The Man and the Echo Flashcards
How does WBY allude to the oracle of Delphi in ‘The Man and the Echo’ and what is the impact of this?
“In a cleft that’s christened Alt”
“That broad noon has never lit”
–>The place where the oracle in Deplhi was had supposedly never seen light
“And shout a secret to the stone.”
–>displays how WBY was seeking answers and understanding about life and the future
How does WBY appear to doubt the purpose and achievements of his life in ‘The Man and the Echo’?
“All that I have said and done, / Now that I am old and ill, / Turns into a question till”
–> Now that WBY is dying he questions what he has done throughout his life and what has been the purpose of it?
–>Monosyllabic lines “All that I have said and done, / Now that I am old and ill,” creates the sense of a stutter as he questions the purpose and achievements of his life
How does WBY emphasise his search for answers in ‘The Man and the Echo’?
The reference to seeking the oracle of Delphi (“shout a secret to the stone”)
AND, “I lie awake night after night/ And never get the answers right.”
AND, repetition of “pursue” in 2nd stanza to show his obsession with finding the answers
How does WBY display that he feels the actions of his life were evil and wrong in ‘The Man and The Echo’? (3)
“Did that play of mine send out/ Certain men the English shot?” - Allusion to ‘Cathleen ni Hoolihan’ and it’s suspected role in the Easter rising and the subsequent executions of the Irish revolutionaries
“Did words of mine put too great stain/ On that women’s reeling brain”?- alluding to Margot Collis- a mentally unstable writer who had an affair with WBY and edited her writing: when he broke it off with her, her mental health issues were compounded and she eventually committed suicide
“Could my spoken words have checked/ That whereby a house lay wrecked?” - WBY questions whether his influence as a poet and senator could have saved any of the mansions that were destroyed, such as Coole Park
–>Repeated use of rhetorical question displays WBY’s total uncertainty and introspection at the actions of his life
How does WBY display his avoidance of death in ‘The Man and The Echo’ and what affect does this have? (1)
repetition of “shirk” to display how movement away from death and the themes of death he alludes to earlier in the poem
How does WBY display his actions cannot be atoned for at the end of his life in ‘The Man and The Echo’? (1)
“Nor can there be work so great/ As that which cleans man’s dirty slate.”
–>If WBY does not believe he can atone for his actions, what are the purposes of the writing of the poem: A confession?
How does WBY display the contrast between mind and body and what effect does this carry in ‘The Man and The Echo’? (2)
“While man can still his body keep/ Wine or love drug him to sleep,”
–>although WBY’s body remains for the moment, the course of the poem has degraded WBY’s mind- emphasised by predominantly monosyllabic quote
“Has body and it’s stupidity” vs “And till his intellect grows sure”
–>Displays how WBY knows his body will eventually fail him but he needs to collect his thoughts and master his mind before death (find the answers etc.) -link to Sailing to Byzantium “It knows not what it is” the body doesnt understand it’s significance and will eventually crumble
What are the religious references in ‘The Man and The Echo’?
“Then stands in judgement on his soul”
–>displays his questioning of the afterlife
What is the rhyme scheme of ‘The Man and the Echo’ and what affect does it have?
AABB rhyme scheme displays the contrast between life and death, and the man and the echo- although they are all connected and linked (rhyming COUPLETS): both A and B are part of the rhyme scheme and the poem itself
What is the context of ‘The Man and The Echo’?
Written and published in 1938, a year before WBY’s death
What is the form and structure of ‘The Man and The Echo’?
Split between the man and the echo emphasises the differences between them and between life and death, but they are intrinsically linked as they come within the same poem
Rhythm and metre of ‘The Man and The Echo’ and it’s effect?
- Written in trochaic tetrameter
- Slow pace of poem displays WBY’s self questioning and reluctant move towards death
How does WBY display an epiphany at the end of ‘The Man and The Echo’?
“But hush, for I have lost the theme,” - changed his tone from questioning his achievements
“It’s joy or night seem but a dream” - “joy” contrasts with “night” and thus displays life and death- all of which merges into a fragmentary moment, a dream–> displays the transitory nature of life, and how death is part of this dream of existence as well
“dropping out of sky or rock” gives the image of an idea (epiphany) coming out of nowhere to WBY
What is the epiphany WBY experiences at the end of ‘The Man and The Echo’ and what is the evidence for this?
reference to “hawk”, “owl” and “rabbit” and semantic field to do with wildlife accentuates how all things in nature die and it is a part of life
“a stricken rabbit is crying out, / And its cry distracts my thought.”
–> the recognition that everything dies ends his “thought” of the purpose of his life and his wish to go back and change what has happened
What is the purpose of the echo in ‘The Man and The Echo’?
The echo repeats part of what the man says:
“Lie down and die”
&
“Into the night”
- ->This displays how the echo is an extension of the man and emphasises how WBY is introspecting over the nature of his life
- ->The use of imperative “lie down and die” displays WBY’s questioning of whether he should just die and if there is any remaining purpose for him
- -> As the echo only takes part of his sentence and uses it out of context, it can be displaying how throughout WBY’s career, his words have been taken out of context, and even if someone interpreted his words to start a revolution, it was not his fault
–>Thus, the “stricken rabbit crying out” can be alluding to the echo which “distracts my thought” as he seems in a constant discussion with it and himself
