Darkness Byron Diction

The poem also uses end rhyme to add a certain rhythm to the poem as a whole. And the scheme he employs: aabbc, aabd, aabbad. End rhyme, in this poem, serves to effectively pull the reader through to the end of the poem. By pairing it with lines restricted to eight syllables. The narrator creates an almost nursery-rhyme like rhythm. In his third stanza however, his last line, cutting short of eight syllables, stands with an emphatic four syllables. Again, in the last stanza, he utilizes the same technique for the last line of the poem. The narrator’s awareness of rhyme and syllable structure provides the perfect bone structure for his poem’s rhythm.

The fact that enjambment is used throughout the poem such as in the lines, “like a colour slide or press an ear against its hive” portrays a lack of structure and therefore emphasizes the initial enjoyment one feels when reading a poem before the chore of analyzing it begins. This is also emphasized through the fact that the poem is a free verse poem.

In the poem there is also an idea of man verses nature, this relates to the survival of the fittest. John Foulcher shows this through the use of first person point of view. For example in the second stanza “Then above me the sound drops” this again possesses sensory imagery creating a deeper human aura throughout the poem. Foulcher further uses a human aura to build a sense of natural imagery for example in the last stanza : “I pick up these twigs and leave them” adding closure

We can be more specific and see what the poet and writer exactly talk about. It is better to focus on the poem first as it was written before the novel. In his poem William butler Yeats is shocked by the events which were happening during the First World War. “Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned…”, he tries to picture the dark ages of the war and the nasty events which were happening by using some metaphors and similes such as “a shape with lion body and the head of man” or “shadows of the indignant desert birds” Therefore, he manage to transmit the terrifying atmosphere of his time to the reader. He can not stand this state of fairs so he thinks that it is the end and he hopes that it is time for the second coming of Christ.

John Updike arranges structure in the poem to create the specific feeling of having one’s heart change from seeing something beautiful. The beginning of the poem starts with a couplet that describes the setting; a man-made golf course “on Cape Ann in October” (1). Enjambment is integrated throughout the poem to surprise the reader and create anticipation. For example, in lines 8-9, enjambment adds tension as the narrator describes what he sees in the sky. The entire poem is free verse, this emphasizes the flight of the birds and how nature has no true rhythm. By using free verse, the reader is unable to predict what will happen next and uncertainty is added. Without the free verse, the poem would feel unrelaxed and harsh. In lines 50-1, Updike changes the word order to startle the reader and conclude the poem in an interesting and memorable way. The poet manipulates the structure to provide a suspenseful mood and make the reader feel interested in the storyline.

Apart from that, the poem consists of a series of turns that reflect different parts of the speaker’s feelings and the experiences he had. The significance of these turns is made possible through the use of stanza breaks. For example, the first

Two themes the poem has is death and time. The poem displays the theme of time, because it starts out telling the story of a man who is from, and raises his children in, a noble and rich family. As his children get older, 2 of them died, and the others, to quote the poem “all were gone, or broken-winged or devoured by life”. He had lost, essentially all of his children, and as we find out his wife. The poem shows how he went from a great man with a happy family, to a lost man who is all alone. The next theme the poem shows is death. Death is all throughout the poem. It starts with a man living a good life, but as it goes on his first child leaves, his next 2 children die, and the next 3 become incredibly unsocial and that’s not even it! Near the end his wife, the mother of all 6 children, dies. “I sat under my cedar tree, till ninety years were tolled.” The poem ends with the man dying, after everything he had lost; he died in his favorite place to be, under his cedar tree.

However, the poem has fluidity despite its apparent scarcity of rhyme. After examining the alteration of syllables in each line, a pattern is revealed in this poem concerning darkness. The first nine lines alternate between 8 and 6 syllables. These lines are concerned, as any narrative is, with exposition. These lines set up darkness as an internal conflict to come. The conflict intensifies in lines 10 and 11 as we are bombarded by an explosion of 8 syllables in each line. These lines present the conflict within one's own mind at its most desperate. After this climax, the syllables in the last nine lines resolve the conflict presented. In these lines, Dickinson presents us with an archetypal figure that is faced with a conflict: the “bravest” hero. These lines present the resolution in lines that alternate between 6 and 7 syllables. Just as the syllables decrease, the falling action presents us with a final insight. This insight discusses how darkness is an insurmountable entity that, like the hero, we must face to continue “straight” through “Life” (line 20).

In the poem, the contrast of hard negative connotations and soft sensitive words indicates his purpose of writing. Examples of soft words are “gently its touch, rouse, kind old sun, whispering, full-nerved, still warm” Examples of hard words are “snow, clays of a cold star, clay grew tall, fatuous sunbeams, break earth’s sleep at all”. The word clay reminds us that we came from clay and we return to dust. The choice of cold star probably refers to earth before it was inhabited which was also expressed in the bible “thou hast made me of clay and wilt thou bring me unto dust again”. The word fatuous shows the anger and frustration of the writer. Whispering has the feeling of anxiety and dread. The last line is an old existential question of “why are we here?” With the use of sound effects, themes, technique and language, the poem clearly shows the genuine emotions of empathy, waste and the futility of

During the Romantic Era, Lord Byron was figuring out how to overcome his hardships and guilt. Byron knew people wouldn't understand his unconventional lifestyle or his depression; so he wrote poetry that would spark people's emotions. Writing became his only hiding place from the outside world. His poetry reflects his hardships,guilt and depression that he tried so hard to escape, but never could. Byron’s childhood, many escapades,and travels would come to influence his poetry. It is beyond question that Byron’s poetry reflected his life and emotions.

This poem is unique and more patently autobiographic unlike other romantic poems that were written during his era in the early 18th century by other fellow writers. Byron’s poem is entirely focused on the beauty and the fascination that he endures with the ocean. The title of the poem indicates the subject of the poem; it also has the first literary device that is seen throughout this poem. The word apostrophe is when the writer speaks to the ocean as if it can hear and respond. As a child Byron becomes aware of realities imperfections but the skepticism of his disillusionment coexisted with a lifelong propensity to seek ideal perfection in all of life experiences (Marchand). In the first stanza Byron expresses and underlines the feelings, fascination and his overwhelming love that he endures with the ocean.

“The relationship between the energies of the inquiring mind that an intelligent reader brings to the poem and the poem’s refusal to yield a single comprehensive interpretation enacts vividly the everlasting intercourse between the human mind, with its instinct to organise and harmonise, and the baffling powers of the universe about it.”

Blake uses traditional symbols of angels and devils, animal imagery, and especially images of fire and flame to: 1) set up a dual world, a confrontation of opposites or "contraries" which illustrate how the rules of Reason and Religion repress and pervert the basic creative energy of humanity, 2) argues for apocalyptic transformation of the self "through the radical regeneration of each person's own power to imagine" (Johnson/Grant, xxiv), and 3) reconstructs Man in a new image, a fully realized Man who is both rational and imaginative, partaking of his divinity through creativity. The form of the poem consists of "The Argument," expositions on his concepts of the "contraries" and of "expanded perception" which are both interspersed with "Memorable Fancies" that explicate and enlarge on his expositions, and concludes with "A Song of Liberty," a prophecy of a future heaven on earth.

The Darkness' is a poem written by Lord Byron in 1816, around the Romantic period. Byron has stated that the poem was inspired by the events of Mount Tambora, which was a volcano that erupted in the Dutch East indies that caused surreal weather phenomenon's, such as inexplicable darkness and cold temperatures in Geneva, where Byron was at the time, and eventually where he wrote the poem. This event caused many authors to suspect that this eruption, and the following weather events, was a sign that linked to the biblical apocalypse.

Despite the separation of each stanza, they are all connected through enjambment. Nearly all the stanzas end with an unfinished sentence or thought, and the first line of the following stanza continues or completes it. This separation informs the reader of a change of subject, either mild or extreme, but provides the knowledge that the subjects are still connected. Simultaneously, the break also provides the emphasis designated to each separate thought.