"Unlike Romantic poets who celebrated the sublime in nature, Tan finds the sublime in the mundane anxiety of the departure lounge, making 'from Journeys' a quintessential post-modern text."
Look for similar metaphors in Seamus Heaney or Elizabeth Bishop. Tan is in conversation with Western poets but grounds his work in an Asian sensibility of familial duty. from journeys poem analysis keith tan free
That night, Maya wrote in her notebook:
Throughout "Journeys", Dawe employs a range of literary devices and symbols to convey the complexities of human experience. The journey itself serves as a potent metaphor for life, with its twists and turns, triumphs and setbacks. Tan notes that "the journey is a symbol of the human condition, with all its attendant struggles and triumphs – a reminder that life is a passage, not a destination". "Unlike Romantic poets who celebrated the sublime in
Implicitly, the poem discusses guilt. The traveler feels guilty for leaving someone behind (the subject of the photograph). The journey is, therefore, an act of betrayal. The journey itself serves as a potent metaphor
Her friend Leo leaned over. “Did you try reading it aloud? My cousin said Keith Tan writes about travel, but not the fun kind. More like… the lonely kind.”