Hardy/Ariel Poems

Created by: NHow02
Created on: 26-11-18 16:20

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Hardy/Ariel Poems
- Journey of the Magi/In A Waiting Room
  - Hope
    - 'Then at dawn...a running stream and a water mill beating the darkness'
      - Beginning of stanza ('Then') shows change in tone
      - Christian connotations of 'water mill' - power to make bread/salvation/survival
      - Plosive alliteration of 'beating' creates a violent effect
      - 'Darkness' - personification of sin
    - The Darkling Thrush
      - 'The Century's corpse...shrunken/ frail/ gaunt/ chosen/ trembled'
        Harsh 'c' alliteration creates a violent effect - symbolises death of the century + no point facing the next
        
        'Shrunken' creates vulnerable effect - death of nature/ hope
        
        'frail' + 'gaunt' - death imagery creates temporary effect - reflection of humanity
        
        'Chosen' creates an empowered effect - Thrush still has a will
        
        'trembled' contrasts to previous 'leant' (lack of movement) - creates relieved effect (hope for future or death?)
  - Death of Society
    - 'a tavern with vine leaves over the lintel, six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver.'
      - Place of sin/ indulgence. 'Open door' suggests easy to sin again - typically a welcoming image
      - Vines cover/hide sins. Hands create desperate effect
      - 'Dicing' creates a violent effect - reflects physical they're exerting on themselves
      - Silver is a symbol of old age or 'ashes of weakness' in certain Psalms. Reflects action of trading (souls/ salvation)
    - In A Waiting Room
      - 'It rained on the skylight...no train came in...day of doom/gloom.'
        Window imagery acts as shield from elements. Symbol of illumination, but juxtaposed and clouded by rain
        
        'Train' is death personified, and 'waiting room' is life (Purgatory)
        
        'Train'/ is no longer as important as children/life. Where adults failed, children will succeed.
        Train/death is kept at bay but so is society
        
        Plosive alliteration falls heavily at end of sentence. Hardy's/ society's demise
        Contrasts to 'Eastern flame' - children can't be judged/punished but flame will die once they become adults
        
        Circular rhyming structure of 'doom'/'gloom' suggests no change/ children - become adults
  - Religion
    - 'We returned to our places...alien people...I should be glad of another death'
      - Futile effect, Magi dares to 'question the universe' but fails to act
      - Magi has changed but society/ 'alien people' haven't
      - Metaphorical 'death' of old ways, leads to change/ reincarnation.
      - 'Birth or Death?' creates uncertain effect/ only certain thing is death
    - In A Waiting Room
      - 'bore a Testament...if suchwise bent...thronging/ scrawled/ scoffingly'
        Table personifies weight of guilt/ corruption of the church
        
        Sceptical words ('if'/'scoffingly') creates a scornful effect.
        
        'Scrawled' creates a disrespectful/ careless effect - Bible is useless, Hardy is unable to believe in anything
        
        Harsh alliteration of 'count and cost' creates a coarse effect - reality of life + corruption of church (motivated by money)
- Marina
  - After A Journey
  - Drummer Hodge
  - Drummer Hodge
    - Society
      - 'Those who sit in the sty of contentment, meaning Death.'
        'Sit' suggests lack of movement
        
        'Sty' creates connotations of pigs wallowing in mud - oxymoronic quality of 'contentment'
        
        'Sty' is also an eye illness - suggests lack of cleanliness + clouded eyesight
        
        Beauty of life ('hummingbird') is negated by death - Answer of life/question
      - 'They throw in Drummer Hodge - uncoffined - never knew -'
        ABAB rhyme scheme, keeps rhythm like 'drummer'. Simplistic effect
        
        Careless verb, 'throw' creates a disrespectful effect. Dashes create fragmented/ blunt effect
- Animula
  - In A Waiting Room
    - Life/ Rebirth
      - 'Taking pleasure in the fragrant brilliance of the Christmas tree.'
        THE NEW SOUL
        
        Connotations of the Birth of Christ - most important/ significant soul. Time of celebration
      - 'But next...like an eastern flame of some high altar, children - a pair -'
        Dashes physically surround the 'children' (corrupted or protected)/ not labeled separately/
        
        'Eastern Flame' - rising of sun/light. Power to change future.
        
        'But' at beginning of stanza signifies change in mood
        
        'High altar' places children higher than religion. Children are symbols of love/hope
  - The Going
    - Fear/ Connections
      - 'Misshapen, lame... denying the opportunity of the blood... disorded papers in a dusty room'
        THE SOUL WITHDRAWS FROM THE WORLD
      - 'Softest call...saw morning harden...bending boughs.'
        Plosive 'b' alliteration - physical blows/ heaviness of grief OR nature comforting
        
        Oxymoron of 'morning harden' - always remembers her death more keenly than life
        
        'Softest' - lack of communication/ past happiness has hardened
        
        'Morning' is typically a symbol of hope/rebirth
  - In A Waiting Room
    - Society
      - 'drug of dreams curl up the small soul in the window seat...Encyclopaedia.'
        Plosive alliteration of 'drug' creates fragmented effect - stumbling through life
        
        Modernist image of 'window' suggests enlightenment (but not open to seeing the world)
        
        THE SOUL LEARNS TO FEAR
        
        Education/ experience teaches us to fear
      - 'It rained on the skylight...no train came in...day of doom/gloom.'
        'Train' is death personified, and 'waiting room' is life (Purgatory)
        
        'Train'/ is no longer as important as children/life. Where adults failed, children will succeed.
        Train/death is kept at bay but so is society
        
        Plosive alliteration falls heavily at end of sentence. Hardy's/ society's demise
        Circular rhyming structure of 'doom'/'gloom' suggests no change/ children - become adults
        
        Contrasts to 'Eastern flame' - children can't be judged/punished but flame will die once they become adults
        
        Window imagery acts as shield from elements. Symbol of illumination, but juxtaposed and clouded by rain
- A Song for Simeon
  - Time/ Humanity
    - 'Roman hyacinths…the winter sun creeps...stubborn season has made stand'
      - 'Hyacinths' - wild variety of spring bulb. Purple Hyacinth means 'plea for forgiveness'
      - Sibilance suggests Simeon's slipping hold on reality/life. Undermines strength of 'stand'
      - Oxymoron ('winter sun') suggests that until Simeon dies he's living a hollow life
    - The Comet at Yell'ham
      - 'Bends'/ 'stand and regard'/'fall'...'strange swift shine'
        'Bends' suggests adapting/ surviving - nature is eternal
        
        'Stand and regard' creates a stationary effect, emphasising the lack go movement
        
        'Fall' contrasts to 1st stanza - humanity will fall
        
        Quadtrains creates a simplistic effect - death is simple fact of life
        
        Sibilance emphasises speed of comet/ passing of time
        
        No enjambment in 1st stanza creates a regular effect + slows pace (humans are simply observers)
        
        Enjambments in 2nd stanza, shows feeling of insignificance+ shows distance from comet/ nature
  - Salvation
    - 'Light upon light, mounting the saints' stair.'
      - Religious connotations of Moses, paired with Modernist image ('stairs')
      - POL - 'I mount the stairs on hands and knees'
      - Repetition/ lazy alliteration of 'light' creates a lullabye effect
      - Simeon was a devout religious figure + hoped for redemption/to see the Messiah
        Presents God as reliable/ Eliot wonders if he has been promised anything
    - During Wind and Rain
      - 'Candles mooning each face...creeping moss...build a shady seat.'
        'Mooning/creeping/shady' - gradual oncoming of darkness (death doesn't discriminate)
        
        'Shady' is juxtaposed with positive connotations of 'build' - creation vs. destruction
        
        Personification of 'moss' suggests that time is catching up
  - Death
    - 'Grant me thy peace...I am tired...let thy servant depart.'
      - Repetition emphasises desperation to rest/die
      - Imperative/('Let') shows vulnerability - can't create salvation (must ask)
      - 'Let' suggests he is still questioning the universe, but is unable to act independently
      - 'Servant' suggests Eliot is humbled/ represents humanity
    - During Wind and Rain
      - 'The years, the years; down their carved names the rain-drop ploughs.'
        Repetition suggests lamentation - emphasised by 'rain'. 'Drop' imitates speed of death arriving
        
        Harsh consonants of 'carved' creates a coarse effect. Harsh reality of death
        
        Plosive consonants of 'rain-drop ploughs' falls heavily at end of sentence - effect of finality
        
        'Rain' suggests erosion, but 'ploughs' suggests in death we become nature
'We returned to our places...alien people...I should be glad of another death'
- Futile effect, Magi dares to 'question the universe' but fails to act
- Magi has changed but society/ 'alien people' haven't
- Metaphorical 'death' of old ways, leads to change/ reincarnation.
- 'Birth or Death?' creates uncertain effect/ only certain thing is death
'Roman hyacinths…the winter sun creeps...stubborn season has made stand'
- 'Hyacinths' - wild variety of spring bulb. Purple Hyacinth means 'plea for forgiveness'
- Sibilance suggests Simeon's slipping hold on reality/life. Undermines strength of 'stand'
- Oxymoron ('winter sun') suggests that until Simeon dies he's living a hollow life

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Hardy/Ariel Poems

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