A Poem on Truth: Truth Is No Longer Priceless by Deola Adelakun

Our society is now configured with falsehood. That is why a person who tries to say the truth will be fought by those who hate it. That is why our society is full of atrocities and evils. Therefore, the poem is meant for the researchers and the people who want to learn more about how to appreciate and analyze the poem and for the teachers to learn more about how to teach poems appropriately

Truth Is No Longer Priceless

Truth is scarce

But the falsehood is cheap

Firm but fair people are mostly termed heartless

While silent mosquitoes are seen be friendly

We are in the world

Where truth is bitter

But obedient are called cowards

While the disobedient are praised

We are in the generation

Where people like falsehood

But they hate the truth

Disciplined hearts are tagged as unfriendly

While fakers and deceivers are loved

We are at the time

Where people like pretense

But they hate hitting the nail on the head

Forgivers are mocked

While cussed minds are encouraged

We are in the period

Where truth is slow to move

But where deceit runs fast

Trust-God people slow to make it

While smart-to-deceive minds make it quick

Truth is a good virtue for those who pursue it

It may seem foolish for fools

It may seem unwise for idiots

But make it a priority on your list.

Briefs of the Poem

The poet is unhappy about how truth is not a good virtue any longer these days in our society. People do not want to listen to those who try to tell the truth and the truth itself.

Our society is now configured with falsehood. That is why a person who tries to say the truth will be fought by those who hate it. That is why our society is full of atrocities and evils.

The poet continues as he says people like hypocrisy more than open-heartedness.  Those who are wicked are praised but those who struggle to present the truth are hated in our society.

The poet is also concerned about how the truth is slow and deceit runs fast these days. The patient people are slow to make it while the deceivers make it quick.

People hate disciplinarians but they like fakers. They hail pretenders and mock forgivers. However, no matter how long it takes, the truth will prevail.

The poet advises us to embrace good virtues because good virtues have been lost in our society. Involving yourself in a good virtue may seem foolish for fools and may seem unwise for idiots, but the poet advises that if we can make the truth a priority, our society will change for the better.

Theme

The poem “Truth Is No Longer Priceless” captures various themes that explain more subject matter of the poem. The poet is not happy about how people hate truth and prefer the lie. Some of the themes have been discussed below.

Theme of Hypocrisy

The poet divulges the hypocrisy and pretenses of many people these days. The poem reveals how people say what they cannot do as if they can do it. They also get out saying we are this and we are that but they are those. The general theme of the poem is hypocrisy.

Theme of Truth

The poet exposes how people these days like rather than truth. In old days, the truth was seen as an acceptable character in our society. But not in the case this year, truth nowadays is substituted for a lie. The lie is now given priority more than the truth. This is ironic!

Theme of lie and falsehood

As the poet has identified in the stanzas of the poet, lying and falsehood have taken the place of the truth. This is serious! People like falsehood because it is cheap these days. People like lying because it is satisfactory and accommodating.

Theme of pretenses

The pretenses are like hypocrisy. It is not that people who follow lying do not know that the truth is good. But it is because people hate the truth. They see truth as a bitter factor because it is slow. People like deceit and pretense because they run fast. That is why disobedient; fakers, deceivers, cussed minds, etc are praised and encouraged while obedient, disciplined forgivers, and truthful people are seen as weaker people in our society today.

Language

Stanzas and lines

The poem has six stanzas. The first stanza is a four-rhyming stanza (quatrain) and the second to fifth stanzas are five-rhyming stanzas (quintet).

Tone/Mode

The poet feels confused about how lying and falsehood can be exchanged for truth. The poet calls for a change from people to cherish the truth more than deceit and pretenses.

Figures of Speech

Irony

It is ironic to praise and encourage lying and falsehood while condemning and discouraging truth in our society these days. It is the truth we have to give priority rather than lying and falsehood.

Repetitions

The poet uses some repetitions to emphasize those words. Some of the used repetitions are “falsehood, where, truth, we, people,” etc.

Simile

The poet uses the similes such as, “People like falsehood”(line 11), and “People like pretense,” comparing two words with the use of comparative words “like”.

Metaphor

The poet uses metaphors such as, “Truth is scarce” (line 1), “Truth is bitter” (line 6), and “Truth is slow to move”(line 21) comparing two words without the use of comparative words. The title of the poem itself “Truth Is No Longer Priceless” is metaphorical.

Personification

The poet uses personification such as, “Truth is slow, (line 21)

Paradox

The poet uses the role, such as, “Truth is scarce” (line 1), “Truth is bitter”, (line 6), “Truth and s slow” (line 21)

Proverbial Expressions

The poet uses the proverbial expression such as, “silent mosquitoes” (line 4), “hitting the nail on the head” (line 17)

 Word List and Meanings

Priority: The quality or the state of being or antecedent in time, or of preceding something else.

Practice Questions

1. How many stanzas does the poem have?

2. Mention two things that the truth is in stanza one.

3. Mention two things that people like in the poem.

4. Why is the truth slow?

5. Comment on the language of the poem.

6. What should be your priority?

7. Discuss some themes of the poem.