Wednesday, January 30, 2008
"Tichborne's Elegy
I should start off by saying that I know absolutely nothing about Chidiock Tichborne. I don't know how old he was when he was executed or why he was being executed. This poem is so personal however, that I definately feel that I know something about him. The most powerful line in the poem to me is the one that is repeated in all three stanzas: "And now I live, and now my life is done." The lines that come before it in the stanza each tell something personal about Tichborne. He cannot be happy because he is full of pain, he should be full of growth yet is stunted, and the one sentiment that is repeated in each stanza a different way: he is full of life and yet his life is done. I have no idea what this means, but its interesting to note that the first three lines of the first two stanzas start with "My" and the first three lines of the last stanza start with "I." In addition to feeling the pain of a man sentenced to die, this poem makes mans mortality very real and present. Despite its darkness, I really like this poem.
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I also liked the poem. I thought the rhyme scheme of ababcc was appropriate for this poem because the line, as mentioned by Stephanie “And now I live, and now my life is done.” Also in the first two couplets he talks in a negative tone with “no sun” and “not spun.” I thought it was interesting how Tichborne used ten syllables in every line, and I think he was able to do this by only using one syllable words. Another interesting structural aspect of the poem is that there are three stanzas and three sentences with a semi-colon coming on the fourth line of each stanza. At the end of each of line is a comma, a semi colon or a period. There are commas at the end of the first three lines, and a semi colon at the end of the fourth line to introduce the couplet and then there is a period at the end of each of the couplet. I thought the structure of the poem was as interesting as the actual text.
It is pretty cool that a poet could write a famous poem of decent length (18 lines) without using one multi-syllable word.
I also really enjoyed Tichborne’s Elegy. After reading Stephanie’s post I was prompted to look up the side note under the title of the poem; (Written with his own hand in the Tower before his execution.) The poem obviously is an elegy as the title implies. Yet, the biographical history of Tichborne says, he was an English, Catholic, conspirator. He wanted to overthrow Queen Elizabeth, who outlawed Catholicism. Therefore, he plotted to assassinate Queen Elizabeth in hopes of Mary Queen of Scots (the second in line to be ruler) to take command; however, he was taken into custody and put in a tower in London to await his execution. In the tower he wrote this poem. (I hope that helps Stephanie). This poem has a lot of depth and thought; especially for a poem that was crafted at death’s doorstep. My favorite aspect about this poem is that every line can be stripped from the poem as a whole and the phrases are still full of meaning and wonderment. The author’s use of paradox makes every line striking. For example, “I saw the world and yet I was not seen.” Throughout the poem paradox is prevalent because this technique adds to the symbolic meaning of the poem. After all, the poem is contrasting life and death and the balance between “prime youth” with the “frost ”of age. This poem’s balance between life and death reminds me of Yeat’s poem; “Death of an Irish Airman” because in Yeat’s poem the same balance through opposites is created. For instance, Yeats uses “love” to contrast “hate” etc, where as Tichborne says “And now I live” which opposes “and now my life is done.” Lastly, I think Tichborne repeats “and now” to reveal a sense of urgency. He is about to be executed and the reality is indeed that death is “now.” Tichborne writes this poem to emphasize the fact that he will be killed before his time. He is still full of life yet his “thread of life” (the greek mythology allusion to the Fates) is about to be cut.
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