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What strikes both of us: Every line in Thom Gunn’s Rites of Passage contains an alliteration. From the first three lines in the first stanza, “Something is taking place. / Horns bud bright in my hair. / My feet are turning hoof.”. The alliterations in the end of each sentence turns each line break into a natural flow of words. The poem no longer sounds like a poem, but more of a tumbling paragraph.

The poem itself narrates the greek myth of the minotaur in a more sympathetic tone, illustrating a misunderstood youth who is left to navigate the “rites of passage, a bildungsroman. The naive minotaur with its ‘ budding horns ‘ becomes confident in his being, in his animal nature becoming gaudy as the verse progresses.

The poem also often feels like an extended euphemism, describing the progression into adolescence. even in the grittiest aspects, whereas the personas’s journey its maze is physical ours parallels his in a more figurative journey. Our maze is one of societal expectations. At one point the poem clearly expounds on a sexual experiential exploration. describing  the persona as ‘ breaking loose ‘ hardening and coming to completion, ‘.

All in all, Thom Gunn’s Rites of Passage encompasses the struggles and confusion that comes with adolescence with the overarching extended metaphor that the greek myth of Minotaur.

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The last stanza is very striking to me. It shows the speaker still remembering their mother (who appears to have passed) even when reaching adulthood, by “stamp(ing) upon the earth” to communicate with their mother even though the speaker has appeared to have fully grown. A lot of humans gradually forget about their parents or don’t make time for their parents the older they get. The fact that the speaker, an animal, which appears to have reached adulthood then still remembers their mother, is very remarkable and very humbling at the same time for me.

This poem, on a whole, resonates with me on another level. “Rites of passage” to me, is about the physical and emotional process of growing and maturing. Seeing the speaker go through the same feelings as I did as a child, and a teenager, and then near adulthood, from feeling innocent and just having fun, to having to mature and get ready to be an adult (and wanting to experience childhood for the last time) reassures me that such feelings are normal.

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The poem speaks about the idea of metamorphosis and achieving freedom with the use of imagery and metaphors.

For example, in the first stanza itself, it states, an imagery of a change taking place in the speaker ; “skin that was damp and far/ is barklike and,feel,rough” which could mean that this sad person had turned into an angry monster.

The line “i rear,break loose, i neigh” in the second stanza shows that the speaker has escaped from the feeling of imprisonment and has entered a newfound serenity as the speaker is “adventuring through your garden” heading towards something new. The metaphor “my blood, it is like light” in the third stanza suggests that the speaker feels free from a heavy burden. “Horns gaudy with its snow” gives a non threatening element to the speaker who might have been perceived as a monster but rather should be perceived as “purity”, a word commonly associated with snow.

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there’s a ABCABC rhyme scheme (especially obvious in the third stanza) rites of passage suggests a social custom, practice and conventional act — like growing up. the title itself already suggests that the persona is undergoing a significant stage in his life experiencing things like losing innocence “almond bough” (significance of almond is that it represents purity) “gaudy with snow” portrays that he feels very out of place while undergoing the transformation.

idk if this is a stretch but at the last stanza he says “i stamp upon the earth” and there’s a “message mentioned”?? so like maybe it’s a form of a letter informing his parents that he’ll be leaving (like kids when they grow up they move out)

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There seems to be a theme of process of growth in this poem. From the excitement of childhood, to the arrogance of youth, to the anxiety of adulthood, the cynicism of old age and finally, the reluctance in the face of death.

The exhilaration of the young narrator is shown in the way the writer chose to describe the narrator's newly grown traits. The use of direct description without much judgement, "Skin that was damp and far Is bark like and feel rough" almost feels like an impersonal observation of the changes the narrator is going through.

In the second stanza, the use of "Greytop" to address the narrator's

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striking: the adjectives and words the poet uses to describe the speaker aren't typically words used to describe a human being. as such, the conclusion we came to is that the speaker isn't human.

the speaker is a horse/reindeer, as "hoof", "neigh", and "canter" are used for horses.

"rites of passage" suggests there's a change going on with/within the speaker. this is supported by the first line of the first stanza, "Something is taking place."

as we had concluded the speaker is a horse, the speaker uses "Father" to refer to his owner in the first stanza and proceeds to use "Old Man" in the forth stanza. this shows the speaker's growing apathy towards his owner as time passes by.

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the poem is striking as each stanza represented the poet's different stages of life; the first stanza represents his coming of age, this can be seen in line 1 where he describes a change in him. the second stanza could represent the transition that comes after the coming of age. the constant repetition in the word 'I' emphasizes the change in his appearance and actions. the third stanza has a more mature tone to it, compared to the others, which could represent him transitioning into an adult stage. this stanza also has a reluctant tone, which shows that he could be hesitant in accepting his maturity. overall, this is striking as it shows the different stages in life that humans will have to experience and go through.

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The triumphant tone of the poem is very striking, highlighting how the poet may have won an unspoken battle with himself and he is now rejoicing in his new stage in life.

The title of the poem, "Rites of Passage" suggests that this is merely a stepping stone to another stage in life, and change is the most permanent thing in life.

Therefore, since change is an inescapable part of life, the poet encourages the readers to embrace the change and step out of it newer and stronger.

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Striking: Conciseness of the message and the brief seasons of life
Resonates: Poetic portrayal of his growth
World view: His appreciation of nature as his parents
Human condition: The enjoyment of life and growth to the fullest