May Flashcards
what is the form/rhyme of this poem?
Iambic tetrameter
A truncated sonnet (13 lines instead of 14)
Regular rhyme scheme: aabbcdd aabbb
The missing final line emphasizes loss, reflection, and unfulfillment
what is the tone/language of this poem?
Tone: Contemplative, shifting from light to solemn
Past tense: The peaceful images feel distant, emphasizing transience
Opening: The speaker sets the scene but hints at something unsaid, though she continues to talk around it
Contrast: May seemed endless and full of warmth, but now she feels “cold”
Volta: A shift from youthful joy to the realization of aging and decline
what is the context to this poem?
Written: 1855
Rossetti’s Life:
1854: Father’s death → Strengthened religious faith, financial struggles, and duty to her mother
1871: Developed Graves’ disease → Illness, aging, and mortality became personal themes
what are the theme of this poem?
The fleeting nature of life and youth
The transition from happiness to loss
Aging and the passage of time
what poem could you compare it to based on the theme of loss/transition?
remember, echo, memory, passing and glassing
“I cannot tell you how it was;”
Personal and direct, creating mystery
Repeated in line 9 with a shift from how to what, suggesting ambiguity—does she lack understanding, or is she unable to say?
“but this I know: it came to pass / upon a bright and breezy day / when May was young: ah, pleasant May!”
“It” is ambiguous—could symbolize life, love, or hope
“It came to pass” has a biblical tone, reinforcing impermanence
B alliteration creates a lively, vibrant mood
“Ah” expresses strong emotion
“as yet the poppies were not born / between the blades of tender corn;”
Poppies bloom later in the year → anticipation of change
Blades highlight life’s details, tender suggests warmth and care
The absence of poppies hints at unfulfilled potential
“the last eggs had not hatched as yet, / nor any bird foregone its mate.”
Rhyming couplets create nostalgia
“Last” foreshadows endings, while hatching eggs symbolize life’s cycle
Leads to the volta, marking the shift from joy to decline
“I cannot tell you what it was;”
Echo of the first line, reinforcing mystery and restraint
Imperative “I cannot” suggests external or internal limitations
“it passed away with sunny May, / with all sweet things it passed away”
“With all” suggests everything good is gone
“It” remains ambiguous—does she avoid naming it to avoid facing the loss?
Repetition of “passed away” evokes both time passing and death
Polysyndeton (“and” repetition) slows the pace, emphasizing loss
“and left me old, and cold, and gray.”
One line short of a full sonnet - symbolic of an incomplete or curtailed life
“Left” implies abandonment and loneliness
Polysyndeton again slows the pace, mirroring aging
Triplet (“old, cold, gray”) conveys loss of youth, warmth, and beauty
