"Casabianca" by Hemans

In Hemans’s poem “Casabianca,” the boy standing on the deck is the most prominent image and is also the most important. It is the whole focus of the poem, and is, therefore, the most significant image given in the poem. This image is presented in the first line of the poem and then again at the end. However, these two images offer different ideas about the boy. One image makes him seem helpless, while the other makes him seem valiant. Some subtle images given in the poem are that of the flame shining on the dead and the battle’s wreck.

As the image of the boy standing on the deck occurs twice in the poem presenting two contrary views of this boy, the poem makes a transformation from beginning to end. The poem starts as a grim description of a lonely boy amidst the destruction after a battle, while the end describes the boy as a heroic character. It may be interpreted as a transition for a boy into manhood. In a picture of chaos, confusion, and abandonment, the boy is all alone. This is like a boy at the start of puberty because he is alone in his feelings and his changes. As these changes occur, feelings of confusion and abandonment may be felt, as well as an occurrence of chaotic events in his life. Also taking place is illumination. When puberty occurs, a person usually stands out from everyone else who has already been through the process. The boy stands out from all the dead bodies like a child stands out among adults.

In the second paragraph of the poem, the transformation occurs. The boy is all of a sudden “beautiful and bright,” in comparison to when he was alone and in a scene of chaos. He has an air about him as if this is what he has been waiting for his whole life. This is his moment and time. In this place, alone, he is the hero. He is strong and powerful. As this transition occurs, he still looks like a boy, but he has changed into something more: a man. He has become a man with pride and power, with beauty and brute.