A Nocturnal Upon St Lucy's Day Flashcards
Through the idea of “nothing”, the “Elixir”, and “alchemy” how can the reader see a hopeful depiction of the poem?
The speaker had decended into a state where he is reduced to the “quintessence” of “nothingness” signifying how he has no purpose and has lost all. However, in this state of nothing the idea of “alchemy” invites the reader to feel a sense of hope that the speaker, just like alchemy, might rise out of his seemingly hopeless situation and find purpose in his life. Just like the elixir that grants life he hopes that his emptiness can be transormed into vitality once more and that his world of despair changes.
What does the quote “hydroptic earth” connote
This quote is a reflection of how the earth is diseased, it uses imagery to highlight a lifeless earth (“whither”), reflecting how there is no room for new life to grow, “sap is sunk”, has been drained of all that is important. This may be a metaphor for the speakers despair who like the lifeless world, has lost all that is important to him, left with a feeling of hopelessness as though they will never find meaning in their life again.
“By love’s limbeck”
The speaker has had love extracted from his being, leaving him in a state of emptiness and with “nothing” left to enjoy in life. He describes how he has been reduced to a “grave”, implying that he has met his end, invoking a feeling of irredemability and despair.
“made us carcasses”
Idea of being reduced to empty shells. Former shadows of what they once were and what they once loved. :(
How would you A01 this poem
Whilst this poem explores themes of hopelessness and despair, it offers the possibility of hope in such melancholy, that the speaker can find redemption in such a dark world.
What kind of structure does this poem follow?
It begins and ends in darkness, cyclical structure.
the poem is also fluent in its structure using ABBA and then following with a rhyming tripplet
- The rhyming tripplets use falling cadence that echo this idea of despair in the speakers voice. These follow the speaker throughout the poem, reflecting the inescapability of despair.
