Analysis of the Poem To Posterity by Louis MacNeice

Click here to listen the poem To Posterity

The poem 'To Posterity' is taken from the collection of poetry titled Visitations by Louis MacNeice published in 1957. Written six years before his death, the poem shares poet's thoughts on the future of books and the role of new media in shaping the perceptions of the future generations

About the Author

Louis MacNeice was born in 1907 in Belfast and he had a troubled childhood. His father, a bishop of Anglo-Irish church of Ireland, favored Home Rule and stood against the Protestant bigotry and violence in Northern Ireland. When he was six, his mother was taken to a nursing home due to severe depression and died there the next year. He found his days in English schools and colleges an escape from the miserable life with his puritan rector father and stepmother. Later, he abandoned his baptismal first name and his father's faith and lost his Irish accent.

In the 1930s, MacNeice became a member of the Auden group of poets. Though he provided the best critical statement of the poetic aim and achievements of his friends, he did not share the political commitment of the group. He wrote slower, relaxed and balanced verses in which long reasonable discussions on life, ethics and politics were held.

Outline of the Poem

The poem captures a moment in future in which books suddenly seize up (meaning stop moving) and some other less difficult media such as radio, tv or social media take their place. The speaker wonders how this would affect the way people look at the world around them. The poet acknowledges the role of books in creating the world view of his generation and wonders whether future generations would have similar sense of colour and taste created by the new media. He also wonders whether the new media would kindle imagination as the books did. As usual, the poet dose not provide any answer and leave the poem open for discussion.

Analysis

To Posterity is a near prophetic poem in which the poet predicts the disappearance of print culture and the emergence of technologically advanced media like radio, television and internet media. Written in 1950s, the poet was aware of the gaining presence of new media and resultant reframing of human perceptions. It is interesting to note that he has used the phrasal verb 'seize up' to describe the freezing/immobility of the books. This is usually used to describe the immobility/inactivity of machines. This shows that the poet considers books as a product of mechanical production and is open to the emergence of new less difficult media.

The central idea of the poem is to contrast the sense perceptions and imagination framed by the new media with that of the books. MacNeice is known for evading any political/ideological positions among the Auden group of poets and he does not come to any conclusion in the poem. He poses the question whether the new media would frame sense perceptions and imagination as good as the way books did.

The poem has gained attention over the years as the domination of electronic/internet media have reshaped the world view of generation after MacNeice and the poem portrays the musings of the poet. His selection of words like 'media', which was a less common word in the 1950s, gives the poem a technological air and the futuristic elements of the poem derive out of this.