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‘Ghost of the Past’ Analysis

The poem ‘Ghost of the Past’ is about a person struggling with depression. They experienced some time in the past and got better, but the illness has returned to torment the writer again. The writer wonders if they can survive their suffering as they did in the past. The poem employs several poetic devices such as imagery, allusions, personification, metaphors and similes. Imagery is used in lines 3 and 8 of the poem. Line 8 describes how the writer feels like a rudderless ship on a tumultuous sea. A ship needs a rudder to steer it in the right direction. Without it, the ship is simply drifting and with the sea being rough, the ship will ultimately be lost. From the line, readers can picture a rough sea with a ship floating without direction and helps them relate to how the writer feels.

Another poetic device used in the poem is allusion, in lines 6 and 13. Line 6 states that the writer found a messiah. The term messiah in religious terms refers to the Christian belief that Jesus Christ, the messiah, saved sinners from perishing. The writer similarly found a saviour in the past as they struggled with depression. Angles and demons in line 13 are also allusions. The two characters are historically known for their positive and negative influence on people, respectively. Demons lead people to bad decisions, as they urge the writer to give up in their struggle against mental illness. Angels, on the other hand, offer some encouraging words.

Personification, Metaphors and similes are also used in the poem. Line 3 states, “I feel this darkness embrace me with its deadly claws.” In this sentence, darkness has been given human qualities. Darkness has no hands with which to hug a person, but personification gives it this ability. Line 5 is also an example of personification, as the writer explains their pas battle with depression. The ability to fight requires human abilities such as taking or wielding a weapon. Line 8 shows an example of a simile, “I feel like a rudderless ship…” The writer compares himself with a ship using the comparative term, like. Metaphors compare two things, but without the use of a comparative term as shown in line 4, “It is a shroud I cannot shake off.” The writer feels that the darkness surrounds him entirely just as a shroud would. This sentence is also an example of imagery as readers can create a mental image of a person completely covered by darkness.