The poem 'The Reflection: A Song' was written in 1684 by Aphra Behn and seems to feature around the theme of realisation and betrayal. Written by a woman, the poem's main character of a betrayed female has a subjective stance, which evokes a strong emotion of sympathy from the reader as it could represent a true life event. The structure of the poem is set out in seven stanzas, consisting eight lines. What is interesting about the structure is the use of iambic tetrameter with the first, third, fifth and seventh lines of each stanza and iambic trimeter with the second, fourth, sixth and eight lines. This gives the poem a lyrical rhythm as well as encouraging visual interest for the reader.
Rhyme scheme follows quite a loose A, B, A, B pattern. The reason for the description of loose is that some lines end without true rhyme. For example, 'her fate' (l.2) then 'she sat' (l.4) does not follow the pattern which has been set out for most lines such as 'to bemoan' (l.1) and 'alone' (l.3). Furthermore, dialect may also interfere with pronunciation, especially with the end words of 'tongue' (l.6) and 'wrong' (l.8). This reoccurs later on with 'strove' (l.33) and 'love' (l.35) as well in other areas of the poem. However, seeming as this was composed in the 17th century, diction would have been different to that of the contemporary reader, meaning the form of the poem, in terms of reading aloud, may have had the correct rhyme intention.
Internal rhyme is also seen with 'my' (l.18) and 'thy' (l.19) which also contributes to the lyrical style and creates a smooth rhythm when reading. As this poem follows along the theme of betrayal and love, devices such as repetition are used to emphasise this theme. Within stanza five, ana...
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...escape. She does not try to portray the idea in a metaphoric sense, but instead uses the direct language to make the statement adamant.
This close textual analysis has shown how the feeling of despair can be portrayed through a variety of devices. The fact that there is a prominent rhyme scheme makes the poem traditional, as well as the theme being about love. What may have been seen as controversial could be the fact that the poem was written by a woman, especially as this was written in the 17th century. Following on, as a female herself, Aphra Behn is able to create a believable female character by using real life concepts such as betrayal. Whether Behn experienced this emotion herself would require further reading, however the emotion within in the poem seems to be precise and may have been from a personal experience the writer incurred in her lifetime.
First of alll, the poem is divided into nine stanzas, where each one has four lines. In addition to that, one can spot a few enjambements for instance (l.9-10). This stylistic device has the function to support the flow of the poem. Furthermore, it is crucial to take a look at the choice of words, when analysing the language.
...nsequences for their thought about actions. Hopefully growing strong and overpowering the weakness in their life. Similar circumstances also occur in other aspects of life. For example I myself would like to go to a specific university, though I was not excepted. With this I must attend a near by community college for two years increasing my chances of getting into the university. It is hard to escape not going to the community college if I know my chances will be better attending the community college. The idea of “escape” can be portrayed in several different ways.
Escape is the act of getting away from a person or place. Often times when someone tries to escape she is never truly free from what she is running from. This is seen in the novel Sula by Toni Morrison. Throughout the novel several characters try to free themselves from the idea of sin without realizing they are still bound to it. Helene’s relief after leaving her past behind illustrates how she never truly escapes the wickedness by using words that indicate what she ran from, her attitude towards leaving, and her distance from her past.
Roethke’s poem has a regular rhyme scheme that can be expressed as “abab”. The only exception to this scheme would be the first stanza as the words “dizzy” (2) and “easy” (4) are slant rhymes. Only the end syllables of the two words sound the same. As a result, the use of a consistent “abab” rhyme scheme allows the poem to reflect the
The diction of this poem influences the imagery with the tone of the words . They are used to convey the message of how it feels to not feel the spark of love
The constant rhythm throughout the poem gives it a light beat, like a waltz; the reader feels like s/he is dancing. The rhyme pattern of...
This poem is written in eleven quatrains. All of these quatrains follow an abcb rhyme scheme. An example of this from lines 1-4 are “toune” being a, “wine” being b, “salior” being c, and “mine” being b. This means that the poem was written in closed form. It also follows a meter with four beats in the a and c lines and three beats in the b lines. An example of the four beats from line 5 is “Up and spak an eldern I Knicht”. The example of three beats from line 6 is “Sat at the kings richt kne”.
The speaker begins the poem an ethereal tone masking the violent nature of her subject matter. The poem is set in the Elysian Fields, a paradise where the souls of the heroic and virtuous were sent (cite). Through her use of the words “dreamed”, “sweet women”, “blossoms” and
As the tone changes the perspective of the reader changes as well. There is no clear way to determine whether the speaker is responding to her situation with the appropriate amount of madness or is actually going mad and escaping into her own mind. Plath’s poem shows how a woman 's happiness was defined by her relationship to a man, which is enough to infuriate or drive any woman insane. The speaker struggles to continue her very existence because of her lost love. It is true that the speaker is very emotional and feels things very deeply, but that is not enough to prove that she had lost her mind. By the end of the poem the speaker seems to realize that she is wasting her time waiting on a man. She would rather have a present love that is completely unfathomable than a real love that is not around. The repetition in this poem makes the reader believe this loss is actually causing the speaker to lose her mind, but through changing tones that mirror the emotions anyone would go through in a situation of loss like this the speaker’s response is completely
This essay is anchored on the goal of looking closer and scrutinizing the said poem. It is divided into subheadings for the discussion of the analysis of each of the poem’s stanzas.
The absence of a specific rhyme pattern also contributes chaos to the tone. The structure of the poem is abstract, much like the characters thoughts and feelings. The rhymes are all over the place and the rhythm is often broken up with words that make it unbalanced and add tension. Another technique the author uses is lots of repetition. This helps to add emphasis and give a more dramatic effect to certain phrases. “Ich, ich, ich, ich,” (932) adds emphasis to her being unable to speak. At some points the repetition sounds a bit childlike showing her inner child. This is evident when she says “and get back, back, back to you” (933). The repetition along with the abundant use of “--oo” sounds and when the author uses terms like “achoo”, “daddy”, “freakish”, “neat”, and “gobbledygoo,” seems to create a Dr. Seuss effect on the poem. It is apparent the naïve child within her is influencing her thoughts and writings. Then, when the dark metaphors and the negative connotation towards her father are added, the tone is set. The internal conflict becomes apparent between the child who loved her “daddy” and the woman who has learned to see the man for what he truly was, a monster.
The poem opens with a quote from Shakespeare's Measure for Measure 'Mariana in the moated grange'. In the play Mariana is deserted by her lover Angleo, and she is spending her days in a solitary grange. The quote gives the reader of the poem the main theme it explores, which is Mariana's longing for her lover to return. It is interesting to note that the quote is lacking a verb, which implies that there is no action in the poem, that there is a sense of stasis or a sense of unending time, isolation and despair, Mariana can therefore be called a lyrical poem, indeed lyric poems as J.S Mill puts it express 'feeling confessing itself to itself in solitude'. It can also be described as a speech overheard, Mariana the poem is in a way a rewriting of Mariana the character of Shakespeare's play. The form of the poem also reinforce this ideas of lyricality, ' lyric poetry may be said to retain most prominently the elements which evidence its origins in musical ...
In the past, if I was inclined to read poetry I would probably have stopped about line two, rolled my eyes and found something else to do with my time. My view of poetry has now changed the way I read other poet’s work. My exposure to several different chapbooks now allows me to recognize themes within poetry, understand the progression of thought through their verse, and garner a comprehension of the motivation behind the artist process of producing a piece of creative art. The idea of motivation in a chapbook became clearer for me when I re-read The State of the Ship by Le. Goldstein. I originally read it in the beginning when I had no knowledge of how to interpret poetry and decided to pick it back up a few days ago. I wanted to gain a better
The ABAB rhyme scheme is a pattern that can be recognized by many individuals; therefore, it relates to the message that motivation is needed by everybody. Two ABAB rhyme schemes make up each stanza, which symbolizes the positivity and negativity that battle throughout the poem. Guest breaks the rhyme scheme once by rhyming “failure” with “you”. This strategic action emphasizes the different methods that negative individuals use to destroy a person’s ambition. Internal rhyme is included in many lines of the poem to create fluidity and sound pleasing to an audience. The poem is composed of a qualitative iambic meter, giving the syllables a sound of da DUM. A pleasing flow is observed through the fairly consistent line length and line syllable number. The lines throughout the poem end in both stressed and unstressed syllables, referencing the battle between discouragement and
One's dream and aspirations to supersede in life must be stronger and greater than limitations set forth by others. The experience that were bestowed to me during my short life has elevated me to the woman I am today. Please walk with me as I give you the opportunity to see the world from my eyes: