different denotation: the man, once victorious, seems hiding at a corner, ashamed.
The poem ends with an effective image: the Great iron figure, crouching in a corner and almost down seems to refuse to lose. He has not fallen to the ground, yet, in “his pool of sparkling red” representing his blood, hard work, and his lost money, “the jeers which will soon fall/ like blows upon his head”. But the simile shows that the boxer is brave enough to stay and receive the rude and mocking remarks without walking away like a coward.
THEMES:
This poem focuses on the theme of never giving up and the message it conveys is that even if we are knocked down, or are beaten, we can refuse to give in because we can get back up again. I also believe that another theme in this poem is that even the greatest things, the best of the best fall at a certain point. Like it all comes to an end at somepoint and it ends.
He crouches in a corner
In his pool of sparkling red
And dreads the jeers which soon fall
Like blows upon his head.
(https://wordsmusicandstories.wordpress.com/2017/03/31/the-boxer-a-poem-3/)
Here we learn that he is struggling, through the juxtaposition between the calm and gentle action of “a cherub” spouting water in a fountain and the vulgar, violent action of spitting blood emphasizing that the boxer is very badly injured and is losing a lot of blood, however, he is really determined because he carries on with his fight and is determined to finish it off.
He spits blood like a cherub
In a fountain spouting foam,
Ringed around by swing ropes
And punters going home.
(https://wordsmusicandstories.wordpress.com/2017/03/31/the-boxer-a-poem-3/)
Broken- knuckled, skinny eyed,
Battered, bruised, and wet
With droplets like cold rubies,
And laced with bitter sweat.
He is determined because he is surrounded by ropes and those are the ropes around the ring. In a boxing match when one of the boxers gets tired or gets pushed against the ropes they bounce back and stay in the fight. He stays in the ring. Yet he is so badly injured that even people who bet on him are leaving, they know that its over and that the Great iron figure is not so great anymore.
"With droplets like cold rubies,"
This line says a lot about the condition of the boxer and his situation as he is losing. First, it is clear that he is sweating but then it says "with droplets of cold rubies", rubies are red meaning that he is sweating blood but not only that, he is loosing money.
Iron is very tough, when Iron is heated one could beat it with a hammer to harden it. The boxer got hit so many times that he himself is hard and strong. And his chest as big as a mountain.
The Great iron figure crouches,
Scabs like flowers on his knees,
And his chest is like a mountain
And his legs are thick as a tree.
Scabs like flowers... Comparing the color of the scabs to the color of flowers. It describes how red and natural the color his wounds are. Describing the thickness of his legs to a tree gives you an image of how muscular his legs are and how tough this boxer is. That his legs have a lot of muscle.
(This first stanza contains similes and a imagery to best express the boxers body .)