"Daydream" by Nick Asbury tells of a boy who's only friend is the sun. But not even the sun stays loyal as a true friend. After the sun's departure, the boy is left oblivious to what is going on and is left alone. The bleakness of "Daydream" is depicted mainly through Asbury's sentence structure and diction and the overall tone of the piece. Though the tone may seem a bit depressing and weak, the message behind the poem is strong and unique.
"Daydream" opens with a boy speaking to the sun. Clearly, we can tell that this is the boy's only source of social contact; the sun is his only true "love." But as he looks up to admire the sun, it disappears before his eyes and leaves him oblivious to what is going on. Though the omnipotent, unchanging sun was almost a god to the boy, once it fell, the boy could not comprehend. How could something so mighty, fall so quickly? As the poem goes on, the reader realizes that the sun is not coming back, nothing is going to change: " The grass swayed / The surrounding darkness sat" (18-19).
"Daydream" was written to show the even the great fall; no one is immune to the nature of life. Everything is vulnerable to the sands of time, even the greatest things of the world:.
The boy looked up.
into the darkness.
and saw the glowing ball of flames.
Suddenly.
it was gone (6-10).
The boy's obliviousness shows that we cannot comprehend the meaning or reason or worldly things because there essentially is no reason or meaning. Man is insignificant and cannot achieve any ultimate realization about the why or how of the world.
The choice of words and sentence structure allows this poem's tone to be expressed in the finest way possible. The diction and syntax allow the reader to identify with the boy's personality and the feeling of the poem. In the first few lines, the reader can already begin to understand the boy's personality as one that is carefree. The boy is always lost in his thoughts, yet he is still happy:.
