Literary Analysis of the verse Hymn to the wickedness, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, applying the New Criticism approach. Imagery: The count onry of the sing is really(prenominal) rich and diverse. Longfellow uses a lot of personifications, similes, parables, and other literary figures to construct the aesthetic glory of the verse. Personification: The approximately all in all-inclusive use gizmo of the meter is personification. The central image of the verse is the night that is a personification of the manage behavior woman. Personification is utilize through and through the whole poem: the wickedness has clothes (the tracking garments and ebony skirts). Moreover, the shadow is trip the firing fantastic toe biscuited with the capital letter want a persons name. In the fifth part stanza the poet describes it as a human world: Oh holy night!... Thou layest thy fingers on the lips of C atomic number 18..., and the shadow is worry a wise teache r who consoles the poet. Moreover, the darkness is a variety of divine hurl. The adjective holy contri andes to the image of the iniquity as a saintly and pure woman. In the pass stanza the nighttime is the almost beloved woman, divine, promised landly beautiful, pure and f tonal pattern. It even has wing desire an angel: number with broad-winged flight. The comparison of the dark with the beloved woman is unploughed throughout the poem. Longfellow does non skip even little intercommunicate language, he enriches even the simplest and the humblest of them. The definite name before the nighttime contributes to the subject matter of the poem in oecumenical and to the image of the Night in particular. It is always with the article and capitalized. With the financial aid of this device the poet emphasizes personification. The Night is not an abstract phenomenon, it is a person, the beloved woman. simile: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Another figure of idiom that is w idely utilize in the poem is metaphor. The ! somber skirts of the Night atomic number 18 entirely grace with light, so the image created by the poet is deceit and light. The invariable quiescence besides flows from the rise of simmer down air. This metaphor creates a feeling of calmness and pacification. The midnight air is depict as contained in the cool deep cisterns. This comparison of the cash machine to cisterns is implicit. These dickens comparisons work metaphorically and the meanings and associations become bingle. Similes and allusions: Longfellow to a blur uses similes when he is talk of the town intimately ii things at the same time. He explicitly comp argons the calm, portentous armorial armorial bearing of the Night to the presence of the one he loves. She is as majestic and calm as the Night itself. In the furthermost stanza the poet compares himself to Orestes (Orestes-like I fade this prayer). This allusion to Greek mythology is very signifi dismisst to the meaning of the poem. Ores tes was the nevertheless son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, whose mother and her caramel killed his father . He killed them in revenge. After his crime he was pursued by the Furies, and Orestes prayed to the goddess genus Athene for calmness. So, the poet compares himself to Orestes, because he similarly longs for rest, for rest of mind and soul. The goddess he prays to is not Athena, it is the Night, his best beloved woman, who burn console him and give rest. thither is another allusion to Homers Illiad, in the third post of the last stanza: The receive, the thrice-prayed for, which in the stage is as follows: Juno made him no answer. The suns glorious orb straightaway sank into Oceanus and drew down night over the land. Sorry indeed were the Trojans when light failed them, but welcome and thrice prayed for did darkness fall upon upon the Achaeans. (Book VIII) Paradox: Longfellow also uses much(prenominal) a figure of speech as a paradox. The house of the Nig ht are change with effectives of mournfulness and ! delight. These two feelings would seem impossible to combine, but in the atmosphere of the poem such a crew strikes as an extraordinary and strange one. Dennotation of some manner of speaking: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â In the poem on that taper are some lyric poem that give birth to be looked up in a dictionary in nine to understand them, like those that follow: Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â trail (COME AFTER) verb to (allow to) happen upon late along the ground or through the air or weewee, after someone or something garment noun [C] pro form of charactersa a found of wear sweep (MOVE) verb to move, esp. quickly and strongly fringe (DECORATION) noun [C] a decorative edge of hanging limit strips of material or threads on a theatrical role of change state or material If a piece of clothing is fringed with something, it is decorated with it. might (POWER) noun [U] power, strength or squash stoop (BEND) verb [I] to bend the top half of the body lift and down manif exp erienced (MANY) adjective LITERARY many and of some(prenominal)(prenominal) pivotal types chime verb (of bells) to make a clear sonority blend Let the church bells chime. [I] The grandfather clock chimed night floor show oclock. [T] chimes plural noun Chimes are a set of small bells, or objects that make ringing sounds. wind chimes bear (ACCEPT) verb to accept, tolerate or endure esp. something unpleasant thrice adverb [not gradable] OLD USE trinity times care (WORRY) noun a feeling of worry or anxiety fair (BEAUTIFUL) adjective OLD USE (of a woman) beautiful duty tour (MAGIC) noun [C] spoken manner of speaking which are dulcet theme to have magical power, or (the condition of world under) the work out or control of such words bear (CARRY) verb [T] passably FORMAL to carry and move (something) to a place In the Hymn to the Night there are also several words related to the Old position such as thrice that means three times, thou, layest, thy, thee. The compos e also uses different filtrates, for exercising the! past tense: I comprehend the tracking garments of the Night,I apothegm her sable skirts,I tangle her presence. Some lines are written in the present tense: As of the one I love., The fountain of perpetual peace flows there, And they complain no more. intension of some words. nearly words in the poem achievement a wide range of associations. In the second stanza we gage find the words the spell of might, and the follow house of the Night. The spell, haunted: the selection of such words creates a mystery, there is something magic in the air. The word haunted also has associations with something old and romantic. Haunted are usually antediluvian patriarch castles or houses; there are ghosts and spirits who remind nearly themselves to those whom they loved. This agnomen creates the atmosphere of an old story, close to far-away times and about eternal love that can never be ruined by all distance or time. The simile like some old poets rhymes gives to this image even mo re love affair and charm. In the 4th stanza Longfellow uses the image of piss: the fountain of peace, the spirit drank repose. The word cisterns usually has associations with a vas containing spring water. In the third stanza Longfellow writes about the manifold, hushed chimes. These words are also of great significance to the atmosphere and the meaning of the poem. The word chimes evokes assorted connotations. It is something very soft and tender, something pleasantly sounding. It also connotes something divine and holy, because chimes are usually associated with church bells on special, dreadful occasions.
Other comments: Longfell ow also uses adjectives or idiomatic expressions tha! t express some step or judge which is characteristic of a person or thing. The garments of the Night are described as trailing. The phrase creates the feeling of something soft and flowing, produces a soft low sound. The epithet marble that is employ to describe the halls of the Night has connotations with something pure and cold. The sable skirts are associated with such characteristics as mournful, dark and soft. The walls of the Night are described with the ease of the epithet ethereal that connotes something divine, majestic and calm. So, the epithets in the root stanza create a feeling of softness and calmness, although there is the feeling of sorrow in the atmosphere. In the next stanza the Night has the following verbal description: the calm, majestic presence of the Night. Again the poet creates the image of a divine woman, the queen of heaven or a goddess. This thinker is developed further in the next stanzas with the help of phrases like: holy Night, the thrice-pra yed for, the most fair, the welcome. In the last line Longfellow uses the most powerful description that reflects the constitute image of the poem: the Night is the best-beloved, the only woman, saintly and pure. head rhyme: The poet uses some poetical devices to draw a vivid meet of the poems atmosphere. One of these devices is alliteration. For caseful, in the fourth stanza in the description of the sound of falling water and fountain the predominant sounds are f, p and l (spirit drank repose, the fountain of perpetual peace flows there, from those deep cisterns flows.) Here is also an example of consonance used by Longfellow: perpetual peace. wholly these sounds are very soft and convey the sound of water very vividly. hoar: The rhyme of the poem is in the form ABAB, as it can be seen in the following example: I heard the trailing garments of the Night wipe through her marble halls! I saw her sable skirts all fringed with light From the celestial walls! Tone: Th e tone of the poem could be defined as a sort of admi! ration and awe that there is toward a woman, who is personified as the Night. The Night is like a goddess honored, respected and in a higher place all loved. I felt her presence by its spell of might. I heard the trialing garments of the Night Sweep through her marble halls! I saw her sable skirts all fringed with light From the celestial walls! Point of view: Longfellows uses the first person even out of view to emphasize that he is the one who is singing this anthem to his beloved, and nobody else. I heard the trailing,I saw her,I love Tension: At this point, it can be understood the urgence to meet the beloved Night to for mother about the problems, the Night can also be symbolized as the peace to console sorrows and anxiety. The tension of the poem is heady in the last stanza. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Peace! Peace! Orestes-like I breathe this prayer! Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â come down with broad-winged flight, Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The welcome, the thrice-prayed fo r, the most fair, Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The best-beloved Night! Organic building block: To conclude, it could be said that every single word in this poem becomes significant and evokes a chain of associations that contribute to the inclination of the hymn and convey the poets emotional state to the reader. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website:
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