Betrothal Flashcards
What type of word is the title ‘betrothal’ ?
Archaic word
What does betrothal mean?
The act of promising to marry someone
What does the archaism fit in with?
The general tone and imagery or the poem which seems divorced from the modern world.
What number poem is this in the collection?
22nd poem, marks a point in the relationship when the first RAPTURE past and a commitment is sought
How is the poem structured?
Regular and repetitive and simple sing song rhyme
How is the poem set?
Split into 3 distinct and equal perks, first 3 use imagery of burial
2nd three drowning
Last 3 fire
What in this poem is similar to ELEGY?
The anthesis of love and death
What does the combined effect of structural features do?
Create an intense and desperate tone
What does the first stanza use mostly?
Repetition and rhyme to create a childlike tone
What is the first image of ?
The persona walking through the moors with a spade to dig her own grave
What tragedy does this poem like to?
Whuthering heights and hamlet
What is the idea of the persona becoming a bride incongruous to?
Her walking over the moors with a spade
What does stanza 2 and 3 follow through with?
The same pattern as the first with simple lexis, repetition and rhyme
What is evident between stanza 2 and 3?
The desperation because it doesn’t seem compatible with a ‘happy marriage’
How is ELEGY linked in with the third and second stanza?
That love is unequal here too but is much more clear here
How does the poem show that the persona is submissive?
The first three stanzas begin with ‘yours, brave and good’
- shows she is promising to conform an old fashioned female
- creates a paradox because of the gay marriage
What does stanzas 4,5,6 continue from stanza 2,3?
The same theme of submission and a willingness to give her life for her lover
What do the first lines mirror?
Marriage
What is different in stanza 7,8,9?
They seem more optimistic
What verbs appear celebatory in these stanzas?
‘Dance’ and ‘Sing’
What do the verbs ‘blooms’ and ‘blush’ reinforce?
An alliteration of plosives has connotations of life rather than death
What does the poem end with?
With fire burnt out and the persona sees herself as ashes in the jar
What is the marriage ceremony juxtaposed with?
Funeral imagery
