Andrea Chan

R11

LIT 14

Mr. Charlie Veric

16 February 2016

Caught in the Rush

In the fast-paced world today, people, especially the youth, get caught in the rush to
pursue bigger, better opportunities. Often than not, they take their lives for granted and fail to
live in the present, and this leads to feelings of grief and regret.
An example of this situation is shown by the regretful persona in the poem Argos
by Michael Collier. However, in order to better understand and interpret Argos, it is
important to first, recognize the nature of the poem as a dramatic monologue, and second, to
know the behavior, characteristics and circumstances of the mentioned characters from
Homers epic The Odyssey, for the poem largely uses events and characters from the epic.
The perfect dramatic monologue includes seven definite features: speaker,
audience, occasion, revelation of character, interplay between speaker and audience, dramatic
action, and action that takes place in the present (Sessions 508), but in consideration that not
all dramatic monologues may be accommodated within that set of conditions, Sessions also
acknowledges sub-classifications which demonstrate the lack of one or more features
(Byron 10). Argos undoubtedly presents the fundamental aspects of a dramatic monologue
a silent auditor and a first-person speaker, as seen in the you and the I in the first and
second stanza respectively:
If you think Odysseus too strong and brave to cry
that the god-loved, god-protected hero
when he returned to Ithaka disguised,

intent to check up on his wife

and candidly apprize the condition of his kingdom,
steeled himself resolutely against surprise
and came into his land cold-hearted, clear-eyed,
ready for revenge-then you read Homer as I did,
Here, the first-person speaker can be regarded as the poems persona who is looking
back at himself as a young reader reading The Odyssey, while the you or the silent
auditor may be either the persona referring to himself or the persona speaking to the reader
who is reading the poem, because dramatic monologues are designed to provoke reader
response and sympathy (Bryon 21). The persona presents the misconceptions of Odysseus
character as an unmovable hero as evidence that the auditor had also read The Odyssey too
fast, in the same way the persona did as a young reader. This is likely due to the fact that the
auditor and the speaker had been a student at the time, as gleaned from the lines too fast,
knowing youd be tested for plot / and major happenings, skimming forward to the massacre
(9-10). Since major happenings are the usual contents included in examinations, the speaker
and auditor only paid attention to the important details such as Odysseus slaying of the
suitors with the help of his son Telemakhos (Johnson 4). The speaker assumes that by reading
too fast, the silent auditor therefore missed the seemingly insignificant scene described in the
fourth stanza:
Reading this way you probably missed the tear
Odysseus shed for his decrepit dog Argos,
who's nothing but a bag of bones asleep atop
a refuse pile outside the palace gates.The dog is not

This scene is the touching moment in which Argos recognizes his master, Odysseus,
who returns to Ithaca disguised as a beggar. By describing how Odysseus sheds a tear for his
dying dog, the reader can clearly see that there is a crack in Odysseus strong faade. This
miniature recognition-scene foreshadows the realization within the poem that with neglect
and absence, places, things, and people fall into ruin like Argos. This then leads to the
revelation of a regretful persona:
Years ago you had the chance to read that page more closely
but instead you raced ahead, like Odysseus, cocksure
with your plan. Now the past is what you study,
where guile and speed give over to grief so you might stop,
and desiring to weep, weep more deeply.
Now, the mature persona shares his regret to the auditor upon realizing how much he
had missed in his haste. This last stanza of the poem, wherein the persona addresses the
auditor to take time to stop and grieve, fulfils Cornelia Pearshalls idea of the dramatic
monologue as a transformative genre in which the speaker has specific purposes and goals.
The regretful persona ultimately shows the desire for transformation of his or her
circumstances, of his or her auditor, of his or her self, and possibly all of these together
(Pearshall, 71) and the persona does this by equating you to the character of Odysseus as a
returning hero.
Odysseus is, on one hand, strong in will to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield,
(qtd. in Johnson and Johnson 1), and on the other, an arrogant, foolhardy character who
constantly falls victim to his own hasty actions, thirst for riches, and curiosity for
knowledge(Johnson and Johnson, 8). Odysseus yearning for honor, fame and recognition
drives him away from home in search of adventure, and this undesirable attitude of being
excessively attracted to achievement may be attributed to either the Greeks interest for

political power and territorial expansion (Johnson and Johnson, 124) or their notion of
pursuing perfection, which is closely tied with their concept of excellence (Sanna and Chang,
27).
One can even say that Odysseus, at some point, loses sight of his original intention to
return to his kingdom due to this mind set.
Responsibilities by the messages of his mother and Achilles from the Kingdom of the Dead.
Only upon realizing that his wife and son are still waiting for him does his mind become
totally set in returning home.
However, by the time Odysseus realizes is then confronted with the problem that
during his twenty year absence, his home has become drastically different from what he has
remembered. This is because his home has been stolen and occupied by approximately 126
men (Johnson and Johnson, 8-12). The mention of Argos cameo only serves to further
support the grave situation Ithaca has been reduced to, and this probably prompts Odysseus to
feel grief and regret over all the time he has wasted in his adventures.

In the same way, the persona

In the same way Odysseus regrets getting carried away with his adventures while he
was young and yearns to return home when he became older, the persona and the auditor also
get carried away by the need to move on to new opportunities. They show the contrast
between young and old people by demonstrating how a young reader is ofte
In the same way that Odysseus actions drive him with the need to reacquaint himself
with the past affairs which occurred during his absence, the persona and the auditor represent

the people who in their haste to move on to more opportunities, leave so many unfinished
businesses behind, and are now looking back and realizing

This can be seen in various instances throughout his journey, such as the sacking of
Ismaros, a city sympathetic to the Trojans; the landing in the Island of the Lotus Eaters,
wherein Odysseus curiosity sends his men in danger; and the entering of Polyphemos cave,
wherein Odysseus hope of being showered with gifts leaves them imprisoned by the
Cyclops. Odysseus is also often distracted by temptations, as shown by his sudden urge to fall
asleep while guarding the bag of hostile winds, which in turn resulted in ruining his chances
of going home; and then his year-long stay with Circe, wherein his crew are the ones who

remind him that it was time to go home. All of this causes his arduous ten-year delay from
reaching his homeland, Ithaca (Johnson and Johnson, 8-11). The

ARGOS

If you think Odysseus too strong and brave to cry

that the god-loved, god-protected hero
when he returned to Ithaka disguised, (ithaka is his kingdom)
intent to check up on his wife

and candidly apprize the condition of his kingdom,

steeled himself resolutely against surprise
and came into his land cold-hearted, clear-eyed,
ready for revenge-then you read Homer as I did,

too fast, knowing youd be tested for plot

and major happenings, skimming forward to the massacre,
the shambles engineered with Telemakhos
by turning beggar and taking up the challenge of the bow.

Reading this way you probably missed the tear

Odysseus shed for his decrepit dog Argos,
who's nothing but a bag of bones asleep atop
a refuse pile outside the palace gates.The dog is not

a god in earthly clothes, but in its own disguise

of death and destitution is more like Ithaka itself.
And if you returned home after twenty years
you might weep for the hunting dog

you long ago abandoned, rising from the garbage

of its bed, its instinct of recognition still intact,
enough will to wag its tail, lift its head, but little more.
Years ago you had the chance to read that page more closely
but instead you raced ahead, like Odysseus, cocksure
with your plan. Now the past is what you study,
where guile and speed give over to grief so you might stop,
and desiring to weep, weep more deeply.

PERSONA: The persona of the poem is likely a student/former student, who read
The Odyssey too fast, not paying attention to the details and now regretting
missed opportunities.
DRAMATIC SITUATION: The persona is giving advice about cherishing the
people/place you left behind by alluding how Odysseus, too absorbed in his
pursuit of power, forgets and leaves behind his dog, and upon returning, it is too
late.
IMAGERY: The poem uses many elements/terms from The Odyssey in order to
paint the picture of a hero returning to his land, and in a brief moment, mourns
over the seemingly insignificant death of his dog. The poem also addresses an

audience of students, by which he alludes to the reading of The Odyssey

quickly in order to pass an exam.
144-145
226 dearh and dying life and living surpressing grieving prolongs the course of
mourning., page 216 quotes
5--51