Fishermen friends? Not really

It is quite interesting when I was first introduced to this poem, the lecturer only give a stanza from the poem and we have to guess to whom the lines are spoken, who the narrator is and what the poem is all about. Well the class gives a lot of answer and after we read the whole poem then we knows what the poem is all about. The poem is about the life of fishermen that depend on the sea to live even though it is hard, full of challenge and uncertain of what would happen to them at sea. However the title of the poem is very interesting ‘Three Beserah Fishermen’, Beserah is a name of an actual village by the seaside but however it is also a pun as it sounds like the word ‘berserah’ which means surrender. When I read the poem again it does tell about fishermen that surrender their fate and life to the sea. It is really interesting when a poet use such play of words that give both literal and conotated meaning to the poem that it shows how creative the poet is