Question

briefl state the context of the poem The solitude of Alexander selkirk

Answer 1

The Solitude of Alexander Selkirk’ is a well-known poem. It is based on a real life story, of a privateer by the same name. Alexander was part of a ship’s crew whose duty was to fend off the Spaniards. Thus the crew and the ship spent considerable time at sea. Being a strong headed person, Alexander refused to obey his captain’s orders and continue sailing because he was sure that the ship was not in a condition to make it through the journey. As a result of their difference in opinion, Alexander found himself marooned on an uninhabited island while the ship left, without him. The poem examines his psychological state on being alone, while still hoping to be rescued.

 

The very first line of the poem, ‘I am monarch of all I survey’ shows just how lonely he is on the island. He is the master not of any humans, but of ‘the fowl and the brute’. He is aware of the fact that he might never be rescued and might die without having the opportunity to ‘hear the sweet music of speech’. He yearns for ‘Society, Friendship, and Love’, which to him are God’s divine gifts to mankind. He begins to cherish the normal things that people otherwise take for granted. In order to get back to the inhabited world, he is even willing to give up his human form and become a dove.

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