Name the different contrasting things that the poet has mentioned in the poem.
{ answer in reference to the poem 'be the best of whatever you are' }
[ 60 to 80 words ]
Answers
Be the Best by Douglas Malloch: Introduction
“Be the Best” is an inspirational poem penned by Douglas Malloch. He was an American poet and short-story writer and Associate editor of American Lumberman which is an adventure magazine based in Chicago. Born in Muskegon, Michigan which used to be the center of the lumbering (work of cutting trees and preparing lumber) industry; he was famously called as “Lumberman’s Poet”. Brother Malloch, as he was known amongst his brothers and friends, was brought up amidst the forest, logging camps, sawmills and lumber yards. The poet was fascinated by the ingenuity, power and sheer beauty of nature.
His poem “Be the Best” shows how keenly he observed Mother Nature. The title of the poem itself reveals the meaning of the poem and its concept. He is trying to tell us that whatever we do, we need to be the best. He has used examples from the nature to convey his message. The poet wants us to know that no job is less important and we need not be ashamed of what we are. Although we all dream of doing great deeds and being at the top, what really matters is the contribution we make to the society to make it count. We must take pride in our job and accomplish it with our best effort. It’s good to be a pine tree on the top of the hill, but you can still be noticeable by being the best bush beside the stream making the valley beautiful.
The theme of the poem is inspirational and instructional, making it a great didactic poem.
Form and rhyme scheme
The poem is very simple in theme and language. The poem consists of four stanzas containing four lines each. It follows a rhyme scheme of ‘abab’. The last word of every line rhymes with every alternate line like ‘hill’ and ’rill’, ’be’ and ‘tree’ etc. throughout the poem. Use of the conditional clauses beginning with ‘if’ gives the poem a good flow and supports the theme of the poem very well.
Be the Best: Figures of Speech
Douglas Malloch here in this poem has used contrasting examples from nature to make metaphors for something big and its corresponding small one in regard to achievements in life:
A pine versus a Scrub
A tree versus a bush
A bush versus a bit of grass
Muskie versus bass
Captain versus crew
Highway versus trail and
The sun versus a star
Alliteration is used in some of the lines as shown below:
If you can’t be a bush be a bit of the grass,
And some highway happier make;
Repetition is also used in the following lines:
There’s big work to do and there’s lesser to do,
And the task we must do is the near.
There’s a transferred epithet or hypallage in the line:
And some highway happier make;
The grass can make the people happier, not the highway.
Antithesis is found in the line —
It isn’t by size that you win or fail
And, the poet has created visual imagery in the expressions “a pine on the top of the hill”, “The best little scrub by the side of the rill”, “the liveliest bass in the lake” etc.