15 pages • 30-minute read
The Rider
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Symbols & Motifs
Speed
Speed is essential to “The Rider,” to the boy and speaker’s attempt to escape loneliness. The idea that loneliness can’t “catch up” (Line 3) to the boy introduces the importance of movement. In “The Rider,” loneliness is something that ensnares and entraps. If it catches up, the boy and speaker may be unable to outrace it. Therefore, speed is essential—for the boy, the speaker and by implication the reader; it allows one to outrun and escape.
In stanza three, the speaker questions whether the boy’s act can translate to bicycles. By “pedaling hard” (Line 7) the speaker achieves “victory” (Line 9). They cycle so fast that loneliness is left “panting behind” (Line 10), out of breath while the speaker “[floats] free” (Line 11). The boy and speaker need speed to escape loneliness; however, the pink azalea petals, being inhuman, can fall as slowly as they like.
Flowers
Flowers represent many things in “The Rider,” but most prominently they stand for beauty and light. Up until they appear, Nye uses sparse imagery centered around loneliness and darkness. For example, the speaker cycles in the dark (“What I wonder tonight / pedaling hard down King William Street,” Lines 6-7). The moment the speaker achieves “victory” (Line 9), the poem leaps into more hopeful imagery. Suddenly there is a cloud of flowers present, even though the street is dark. Flowers mark a transition from dark to light. The flowers symbolize freedom and possibility.
The speaker realizes that the petals themselves “have never felt loneliness” (Line 12). This realization is bittersweet; the speaker, while momentarily free, may feel loneliness again. However, for this one moment, the speaker is surrounded by a cloud of flower petals, a symbol of happiness.
Up until Line 11, “The Rider” is almost entirely devoid of imagery. The poem is largely rooted in statements (“the best reason I ever heard / for trying to be a champion,” Lines 4-5), with little lyricism. The flowers’ appearance contrasts with the rest of the poem, representing a long-awaited image of beauty.
The Rider
The symbol of “The Rider,” a term introduced in the title, is complex and multilayered. It applies to the boy riding his roller skates as well as the speaker riding on their bicycle. Both characters are “riders.” The concept of “riding” is related to speed and escape —namely, the escape from loneliness.
Riders are those who seek freedom from darkness. They try to outrun something negative that they do not want to catch or ensnare them. The riders want to succeed (“be a champion,” Line 5). They experience freedom and beauty (“while you float free into a cloud of sudden azaleas,” Line 11). “The Rider” asks the reader to question who the rider is: is it the boy, the speaker, or is it the unnamed “you?” The symbol of the rider morphs throughout the poem. Nye, using the second person, implies that the reader, too, can experience being a rider, and perhaps already is.
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