by:
Index
1.-INTRODUCTION:
2.-ANALYSIS:
3.-CONCLUSION:
4.-BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1.-INTRODUCTION:
I have tried to represent at least
one of the styles that are the main part of the Victorian period, for that I
have chosen one poem of her collection of her first published book called “Death of an infant” to make its
analysis.
I have chosen this poem because it
reflects the main aspects of this author and because it forms part of her first
work, “Moral Pieces in Prose and Verse” which were published in 1827.
2.-ANALYSIS:
She was an extremely popular
American poet during the early and mid 19th century. But she was born in
She also was commonly known as the
"Sweet singer of Hartford and most of her works were
published with just her married name “Mrs. Sigourney”. 1
Her verse and prose were moral,
sentimental, and pious, concerned principally with death; her style was
euphemistic and at times affected; her rhythms were conventional. Her writings
appealed to mid-nineteenth-century
The very attributes that made her so
popular in her day--the politeness of her muse, the nobility of her theme, the
pseudo-elegance of her manner--fail to connect with readers today. The small,
plump, flaxen-haired “lady of letters” with her pious sentimentalities catered
to a taste for poetry “more like the dew than the lightning.” 1
Death
of an Infant
|
1 |
Death found strange
beauty on that cherub brow, |
|
2 |
And dash'd it out. There was a tint of rose |
|
3 |
On cheek and
lip;--he touch'd the veins with ice, |
|
4 |
And the rose
faded.--Forth from those blue eyes |
|
5 |
There spoke a
wishful tenderness,--a doubt |
|
6 |
Whether to grieve or
sleep, which Innocence |
|
7 |
Alone can wear. With
ruthless haste he bound |
|
8 |
The silken fringes
of the curtaining lids |
|
9 |
For ever. There had
been a murmuring sound |
|
10 |
With which the babe
would claim its mother's ear, |
|
11 |
Charming her even to
tears. The spoiler set |
|
12 |
His seal of silence.
But there beam'd a smile |
|
13 |
So fix'd and holy from that marble brow,-- |
|
14 |
Death gazed and left
it there;--he dared not steal |
|
15 |
The signet-ring of Heaven. |
This poem begins telling us the
death of a little child but by the way this is going to be described that he is
like a “cherub” (verse 1).
Another important and strange thing
is how the author expresses the blood or the symbol of the death arrival because
she says that “There was a tint of rose /
on cheek and lip” (verses 2 and 3) and it seems to
be that the little boy was hurt.
I also have to say that there is a
fact that we also make. When someone has died, we usually close the eyes of the
death, putting he/she in a bedroom with curtains and nobody makes a murmur.
Well, this is the same that we can read in verses number 7, 8, and 9 “With ruthless haste he bound / The silken
fringes of the curtaining lids / For ever. There had been a murmuring sound.”
And the next verse is telling us how
he was in front of the child. He was looking at him “His seal of silence. But there beam'd a smile / So fix'd and holy from
that marble brow (verses 12 and 13).
To end finally “Death gazed and left it there;--he dared not steal / The signet-ring of
Heaven” (verses 14 and 15).
After having done this analysis of
the general meaning of the poem I can focus my attention on its structure, its
rhyme, the type of verses, the type of metre and other elements that the author
used.
Her style was perfectly suited to
the taste of the public at that time. Her poetry and prose was highly
sentimental and moral. She enjoyed writing about travel and temperance but
death especially that of a child, was her most frequent topic, possibly because
her first three children died at birth. 2
This poem is formed by fifteen
verses.
Their rhyme’s structure followed is
A / A / B / B at the beginning.
A brow,
A rose
B ice,
B eyes
But later this rhyme is:
C a doubt
D Innocence
C Bound
D Lids
C sound
Talking about the verb tense I can
say that the author uses the past tense. We can see it easily in the use of the
verb to be in its past form (was, were)
and the use of verbs also in past form but ended by –ed which change its form by and ‘d as for example dash’d (verse 2), touch’d (verse 3) or beam’d (verse
12).
I also can see that the author does
not use expressions showed by exclamations, questions, ...
Lydia H. Sigourney evinces a more
lively perception of the beauties of nature.3
I also can notify that Lydia Sigourney uses a
lot of religiosious elements during the poem. She uses words like “cherub” (verse 1), “those blue eyes” (verse 4) which represents our mental image of an
angel,“But there beam'd a smile”(verse
12), “So fix'd and holy from that marble
brow” (verse 13) and “The signet-ring
of Heaven” (verse 15).
2 www.sigourney.com/History/LydiaBiography.html
3 http://www.english.ucsb.edu/faculty/rraley/research/anthologies/Readings-in-Poetry-1833.html
Another important aspect is the presence
of the family elements or probably loving elements like when she says “wishful tenderness” (verse5), “which Innocence” (verse 6), “With which the babe would claim its mother's
ear” (verse 10), or even “But there
beam'd a smile” (verse 12).
Talking about a different aspect,
the presence of stylistic elements is noticeable as personification as “beam'd a smile” (verse 12), “Death gazed and left it there” (verse 14),
and “Death found strange beauty on that
cherub brow” (verse 1).
The presence of words trying to say the same thing, but using more
words which are not necessary.
And another sense is the rhetorical
elements which can be observed along the poem by the use of a different tone.
She uses the sentimental rhetoric.
Sigourney deploys several poetic
voices or personae to communicate her decidedly feminist ethos. 4
Having a look “in” the Romantic and “in”
sentimental traditions that Lydia Sigourney adopted, I can say that there are a
lot of identifications which can make us call
The Romantic period was intoxicated
with the power of verse, and even the best poets, like Shelley or Wordsworth,
often approached the edge of bathos. Lesser poets, like Mrs. Sigourney, knew no
limits. 5
Another characteristic is that the
nineteenth century had a taste for the sentimental, the noble, the virtuous,
and, especially, for the emotions connected with death and burial. Mourning and
bereavement became central to Lydia Sigourney's work. 5
3.-CONCLUSION:
Her influence was tremendous. She
inspired many young women to attempt to become poets.
Mrs. Sigourney has gone out of
fashion and now merely recalls a taste and a style that have become historic.1
Finally, I have to say that this
passage outlines her main themes including old age, death,
responsibility, religion - a strong belief in God
and the Christian faith - and work.
She often wrote elegies or poems for recently deceased
neighbours, friends, and acquaintances.
As I can see her work is one example
of Victorian-era death literature which views death as an escape to a better place,
especially for children.1
That is one of the reasons that make
me choose her and, in my opinion, the most important thing is that she is a
very revolutionary women. For that reason I am in favour to those women, to her
values and to her ideas.
4 http://www.erudit.org/revue/ron/2003/v/n29/007722ar.html
5 http://www.ctheritage.org/encyclopedia/ct1818_1865/sigourney.htm
4.-BIBLIOGRAPHY:
http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/Lydia_Sigourney
www.sigourney.com/History/LydiaBiography.html
http://www.english.ucsb.edu/faculty/rraley/research/anthologies/Readings-in-Poetry-1833.html
4 Érudit | RON n29-30 2003 : Dasler Johnson : Reviving
Lydia Huntley
http://www.erudit.org/revue/ron/2003/v/n29/007722ar.html
5 Connecticut's Heritage Gateway
http://www.ctheritage.org/encyclopedia/ct1818_1865/sigourney.htm