Symphony in yellow by Oscar Wilde

 

Symphony in yellow by Oscar Wilde

An omnibus across the bridge                                                                                               Crawls like a yellow butterfly,                                                                                               And, here and there, a passer-by                                                                                           Shows like a little restless midge.

Big barges full of yellow hay                                                                                                  Are moored against the shadowy wharf,                                                                                And, like a yellow silken scarf,                                                                                              The thick fog hangs along the quay.                                                                                    The yellow leaves begin to fade                                                                                              

And flutter from the Temple elms,                                                                                        And at my feet the pale green Thames                                                                                  Lies like a rod of rippled jade.

THEMES

There seems to be quite a few 'themes' in this poem. I think one of the messages that came across to me was that people are always rushing for something and trying desperately to reach it without stopping to appreciate the nature that they are surrounded by. 

'Passers-by'(1st stanza) don’t stop and have a look at nature- they move on, which could represent the fact that people just don't notice what they have been given because they are too caught up in their own lives. 

Also in the 2nd stanza it shows that the 'yellow hay' in the 'barge' is moored on a shadowy wharf. Assuming that the hay represents the people, it shows that many people just pretend to know where their destination is while in fact they have no idea. Again, they are too rushed and hasty, driven by something human and sinful like greed, that they don't realize that they need to take things slow to figure out what their life is meant to be. 

Also this poem could be about people who are bright on the outside but empty on the inside, because they are lost and have no direction or that they seem positive, happy, and driven on the outside but there is still a vulnerability and insecurity that they are not willing to show in their outward appearance. 

That could be because they don't take the time to let God lead them to where they are really meant to be.

Answer the questions:

1)Where do you think the poem is set?
2)Make a list of all the things and objects in the poem that the narrator describes as yellow
3)What time of the year is the poem set?
4)Make a list of the similes (4) in the poem. Choose ONE of the similes and explain why you think it is effective.
5)Why might the river be compared to jade? Why is this a strange image to describe a river?
6)What is the narrator’s attitude of the city and the people who live there? Choose a tone and explain how diction and
imagery influenced your choice.
Think over the following aspects -YELLOW is the colour of flowers blooming and sunshine so it's connected to life, happiness and freedom, but in this poem it's also the colour of hay and fallen leaves. So it has a positive connotation- life and a negative one-death.
Also think over the contrast between a kind of elegant imagery such as the silken scarf and the jade ( a precious stone) and some plainer things like the barges, the midges, the fog and the wharf.
Finally reflect on this point - the last stanza shows transformation, because here the yellow apparently fades and sheds its leaves, which could signify a rebirth or something new after a cycle has taken place. The colour green becomes the main focus in the last two lines, which could also represent a new, fresh life.
As for a possible interpretation read the doc here attached!