Language

The language in the poem “Remember the Ship” by John Agard is formal and contemporary. The poem uses many nouns in order to create vivid images and powerful metaphors: 

as the ship
of the sun
unloads its light

and the ship
of the night
its cargo of stars (ll. 27-32)

The example mentioned above uses nouns such as “sun” and “light” in contrast with “night” and “stars”. 

The poem also uses verbs to show the speaker’s vision of the future if people pay attention to his plea:

again I say remember
the ship
in citizenship

and diversity
shall sound its trumpet
outside the bigot’s wall (ll. 33-38) 

In this example, the word “remember”, which is repeated throughout the poem and can also be found in the title, shows the action the speaker urges the audience to take. The second stanza in the example shows wh...