Brand New Ancients Poem Analysis Essay

Tempest's poem Brand New Ancients embodies a perspective on modern society that the individuals within it have overwhelmingly become content with living unremarkable lives to the point that they do not acknowledge and become aware of the potential they have to become something much more extraordinary. In the poem, Tempest illustrates this point by using a motif that compares the condition of contemporary society against the staggeringly sublime stories of the Ancient Greeks, declaring modern society to be a "plight of a people who have forgotten their myths". This motif, which implements an example of something deemed superior to present-day society, reinforces how there has been a downfall in the condition of humanity from Ancient Greek times. Consequently, this foregrounds that civilisation can become more exceptional in its current burdensome state because it was in the past. The verb "forgotten" particularly highlights how such capability has gone unnoticed as if it was insignificant to them being able to lead fully satisfying lives that have meaning and purpose to them. In combination with the deployment of the classical reference to “myth” In addition to this, Tempest conveys through a metaphor "the life in your veins / it is godly", which implies Tempest is trying to embolden people to reform themselves as opposed to put them down for their current flaws. In combination with the optimistic tone employed here, the lack of rebuttal towards individuals for any erroneous behaviours they may have engaged in previously allows them to move on from them and maintain total focus on their self-development. Tempest furthermore occasionally utilises a first-person plural narrative perspective by adopting the pronouns "we" and "we're", suggesting that the issue of society not fulfilling the potential it has is shared between everyone. Therefore, it also demonstrates that it is a problem present to a predominant extent across humanity, and specific individuals shouldn't be held accountable for all of the downfall. Tempest additionally attends to this particular viewpoint on modern society when Kevin is established as a character in the poem slightly further on in the narrative, where Kevin resides on "this road, this street, this house". The determiner "this" applied here without the road, street or house specifically named is giving prominence to Kevin's state as a humdrum individual with no striking characteristics that can enable him to stand out from the rest of humanity. Tempest's characterisation of Kevin as "the get-on-and-get-by type" indicates that Kevin is not in an appropriate position to see that he could transmute into something greater because of his engrossment in a lifestyle of doing just enough to satisfy the minimum expectations required of him.
However, Tempest's Brand-New Ancients also incorporates a standpoint on humanity that even seemingly ordinary people within humanity do still carry substantial significance, with Tempest showing a great admiration for them despite their normalness. Simultaneously, Tempest appears to criticise the status-obsessed culture present that puts specific individuals within society on a pedestal, whilst others get treated with more disregard due to being perceived as inferior. This belief comes across in the 'chorus' stanza through the repetition of the noun “gods”. Through this, Tempest is collectively referring to society as a whole, emphasising that everyone holds power in their unique ways and, as such, should not need to worship someone who they have undeservedly idolised in their head. The imagery of such "gods" in "betting shops" and "smoking fags out the back" implies that despite engaging in arguably destructive habits to their wellbeing and personal growth, no negative judgement should be given due to the referral of the people performing these habits as “gods”. Therefore, this promotes a healthier, less toxic culture where such individuals doing these as "gods". things are not looked down upon for their personal choices to engage in arguably foolish pastimes due to the potential longer-term damage caused by them. Rather, it calls for our understanding, and is signifying that society shouldn’t define people’s worth simply through their past and present mistakes, which consequently also creates a better environment for personal growth. The colloquialism employed with “fags” further lends to this idea that such actions are perfectly acceptable in current circumstances, and therefore society shouldn’t mistreat such people more for what they do. In addition to this, the colloquialism helps to form a bond between the differing sections of society due to the breaking down of a formal barrier, and thus helps us to see how everyone can be somewhat defenceless and end up getting caught up in the addictive compulsion of such detrimental habits.