the question (249) Flashcards
semantic field/listing of flowers
reflects the versatility and connection of nature all living in unity in the hedge; promoting harmony of humanity as well
“whose wine was the bright dew”
synesthesia; tasting the colours through vision foreshadowing the dream-like state of the poem and unlimiting the power of imagination and therefore reality
“ivy serpentine”
snake; danger lurking in the beauty presenting the sublime and nature as dangerous/unpredictable and connotations of adam and eve and corruption of humanity
lake; where harriet died in central london (hyde park) at the centre of british society, despite his dream like state he is still subliminally aware of his past sufferings, unescapable
“floating water lillies”
plosives; suggesting inescapable feeling of natures power and imaginative sublime and how it contrasts their captivating beauty
semantic field of light
“moonlight beams” “watery lights” “dazzeled eyes”
the hyperbolic lights reflect the intangible, sublime, divinity and clarity that shelley is unable to attain in real life
also reflects a sense of judgment (especially “dazzeled eyes” and adam and eve
“visionary flowers”
these flowers a just a product of imagination but reflect something more from shelleys mind, the imagination giving power to something inherently powerless
“these imprisoned children of the hours // within my hands”
metaphor goes beyond flowers- instead emphasises the suffering of children (purity) in the 18th century and they are the future and hope for the future, the future being represented by the decaying and corruption
the flowers have no room to be “visionary” if they are stuck in someones hand (metaphor for societal corruption and shaping of humanity)
“opposed, the like array”
when flowers are made into a bouquet for the benefit of their beauty, they are unable to finish growing and therefore die
humanity destructs nature the same way they destruct humanity
metaphor for flowers being shelleys poetry
doomed to be misunderstood or underappreciated because not at full capacity where their most easily digestible for the public, their consumption feeds into their underappreciation or misunderstandings
metre and effect
iambic pentameter; creates a pace of the poem that hypnotises the reader into a similar dream like state or at very least has a meditative or calming effect
