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This trumpeter of nothingness, employed
To keep our reason dull and null and void.
This man of wind and froth and flux will sell
The wares of any who reward him well.
Praising whatever he is paid to praise,
He hunts for ever-newer, smarter ways
To make the gilt seen gold; the shoddy, silk;
To cheat us legally; to bluff and bilk
By methods which no jury can prevent
Because the law's not broken, only bent.
This mind for hire, this mental prostitute
Can tell the half-lie hardest to refute;
Knows how to hide an inconvenient fact
And when to leave a doubtful claim unbacked;
Manipulates the truth but not too much,
And if his patter needs the Human Touch,
Skillfully artless, artlessly naive,
Wears his convenient heart upon his sleeve.
He uses words that once were strong and fine,
Primal as sun and moon and bread and wine,
True, honourable, honoured, clear and keen,
And leaves them shabby, worn, diminished, mean.
He takes ideas and trains them to engage
In the long little wars big combines wage...
He keeps his logic loose, his feelings flimsy;
Turns eloquence to cant and wit to whimsy;
Trims language till it fits his clients, pattern
And style's a glossy tart or limping slattern.
He studies our defences, finds the cracks
And where the wall is weak or worn, attacks.
lie finds the fear that's deep, the wound that's tender,
And mastered, outmanouevered, we surrender.
We who have tried to choose accept his choice
And tired succumb to his untiring voice.
The dripping tap makes even granite soften
We trust the brand-name we have heard so often
And join the queue of sheep that flock to buy;
We fools who know our folly, you and I.
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I studied this poem for my Higher English qualification and thought it was not bad....This poem is not one of the best i've ever read, but I really like the fact that the eponymous central character of the ad-man is metaphorical and I also think the imagery and symbolism is very clever. For example, "The dripping tap makes even granite soften". This line stuck in my head even after the first time I read it. This is a very powerful quotation because it highlights exactly the effect the advertising industry has on the public. It is rather quite a frightening image, and it made me aware of how much people are being brainwashed by the media and what they see in their everyday environment.
In terms of rhyme and rhythm, I am not a big fan of the rhyme...I think it is quite obvious and predictable and the poet should have adopted a more subtle rhyme structure - I think this would have created an even more frightening image of the advertising industry and its power over people.
On the other hand, the rhythm structure is very clever - the subtle but effective use of the iambic pentameter really creates a fast rhythm which pulls the reader in straight away and highlights how evil the "ad-man" really is.
Overall, I wasn't too keen on this poem, but it also had its good points. It is definitely worth a read and, if you sit and think about it, you will realise how alarming and disturbing the character of the ad-man is and, what's worse, it is a real occurrence which is affecting people every day.
MissAttitude15 ;-) from United Kingdom