Maude Clare Flashcards
church
“Out of the church she followed them”
medias res - middle of things, opens with a trochee, contradicts traditional ballad - saying to reader more than a simple ballad
queen
“His bride was like a village maid, Maude Clare was like a queen.”
rhythmic syntactic parallels, irony as Maude Clare lower class, queen shows Thomas puts Maude on a pedestal
tale
“Had just your tale to tell”
tell tale contrasts with “may Nell and you but live as true”, Rossetti criticses Victorian marriages - matter of expedience, socially unacceptable to marry Maude
true
“May Nell and you but live as true”
Thomas still may have feelings for Maude Clare, Nell’s anger may blight their marriage as seen later on
years
“As we have done for years”
indicate hope, false hope, marriage survives despite shakey foundation ADH, older woman forsees impending explosing of emotion
pale
“But he was not so pale as you,
Nor I so pale as Nell.”
parents overcame, but they may not, “blushing bride”, Rossetti highlighting true and false marriage
dialogue
poem’s narration is third person, relies heavily on dialogue - quickens the pace, creates action + allows the reader to view the complications of the story
gift
“Lo, I have brought my gift, my lord,
Have brought my gift,”
display of haughty anger and resentment, biblical three gifts for the “lord”, irony of lord - means of respect yet she curses
bless
“To bless the hearth, to bless the board,
To bless the marriage-bed.
syntactic parallels - empathsis on sarcasm, “hearth” - fireplace - tainting the family home, “board” - taints the meal - health, “marriage-bed” - tainting sex, potential for children
lillies
“That day we waded ankle-deep
For lilies in the beck”
ankles - promiscuity, misbehaving, Victorian women were forbidden to show their ankles. beck = a stream. paddling = inappropriate at the time. lillies - funerals, death, motherhood, marriage, purity, if death = omnious
budding
“The lillies are budding now.”
budding - reproduction, growth. Rossetti using subtle references to nature - GM. now a fallen woman, irredeemable, Thomas - guilt - pale
scorn
“He strove to match her scorn with scorn,
He faltered in his place”
struggle, he is weak + inerfior to her, he is at fault
hid
“Lady,” he said,–“Maude Clare,” he said,–
“Maude Clare”:–and hid his face.
ceasura created by hyphens, choppy rhythmn, lack of fluency, inferior and weak “hid” his face suggesting shame
worse
“For he’s my lord for better and worse”
the anapaest creates a dissonant rhythm, out of step with the rest of the poem’s iambic metre. The fact that this discordance is used on the phrase from the marital vows is significant.
best
I’ll love him till he loves me best,
Me best of all, Maude Clare.”
Rossetti has sympathy for powerless women, repetiton of MC name means she will continue to blight their marriage for years to come
