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Eliot - Rhapsody on a Windy Night Analysis Table Report a problem It is through you visiting Poem Analysis that we are able to contribute to charity. So a short summary of the poem as its nocturnal descriptions develop may be advisable. High and dry can also mean abandoned in a difficult position. The image of the eye is also interlinked with the vacancy of the child's eye, the eyes in the street trying to peep through lighted shutters, and the feeble eye of the moon. In another simile, he relates what the night is doing to his memory, shaking it, disorienting it, to a madman shaking a dead geranium. He is describing lunacy, or temporary insanity brought on by changes in the moon. We move forward an hour and a half to half-past one in the morning. So you can imagine Eliot reading this out loud in one rush. As the speaker walks down a street, he experiences his perceptions and memory coalesce into a magical whole, held together by moonlight. It follows its narrator wandering an urban street from midnight until 4:30 a.m. Rhapsody on a Windy Night twists the romantic expectation of poetry to create a despairing view of life in the modern city. These hours, as presented in the poem, may be read as a figurative representation of the hours of inspiration. Eliot was fond of giving his poems titles drawn from music: compare The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Preludes, A Song for Simeon, Four Quartets. Easily become a resource hero by simply helping out HSC students. Now one lightthe man-made, personified street lampurges the speaker to regard another: the moon. At midnight, the speaker wanders the streets of a city and observes the moonlight on the streets and the ways in which it renders everything - even the speaker's own memories - vague and indistinct. The lamp said, T.S. Baldwin, Emma. (including. The wanderer hears the street lamps making noise, and eventually speaking. The young man, the speaker, walks down a street in which the street lamps eventually dominate his walk so much so as to act as triggers to series of fanciful and disorganized imaginings. His toothbrush is hanging on the wall, ready to be pressed into service in the morning; the lamp commands the speaker to put his shoes at the door ready for tomorrow, when he will presumably be getting up and washing and dressing ready to go to work. Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. His memory does not function normally. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. Its purpose is to evoke a mood of nightmarish horror as well as to convey an idea of the squalor of urban life. She winks a feeble eye, In the final stanza the speaker arrives at home. Rhapsody on a Windy Night Study Guide. The next line adds that she has lost her memory. This is important because of the general theme of madness that runs through the piece. Held in a lunar synthesis, Midnight shakes the memory Memory is seen as something lost, found, and twisted. The image of the broken spring in a factory yard, covered with rust, suggests a loss of energy and vitality this coiled spring that was once capable of bouncing and contracting and expanding is now abandoned, useless, without life. That tone is continued through the mystical reference to the moon, which holds the street in a lunar synthesis. The chaos then begins however with the imagery Dissolve the floors of memory, as the persona sets off on his journey through a deconstruction of time and space. 40I could see nothing behind that child's eye. i love to analyze poetry, literature and society. In the story of this stanza, the speaker is still out on the street. The term 'rhapsody' was originally used for a portion of an epic poem, such as a book of the Iliad, adapted for recitation. The poem begins at twelve oclock AM and ends at 4:00 AM. As if the world gave up Like the cat, a child surreptitiously and automatically follows his or her desire for a toy. Memory! is no longer some vague and obscure thing; it is a command, and the persona has the key.. And that is exactly what Eliot's poem is: a depiction of a slurred, borderline-nonsensical nightmarish vision of modernity, in which the persona floats around the city streets at night. Put your shoes at the door, sleep, prepare for life." Rhapsody on a Windy Night Analysis - eNotes.com The moon appears again later on in Rhapsody on a Windy Night. Some of this poem is used in GRIZABELLA THE GLAMOUR CAT in the musical CATS. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. 61That cross and cross across her brain.". The poem subverts the romantic connotations of the title. There is confusion to the sights and sounds the speaker relays and a clear feeling of dislocation on the part of the wanderer. Between 12am and 4am, the veil between physical reality and the supernatural world is supposedly the most thin according to some pagan factions, and many authors have made use of this idea in their famous works. "Rhapsody on a Windy Night" is an early poem by one of the 20th century's foremost literary figures, T.S. There are many different types of paganism and witchcraft, and it really does depend upon era and moment in history how and when rituals are performed, but practices commonly associated with different types of witchcraft in literary history include incantations, animal or human sacrifice, taboo sexual acts, and other rituals. This reinforces the futility and meaninglessness of life as their every action and movement only heightens the individuals awareness of their demise. A high-level analysis of T.S. The implied analogy here is that memory is like the sea, which throws up high and dry these sense impressions, but also transforms them. The opening reference to the time, Twelve oclock. Commands our attention and injects the poem with a tone of certainty. Interesting Literature is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon.co.uk. Under a magical spell cast by the time of night, the moon, and the . Rhapsody on a Windy Night by T.S. The Eye of Ra is thought to be an extension of the sun god Ra, but the female version, and is associated with violence and control. But crabs are hard-shelled creatures, and this one is doubly armoured by having barnacles clinging to its shell: just as the childs expression gives away nothing about how the child is feeling, so the crab protects itself with its strong carapace, and despite the speaker holding it with a stick, the creature holds fast. This stanza is a meditation on memory, which, like the sea, throws up high and dry sense impressions, after consuming and breaking them. T.S. Word Count: 1180. Instant PDF downloads. The street lamp sputtered, The structure of the poem is carefully controlled, however, although it might appear to be a collage of fragmented images. The citation above will include either 2 or 3 dates. Rhapsody on a Windy Night is often overlooked among Eliots early poems The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, Portrait of a Lady, and Preludes are more famous but its innovative imagery deserves closer analysis. How does Eliot explore the theme of time in "Rhapsody on a Windy Night" with reference to other poems in Prufrock & Other Observations? Anyway: the lamp instructs the speaker to look at the moon, and recites a line in French which translates as the moon holds no grudges. The corrupted and decayed mental state of individuals portrays the futility of life. The last twist of the knife. As if there is nothing else to eat, and it must resort to the worst helpings the street has to offer. Rhapsody on a Windy Night Summary and Analysis of Rhapsody - GradeSaver That smells of dust and old Cologne, LitCharts Teacher Editions. Eliot's most difficult poems to deconstruct. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. She smiles into corners. Check out our HSC Year 12 English Advanced resources today - explore Notes, Videos, Lectures and more! Just by donating your resources to our library! Of sunless dry geraniums Her eye Twists like a crooked pin.. The next lines speak of rust on a broken spring and how all the strength in the world has left. Eliot is highly distinguished as a poet, a literary critic, a dramatist, an editor, and a publisher. The lamp hummed: The bed is open; the tooth-brush hangs on the wall, / Put your shoes at the door, sleep, prepare for life. She could represent a cynical view of authorship, where a writer is tempted to "sell out", or cater to the masses to earn a fortune. This is an obvious reference to pagan ritual sacrifice to the goddess of fertility. (read the full definition & explanation with examples). "Rhapsody on a Windy Night" is an early poem by one of the 20th century's foremost literary figures, T.S. Whispering lunar incantations Eliot was fond of naming his poems after musical forms; other examples include Preludes and Four Quartets. Probably the most familiar meaning of the word rhapsody is an ecstatic expression of feeling, an enthusiastic frenzy. And that is exactly what Eliots poem is: a depiction of a slurred, borderline-nonsensical nightmarish vision of modernity, in which the persona floats around the city streets at night. There is one of a smooth branch on the beach. Eliot depicts a desolate and depressing landscape of contemporary life that is enough to drive one mad. It is an hour later, at Half-past three. The lines from the second stanza regarding the lamps sputtering and muttering are repeated. The little lamp spreads a ring on the stair, / The last twist of the knife. Eliots poem ends with a devastatingly effective piece of irony, as the persona realises that as distressing as his hallucinatory experience has been, the real tragedy is that the life he returns to is just as unimaginably tortured. "Memory" in Cats show, or the shapeshifting professor McGonagal in Harry Potter.) 12am is also known in literature as The Witching Hour. The speaker offered the crab a stick, in hope of connection, and the crab gripped it. If you found this analysis of Rhapsody on a Windy Night useful, you might also enjoy our short introduction to T. S. Eliots life and work. It smells old and dead. Gripped the end of a stick which I held him. The man then encounters a child, who in synecdoches is represented by his or her hand and eyeemphasizing aspects signifying desire and need, and suggesting a lack of wholeness. His imagination has left the street to linger on the beach and then in a factory yard. The repetition of the word twisted suggests that something originally straightthe rational, or the naturalhas become. T.S Eliot - Rhapsody on a Windy Night ANALYSIS Saturday 22nd, October 2022. Twists like a crooked pin.". He has no will. Eliot composed this poem in the characteristic manner of the French symbolists, especially Laforgue, who concentrated a number of fragmented, broken images to suggest the sordid life and squalor of a modern city. The image of the woman in this stanza represents temptation and, in turn, shame she stands in the doorway, which opens on her like a grin. Indeed, the world is smiling at the personas vulnerability. The subsequent depictions of decaying objects reflect the way in which the spiritual death of certainty brings with it the devolution of all of humanity. It stimulates him to the remembrance of unlikely, confused, and mainly ugly things. The second is the date of There is a pathos here. Goldman, Rebecca. The windy moonlight night distorts the unhappy memories of the speaker into a nightmare as he walks along the gas lit streets. This transports her in a surreal fashion to an entirely different landscape. eNotes.com, Inc. At the same time, the speaker doesnt seem to. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem. This signals a hopelessness both in the present and for future generations, represented by the child. The street lamp muttered, She represents the connection between the natural world and human nature, which has decayed. Unlike the street lamps which look on him constantly, La lune ne garde aucune rancune. It does not hold a grudge against him for what he does or how hes lived. date the date you are citing the material. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1725 titles we cover. About Rhapsody on a Windy Night; Poem Text; Rhapsody on a Windy Night Summary; Character List; Glossary; Read the Study Guide for Rhapsody on a Windy Night The word held is repeated from the first stanza, when the street is held in lunar synthesis. One question to ponder is: Is the grip of the crab an automatic impulse, or a genuine connection between beings? Such as a twisted branch upon the beach. It has been smoothed over by the ocean like. This poem is quite difficult to get your bearings in, or, once youve got your bearings, to keep them. The child does not seem to have any control over his picking up the toy; he seems controlled, just as in automatic writing, when words written are channeled by some entity other than the person holding the pen. The speaker remembers the geraniums, shaken by the madman in the first stanza, and the smells of the sensuous, everyday, debased life in the city. The memories are all sense based. How to make the most out of your first year of university. The lamp continues to direct him on how to conduct his evening routine. What are you waiting for, lets Ace the HSC together! Trying to peer through lighted shutters, It begins at 12:00 AM on a windy night. A crowd of twisted things; Rhapsody on a Windy Night "Memory" from the Musical "Cats" From the first lines, the setting of the poem is clear. The memories are pointless and are dead and useless as the flower is that the madam shakes, though they once had a vigorous and brilliant life as the geranium had. Yet we can propose several explanations which help to make the poem slightly less surreal than it might otherwise seem. Is this speaker drunk, or just sleep-deprived? Modernists like Eliot were known to use images encountered in real life for poetry. It grips tight to the end of his stick as he examines it. About Rhapsody on a Windy Night; Poem Text; Rhapsody on a Windy Night Summary; Character List; Glossary; Read the Study Guide for Rhapsody on a Windy Night A reading of the poem by Jeremy Irons, set to music as part of as BBC series. She is likely a prostitute. Perhaps the dark aspects of the world are exerting too much influence over the writer's poems and stories. He then remembers a series of ordinary visceral smells of the city: food, sex, nicotine, and alcohol, which also represent debasement. Rhapsody on a Windy Night Summary. La lune ne garde aucune rancune, The major conflict in the poem is between nature, represented by the moon, and culture, represented by the city. He then recalls an old crab covered in barnacles, which he found one afternoon in a rock-pool and played with. Rhapsody on a Windy Night Symbols, Allegory and Motifs Eliot, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. In some cultures (ancient Greek culture for example), ritual death of innocent babies born to temple prostitutes was thought to call down blessings upon adult worshipers, including fertility blessings. In the third stanza of Rhapsody on a Windy Night the speaker goes to another memory. Then the poem moves on the moon. This appears to be the vestiges of a romance that has passed, something that the moon holds onto after she has lost her memory of it. Rhapsody on a Windy Night Eliot uses the dichotomy between natural light of the moon symbolising love & also the artificial light of the street lamp to symbolise the decay of love & a broken society, as a result of modernism The streetlamp symbolises the rise of urbanisation & thus a decline in traditional values The street lamp said, Slips out its tongue And all its clear relations, There are a number of elements of this piece that create a feeling of unity in the text, one of the most important of these is time. The child is not a happy one. It is accompanied by the man recalling some of the memories he lost. An Animation of the Poem The poem "Rhapsody on a Windy Night" by T. S. Elliot shows the dark times that happened in the 20th century Although not explain exactly nothing. The memory throws up high and dry That the cat devoursrancid butter implies that he is starving, and willing to eat something rotten. (Just think of the cat in Sabrina, the T.V. A clip from the Andrew Lloyd-Webber musical, Cats, in which the poem is reinterpreted as a song. It also means a jumble, which describes both the odd collection of images in the poem, and the irregular length of lines and stanzas, and scattered rhymes. Rhapsody on a Windy Night by T. S. Eliot - Poems | poets.org Twelve o'clock. It also reminds us that the speaker is still walking down the street. And devours a morsel of rancid butter." This is evident in the lines,A broken spring rust that clings to the form The spring represents the mental psyche of individuals while the rust symbolizes the corruption and decay of the individuals mentality This notion is further reinforced in the linesThe hand of child slipped out and pocketed a toy I could see nothing behind that childs eye i have seen eyes in the street trying to peer through lighted shutters Eliot employs Imagist conventions through the associative flicker of evocative imagery in order to illustrate the corruption of individuals and highlight their distorted sense of morality. Every street lamp that I pass Beats like a fatalistic drum, And through the spaces of the dark Midnight shakes the memory As . It throws the speaker twisted things and brings to mind even more. Poem Analysis, https://poemanalysis.com/t-s-eliot/rhapsody-on-a-windy-night/. Sylvia Plath once said that she thought anything should be able to be used in a poem, but she couldnt imagine a toothbrush in a poem. Hard and curled and ready to snap. Slipped out and pocketed a toy that was running along the quay. Rhapsody on a Windy Night is culturally significant not only for its status as an Eliot poem - it was partially adapted into the famous show tune 'Memory' from the 1981 musical Cats, itself based. The street-lamps start talking to him again, telling him to observe a cat in the gutter: the animal is eating some stinking and gone-off butter. Eliot, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. The poem is set in a city during a period from midnight to four in the morning. The lines are a variety of lengths, as are the stanzas. Rhapsody On A Windy Night: by T.S Eliot - Summary & Analysis Rhapsody on a Windy Night by T. S. Eliot: Summary and Critical Analysis Eliot's poem 'Rhapsody on a Windy Night'. Night is personified in order to show its importance to the speaker, and the geranium is added into the text as it is has symbolized at points, folly, or foolishness.