In Hermans' Casabianca the image most prominently shown is that of fire. References of fire or flames occur throughout the poem creating a sense of urgency and importance of the situation. While the story of the disaster on the ship is being told it is constantly being interrupted by fire and flames to emphasize the heat of the moment.
I feel Hermans uses the fire to represent to passion that the son is showing, both of love for his father and willingness to risk himself to do what needs to be done. The images created are almost like those of a modern day movie in a scene where heroic music would be playing and out of a scene of pain and terror shines one bright light, that of the sun that will not leave the ship without his father. As the poem goes on and the flames wrap around the ship the image grips us in a way more common to prose where we must read on and find out what happens to our hero as it develops a bond between him and the reader.
The fire changes the scene from being depressed and somber and of mourning to that of a hero not giving up and admitting defeat. If the ship were merely going down because of holes there should be much less jeopardy and the poem would be about wishing his father would not die and reminiscing of they times together. The constant threatening fire Hermans describes however forces the reader to worry about the hero and his current safely and not about how he will cope with the loss of his father.
This was my favorite poem so far because it seemed like Hermans wanted to to want to read and enjoy her poem instead of just analyze it and extract some hidden meaning through interpretation of secret images.
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