A Review of The Rite of Passage by Joseph McCullough
Topic
Have you ever wondered about life? About the meaning of your existence
on earth? In this poem, Joseph McCullough tries to analyze our existence on earth
using a deluge of imageries and poetic devices that will entice readers and keep them hooked from the first page to the very
last.
Reviewed by Liana Metal http://lianametal.tripod.com
THE RITE OF PASSAGE
By Joseph McCullough
Six Gallery Press, www.sixgallerypress.com
2004,ISBN 0-9746033-5-X,paperback,pp.95,Very Highly Recommended
Poetry
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Joseph McCullough, a teacher of Handicapped and English, and a graduate of Girard College, Philadelphia
Community College and Temple University , lives in New Jersey
with his two children. THE RITE OF PASSAGE
is his fourth book.
THE RITE OF PASSAGE is a rhapsody on life, eternal life , life on earth , but includes parts of the author’s
own life as well. The readers can learn about the author’s life on page
13: ‘ I venture to add to my generation but remain within my own life,/ one began at nine months before birth and by
the same time after/ left fatherless, raised in infancy by the concept of post world/ war housing projects ,removed by the
state of law to be reared/… .’
Joseph deals with the concept of Religion on page 12: ‘Religion
must retreat from its words that condemn persons/ if the lifestyle of its leaders exceeds those of its followers, /especially
those hard pressed to have a place to breathe;/… .’
He talks about his country, America, on page 56: ‘America, land
of one continent abridged by the oceans ,/rifted by the spirographic turn of
a galaxy in its universe/… .’ The concept of being alive is on page
65 : ‘Ever the present is there, the appearance of being in life,/ever
the present ,the sensation of being alive ,the speed/… .’ He then
addresses the issue of women on page 66:
‘Hidden by the years and the slow decline of facades,/the woman looked about the earth ,not that it mattered/…
.’
There is an inspirational part on page 72: ‘See for yourself
the day, not from inside your memories/but as new thoughts in life, without fear in being, with light / of darkness and clear
of shadows…’ The issue of Religion is addressed once more on page
73: ‘Religion, the speaking of the mind to a creator of its origins,/the
voice of being , life formed of the universal elements,/the spirit before conception… .’
On page 75 , Joseph writes about his work and himself: ‘Now
this poem, a poet’s analogue of thoughts ,abbreviated/from master scrolls of purist taste ,saturate in repetition/…
.’ Next, on page 77 the author exhorts readers to self-inquiry to discover
themselves: ‘…look at your own selves and see in silence your true
vision.’
On page 88 the writer tries to find the purpose in life: ‘ Me,
who I am, a person of self recognized when requested/of life, chosen as a being of time rendering all associations/of humanity…
.’ His love for being alive is displayed on page 91 while the last part
of his poem tells the readers that life goes on . At the epilogue ,on pp.93-94
, the author exhorts readers that their ‘emotional passage of life’s journeys’ , ‘are not in vain
solitaire rides’.
To sum up, Joseph’s work is amazing. The title is oblique and
intriguing. The ‘rite of passage’ , the way we live our life, has
both a literal and a metaphoric meaning . Focusing on the ‘rite’
we understand that ‘traveling’ is the important element in our life’s journey. The impulse and emotion behind the poem seem true and the
author leads us to a journey of discovery .
The poem is written in ‘free verse’ , that is , he uses none of the established metrical patterns . It mainly relies on alliteration and assonance.
In this way, the author succeeds in giving readers vivid detail for our imagination to work with.
This Rhapsody on the meaning of life is exciting in every aspect. It
is a wonderful poem that will satisfy all the poetry lovers and not only them. Prose lovers can read this poem too, as the
‘free-verse’ is appealing to a wider audience. Rich vocabulary selection and rich images comprise a poem that
will speak to the readers’ hearts and make them question their existence on earth.
The book is available from : www.booksurge.com
and www.Amazon.com
