I Heard a Fly Buzz—when I Died by Emily Dickinson | Structure, Summary, Analysis

I Heard a Fly Buzz—when I Died by Emily Dickinson | Structure, Summary, Analysis

‘I Heard a Fly Buzz—when I Died’ is a poem written by Emily Dickinson in 1862. Like her other poems, this poem also remained untitled and unpublished. It was published with an informal title ‘I Heard a Fly Buzz—when I Died after her death. In the poem, a speaker communicates to the reader from beyond the grave. The speaker is already dead but the speaker isn’t yet not worried about the afterlife or eternity, they just died and they are startled while observing the activities around their deathbed. The speaker is focused on the actual rites of dying, of having one’s last moments. The poem appears quite serious but then the irritating fly arrives and the speaker gets disturbed by the fly. The poem shows the poet’s doubts regarding religion and social comforts.

Structure of I Heard a Fly Buzz—when I Died:

The poem has 16 lines set in four stanzas with four lines each, that is, there are four Quatrains in the poem written in alternate iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter. The first and third lines each of all four Quatrains are with four feet and eight syllables while the second and fourth lines each with three feet and six syllables. The four stanzas have a loose rhyme scheme of ABCB. The poem is mostly written with half rhyme (room/storm; but it also exhibits perfect rhyming (see/me; room/room).

Emily Dickinson majorly used Enjambment, Repetition, and Alliteration (“Stillness” and “Storm” in lines three and four of the first stanza as well as “Blue” and “Between” in lines one and two of stanza four) in this poem. Emily also used Juxtaposition in this poem.

Themes of I Heard a Fly Buzz—when I Died:

The major theme of the poem is the mystery of Death as the poet attempts to describe the transition between life and death. The poet isn’t certain about the afterlife and thus, she stresses the moment of death. The speaker appears to just die, speaking from beyond the grave which appears paradoxical because no one has yet been able to describe what happens after death. The poetess however decides to bust the mystery behind death but while doing so, she succeeds in avoiding being too sentimental as a fly buzzes and interrupts her. A flying buzz appears to be a mundane issue, it appears to be a symbol, suggesting that no matter how well one prepares to face the other side, it’s impossible to be ready for something unknowable.

While the speaker is already dead, she is describing the things and activities that happened just before their death, when they were on the deathbed facing their final moments. At such a grave time, the room and the air are notably filled with “stillness.” While the mourners are busy with the necessary rituals, the speaker feels nothing but stillness. This stillness may suggest a blurring of the border between life and death.

Summary of I Heard a Fly Buzz—when I Died:

Stanza 1 Lines 1-4

“I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -
The Stillness in the Room
Was like the Stillness in the Air -
Between the Heaves of Storm -”

In the first line, the speaker announces that they are dead, making the poem paradoxical and mysterious. The speaker is reporting right after they died (although it is impossible) and what they report is that they heard a flying buzz right at the moment when they died. The poet decorated the first line of the poem with juxtaposition. While death is a grave thing, and a dead person conversing and expressing appears to be much more profound and deep, it is juxtaposed with a flying buzz, a rather mundane thing. The associations between flies and death are gross and spooky too. The fly buzz is contrasted with the stillness of the Room where the speaker died. Everything was still, there was no sound and that is why the speaker could hear the fly buzz so clearly. While the speaker was on the deathbed, she wasn’t alone, there were other people but everyone was completely silent. It's so still in the room, like the calm before the storm, almost a false calm that is only present because of the coming storm. So, the speaker is apparently alive to the atmosphere, the present atmosphere in the room.

Stanza 2 Lines 5-8

“The Eyes around – had wrung them dry –
And Breaths were gathering firm
For the last Onset – when the King
Be witnessed – in the Room –”

In the second stanza, the speaker is focused on the people around her deathbed while she is already dead. The speaker is surrounded by her friends and relatives and the speaker says "The Eyes around – had wrung them dry – " that is, the people close to her have been crying, their eyes were wet, but now they are not. Maybe they feel exhausted, resigned, or even at peace. Maybe the speaker was suffering too much while she was alive, maybe she had been ill for a long. These are the final seconds of consciousness when the soul is preparing to take flight as the body shuts down, so to speak. The final breaths are taken as the speaker awaits the arrival of the King, who has to be the Angel of Death. The speaker expects that he will show up in the room at the moment of her death.

Stanza 3 Lines 9-12

“I willed my Keepsakes – Signed away
What portion of me be
Assignable – and then it was
There interposed a Fly –”

In the third stanza, the speaker explains that she was all ready for her death, she had accepted it and had prepared for it. She had all of her “keepsakes” designated to certain people. Her will was in order. The room was peaceful, and the air was still. But then, something unexpected happened and ruined the moment or irritated the speaker. That unexpected thing was the appearance of the Fly. The fly interposed between her preparedness for death and death. This again offers a sense of Juxtaposition. Before we were thinking about calm, spiritual, somber things. Now we have to think about a grubby little fly.

Stanza 4 Lines 13-16

“With Blue – uncertain – stumbling Buzz –
Between the light – and me –
And then the Windows failed – and then
I could not see to see –”

The fly is blue, a blue bottle, and it's buzzing in the window. The speaker is aware of it as the light streams into the room. So the speaker's eyes are still able to discern the light but not for much longer because the 'Windows failed' that is, seeing didn't work any longer. The speaker is leaving the material plane and is now blind—still wanting to see but unable to because the dying process means the brain stops working and therefore the sense of self is lost.

The last stanza shows the uncertainties in the mind of the poet regarding the mysteries of death and the afterlife and all the mythical religious notions of it. The speaker was at the moment of death when the fly appeared and the speaker could feel her own anxiety as she describes the fly in his uncertainty. He buzzes here and there, not sure where to land. This uncertain buzzing is disturbing to the speaker, in her moment of death. While she was hoping God or the Angel of Death to take her to the bright light, the speaker suggests that the fly ruined that moment and she failed to notice that bright light. The windows failed and then the speaker could not see anything anymore. When she died, the speaker heard the buzzing of a fly, experienced darkness, and had a feeling of uncertainty.

This uncertainty is about the religious viewpoints about death and the afterlife and the notions of heaven and hell.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of American English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!

The Binding Vine by Shashi Deshpande | Characters, Summary, Analysi

The Binding Vine by Shashi Deshpande | Characters, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Binding Vine is a novel by Shashi Deshpande that was published in 1992. Shashi Deshpande's ‘The Binding Vine’ is very similar to her earlier novels, as it sketches her middle-class female protagonist's predicament in a male-dominated world, where she has minimal scope to give voice to her concerns. The Binding Vine is often regarded as an example of a ‘Stream of Consciousness’ Novel. ‘Stream of Consciousness’ was a phrase used by William James to characterize the unbroken flow of thoughts. Stream of consciousness is a narrative style to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings that pass through the mind" of a narrator. The stream-of-consciousness novel differs from the psychological novels because it is more concerned with the incoherent and inexplicable parts of the mind. The Binding Vine deals with the multi-facetedness of its central character Urmi who plays the role of anchor, it is she who is used by the novelist very cleverly to expose the sufferings of women from different sections of our society. Thus, the novel is narrated from the point of view of Urmi in first person narrative style. This novel is a multi-dimensional narrative about family bonds, human relationships, women's right to their bodies, and the need to speak out to set right the wrong.

Characters of The Binding Vine:

Urmi is the central character of the novel. She is a married woman who recently lost her one-year-old daughter Anusha in an accident. Kartik is her toddler son. Urmi is an intelligent, educated middle-class wife, who is employed as a lecturer in a college. She is married to Kishor who is a merchant navy officer. Though Urmi loves Kishor and prefers him, Urmi has an egoistic clash of feelings with Kishor. Urmi is a financially independent woman who seeks emotional love from her husband but Kishor because of his job often remains away and when Urmi tries to reveal her emotional insecurity, he asserts himself sexually rather than understanding that her desire is not physical, what she needs is something else. Vanaa is Urmi’s childhood friend and her sister-in-law, she is the sister of Kishor. Vanaa is married to Harish who is a doctor. Vanaa too is a medical social activist. Unlike Urmi, she never dares to question her husband’s supremacy. Mandira is the daughter of Vanaa and Harish. Though Vanaa is equally contributing financially to her family, Harish is careless not only about his household duties but he is also unsympathetic towards his wife. Amrut is Urmi’s younger brother and Inni is their mother. While Amrut spent his childhood with his parents, Urmi was sent to her grandparents to live with them and for this, she has a grudge against her mother. Akka is the stepmother of Kishor and Urmi’s stepmother-in-law. Kishor’s mother Mira died when Kishor was just one day old. His father married Akka to take care of his son. Mira was a well-educated girl and a poet. She got married to an abusive sadistic man who was very possessive and obsessive towards her. Though he believed he loved his wife, it was no less than torture for Mira who was afraid of her husband. Shakutai or Shakuntala is a woman whom Urmi meets in the hospital. She is an aged woman whose young daughter Kalpana was brutally raped and seriously injured as she is admitted to the hospital. Shakutai is a peon in a girl’s school. Kalpana and Sandhya are Shakutai’s daughters and Prakash is her son. Shakutai’s husband was an alcoholic indolent man who deserted her long ago. Shakutai’s younger sister is Sulochana or Sulu who is married to Prabhakar. Sulu is very supportive of Shakutai but has her own marriage troubles as she failed to conceive a child. She fears her husband may leave her for another woman. On the other hand, Prabhakar is obsessively attracted to Kalpana, the young voluptuous daughter of Shakutai. Dr. Bhaskar Jain is the doctor attending Kalpana, the rape victim.

Summary of The Binding Vine:

The story begins as Urmi goes to a hospital for a checkup. She lost her one-year-old child Anusha in an accident and since then she has been inconsolable. Nothing can cheer her or divert her attention from her daughter. She is flippant, angry, irritated, and even hysterical. In such a state she hit her head with a wall and had an injury. Vanaa, her sister-in-law and a childhood friend is with her. Urmi’s husband Kishor is a merchant navy officer and remains on the sea for half a year or more. Thus, Urmi lives with her mother Inni in Bombay. While ruffling her nerves, Vanaa tries to divert Urmi’s mind from her recent troubles and reminds her how strong she used to be during her childhood when she fell off a bicycle while learning in Ranidurg. Urmi gets irritated by this. She understands that Vanaa wants her to be strong and forget the pain of losing Anu, her daughter. However, Urmi doesn’t wish to be strong. "This pain is all that's left to me of Anu. Without it, there will be nothing left to me of her; I will lose her entirely.” she feels. Her childhood memories remind her of how she was forced to stay with her grandparents while her younger brother remained with her parents. Urmi is a strong woman who doesn’t like submissive women. Vannaa too appears to be submissive to her and never says a word against her careless husband Harish who often belittles her. Harish has examined Urmi and found that she is asthmatic. He offers to inform Kishor about it but Urmi insists that she will recover soon and they need not disturb Kishor who is on his touring job.

One day, Urmi’s mother-in-law Akka gives her a trunk containing Mira’s diaries, papers, and old photographs. She informs her that Kishor is Mira's son while she is the stepmother. Kishor was just one day old when his mother Mira died. To take care of the newly born baby, his father remarried Akka, but Akka couldn’t become his wife ever, her only role remained to be a caretaker of Kishor and his sister Vanaa. Urmi feels sorry for Akka. As she begins reading the diaries and papers of Mira, she realizes that Mira used to be a great poet. She was not happy in her marriage because her husband’s love was a “trap”, it did not give her individual freedom but suffocated her by over-riding passion. Kishor’s father was obsessive towards Mira and he had a sadistic streak of which Mira was afraid. However, Mira had no recluse but to continue marital rape every now and then. Mira's diary is a glaring revolution of her extreme dislike of the sexual act with her husband, a physical repulsion for the man she married. Taken collectively, her poems and diary entries pointed out molestation in marriage. Urmi is aghast by knowing all this. She also begins thinking about Kishor and how he too thinks of her as a sexual object. As she reads further, she learns that Mira once met a poet named Venu and showed him some of her poems. Venu discouraged and ridiculed her and said, “Why do you need to write poetry? It is enough for a young woman like you to give birth to children. That is your poetry; leave the other poetry to us men."

Urmi feels too bad while reading all this and decides to try getting Mira’s poems posthumously published. However, Vanaa is not happy about this, rather she opposes Urmi’s effort. She feels that this stride of Urmi in publishing the poems of Vanaa’s dead mother will destroy and demolish the honor of her family.

Urmi joins duty after her leave expires and gets busy in her daily routine. One day, she learns of a rape case when she goes to the hospital to meet Vanaa who is a medical social worker. The rape victim is Kalpana. Kalpana is a young vivacious girl from a lower class background. She is Shakutai's daughter. Shakutai has one more daughter Sandhya and a son. Her husband does not stay with them so it is Shakutai who is the breadwinner. She has a sister, Sulochana (Sulu). Sulu is childless and is afraid that her husband, Prabhakar, may marry another woman and shunt her out of his house. Her husband is enamored of Kalpana and is keen to marry her. Both Shakutai and Sulu approve of this proposal. Sulu likes it because if Kalpana comes as the co-wife, Sulu will not be driven out. After all, Sulu is Kalpana's aunt (Masee). Shakutai likes the idea because she thinks Prabhakar is a good man and since he loves Kalpana, he will keep her happy. Kalpana, however, has her own aspirations. She likes a young man whom she wants to marry and rejects Prabhakar's offer.

Now she is lying in the hospital, unable to speak or express, almost dead. Nobody knows what happened to her. When Dr. Bhaskar examines her, he announces that she was brutally raped. The police officer examining the case doesn’t agree with the doctor as he wishes to register the case as a road accident. He says, “She’s going to die anyway, so what difference does it make whether, on paper, she dies the victim of an accident or a rape?” the Police officer is unwilling to register it as a rape case because such cases become complicated and harrowing for them; Dr. Bhaskar admits based on the medical examination that the girl was raped but his point is simple— the girl will not recover from her coma and so it does not matter whether it is reported as a rape or an accident.

When Shakutai hears this, she panics. Kalpana’s mother is hysterical as she pleads with the doctors not to report the matter as a rape case. She is afraid of the social stigma. She says that if the people came to know that Kalpana was raped, nobody will marry her, nor will her younger sister get a man to marry. Urmi’s heart goes out to the wailing mother and sensing that the woman is alone, she offers to escort her home in a taxi. This is how Urmi comes to know more about Shakutai, a peon in a girls’ school. She lives in a chawl along with her children—Kalpana, Sandhya, and Prakash (son); her husband has deserted her for another woman and Shakutai has no male support except Prabhakar, her younger sister’s husband. Urmi learns more about Kalpana. Kalpana was a

good-looking child, and Sulu (Shakutai’s sister and Kalpana’s mausi) was attached to her. When Kalpana was growing up, Sulu offered to take her to her house and look after her and educate her. The offer was good from Shakutai’s angle also. She wanted her children to get an education and settle down well in life. But after a while, Kalpana had come back and refused to go to Sulu Mausi. Shakutai cursed the obstinate girl, without ever looking into the cause of her refusal. Now Shakutai accuses Kalpana of her condition. They tell Urmi to keep away from this mess. Shakutai blames her for crossing the limits of a woman's life and attracting attention through her modern ways of dressing up. Shakutai also felt that Kalpana was punished because she broke all these rules. Urmi refuses to agree with her views but Shakutai silences her on the plea that Urmi, belonged to the higher middle class, and, therefore, could not understand the constraints of people like Shakutai.

Urmi begins taking interest in Kalpana’s case while her mother and Vanaa try to discourage her. However, Doctor Bhaskar supports her. One day Shakutai comes to Urmi’s house and as Urmi gets busy making tea, Shakutai tells her the story of her marriage, her journey from the village to Bombay, and her life with her husband. He was a good-for-nothing fellow and never gave Shakutai a home. They shared a room with his cousin where she gave birth to her children, cooked, worked at a shop, and in fact did everything to run the household. She was overworked and it was only when Sulu came to stay that she got some help. However, Shakutai’s husband got involved with another woman and left her. Urmi continues to investigate Kalpana’s case while Inni, and Vanaa all offer only lip-sympathy. They tell Urmi to keep away from this mess. However, Urmi continues her efforts and comes to know that Kalpana returned from Sulu’s home only because Prabhakar tried to molest her while she was still a child. When Kalpana rejected Prabhakar’s offer of a second marriage which was illegal on its own, Kalpana rejected it. Prabhakar was enraged at this rejection. He waited for an opportunity, raped her, and leaving her mutilated body in a dark street, ran away. Urmi gives the facts about the rape case to Malcolm, a journalist and it is published. As the case becomes public, the government offers more attention. The reluctant police officer registers a rape case and offers protection to Kalpana in the hospital. The hospital authorities too begin observing Kalpana keenly. However, Sulu fails to bear all this. When she comes to know that Prabhakar raped Kalpana, whom she cared for like her own daughter, she commits suicide. Shakutai fails to understand how to react. Urmi feels deeply for Shakutai; she can empathize with her but cannot do anything further. She finds that she couldn’t talk about all this to anyone.

While Urmi is going through these problems, she talks freely to Dr. Bhaskar, seeing in him a good listener. Somehow, Dr. Bhaskar imagines that Urmi is unhappy in her marriage and he indirectly proposes to her. Urmi is shocked at his boldness. Though she likes his companionship, she has no reason to deceive Kishore. Kishore is remote and reticent by nature but he is a loving husband and a doting father. Urmi realizes that she loves Kishore, despite her disillusionment with him and his long absences. Urmi liked Dr. Bhaskar’s warm companionship, but she loved Kishore.

During this tumultuous period, Inni tells her that it was not Inni but Papa who sent Urmi to Ranidurg to live with her grandparents. When Urmi was a child, Inni had gone out leaving her in the care of Divakar, a trusted servant. Urmi's father had come home early that day and seeing that the girl was left with a male servant, had got angry. After that, he decided to send Urmi to his mother. He made his decision without even consulting his wife- Inni, Urmi's mother. Urmi learned that though her mother was sophisticated, she was submissive and couldn’t oppose her daunting dominating father. Urmi realizes that just like other women, her mother too is a victim, not a culprit.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of Indian English literature. Please s

The Bard: A Pindaric Ode by Thomas Gray | Structure, Summary, Analysis

The Bard: A Pindaric Ode by Thomas Gray | Structure, Summary, Analysis

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. The Bard a Pindaric Ode is a long poem by Thomas Gray that was first published in 1757. The poem is set in the historical era of Edward I who was the king of England from 1272-1307. The poem reimagines the history of Edward I’s conquest of Wales. Thomas Gray was researching medieval history and literature and he discovered the Welsh Harp Music that inspired him. Thomas Gray learned that when Edward I conquered Wales, he is said to have hanged up all their Bards, because they encouraged the Nation to rebel, but their works still remain. The poem was written in response to an event that took place in 1746 when a group of Welsh rebels led by the adventurer Charles Edward Stuart (also known as Bonnie Prince Charlie) attempted to overthrow the English government and restore the Stuart dynasty to the throne.

The simple meaning of bard is a poet. When Edward I marches with his victorious army towards the Snowdonian mountains near to the river Conwy, he encounters a Bard who curses the king for his atrocities.

Structure of The Bard a Pindaric Ode:

Thomas Gray chose a complex and highly structured form for this poem. He divided the poem into three parts and each part contains three stanzas of varying length (or number of lines). Thus, there are Nine stanzas in total and each stanza has a different rhyming scheme. Gray followed the Ancient Greek Pindaric ode form for this poem. Pindaric Odes were used to celebrate success in athletic or artistic competitions in ancient Greece. A Pindaric Ode traditionally contains three stanzas including a strophe, an antistrophe, and an epode. Each of the three parts of the poem contains a strophe, an antistrophe, and an epode.

Part 1 is the Introductory section consisting of 48 lines set in three stanzas.

1) The first two stanzas contain 14 lines each while the last stanza contains 20 lines.

2) The rhyming scheme of the first two stanzas is ABABCCDDEEFFGG.

3) The rhyme scheme of the third stanza from lines 29-41 is ABCBACDEEDFGFG and then it becomes irregular.

Part 2 contains 48 lines set in three stanzas.

1) The first two stanzas contain 14 lines each while the third stanza contains 20 lines.

2) The rhyme scheme of the first two stanzas is ABABCCDDEEFFGG.

3) The rhyme scheme of the third stanza is ABCBACDEEDFGFGHIHIJJ.

In this part, Thomas Gray offers The Vision of the Past. The first stanza, describes the historical events that led to the fall of the Welsh king and his ancestors, and the remaining parts describe the details of his doom and the new beginning of the Tudor Dynasty.

Part 3 contains 48 lines set in three stanzas again.

1) The first two stanzas contain 14 lines each while the third stanza contains 20 lines.

2) The rhyme scheme of the first two stanzas is ABABCCDDEFEFGG.

3) The rhyme scheme of the third stanza is ABCBACDEEFGHGHIJFJKK.

This part offers the Prophecy and Lament of the bard. The first two stanzas describe the prophecy of the bard and the fate of the English King as well as the result of his actions. The last stanza describes the lament of the bard for the loss of his people and the downfall of his culture.

Thomas Gray used a variety of literary devices in this poem to offer an effect of grandeur and tragedy including Apostrophe, Alliteration, Imagery, Metaphor, Personification, Repetition, Assonance, Hyperbole, Simile, Anaphora, Symbolism, and Irony.

Summary of The Bard a Pindaric Ode:

Stanza 1 Lines 1-14

“"Ruin seize thee, ruthless King!

Confusion on thy banners wait,

Tho' fann'd by Conquest's crimson wing

They mock the air with idle state.

Helm, nor hauberk's twisted mail,

Nor even thy virtues, tyrant, shall avail

To save thy secret soul from nightly fears,

From Cambria's curse, from Cambria's tears!"

Such were the sounds, that o'er the crested pride

Of the first Edward scatter'd wild dismay,

As down the steep of Snowdon's shaggy side

He wound with toilsome march his long array.

Stout Glo'ster stood aghast in speechless trance;

To arms! cried Mortimer, and couch'd his quiv'ring lance.”

The poet begins the poem with an Apostrophe as he addresses King Edward I who is not present and cannot answer back. The poet addresses the “ruthless King,” Edward I, in an accusatory and threatening tone and later calls him a “tyrant”. The narrator is the last surviving bard of Wales, who, in a fit of despair and anger, curses the English King Edward I and predicts his downfall. The first 14 lines of the poem set the scene and introduce the bard and how he curses the king. Gray used Imagery to depict the rugged and desolate landscape of Wales, with its misty mountains and roaring waterfalls. The “lofty” crags and “hollow” caves suggest the rugged and inhospitable terrain of Wales. The “crested pride” of Edward’s army is contrasted with the “shaggy side” of Snowdon which emphasizes the natural beauty of Wales.

The poet uses Metaphor to describe the futility of Edward I’s conquest of Wales. The banners that are “fanned by Conquest’s crimson wing” are said to “mock the air with idle state,” suggesting that their triumphs are ultimately meaningless and empty. ‘Conquest’s crimson wing’ is an example of Alliteration. The poet curses the ruthless king that he will be ruined and his dynasty and ancestors will go through many dark nights for his deeds. His flag (crimson wing), now flying, is stained with the blood of innocents. The King thinks that his victory has brought him an idle state that he can enjoy but the bard says that the king is doomed because of the curses and tears of the Cambrian people for the suffering he brought upon them. Gray used the Repetition of ‘Cambria’ in line 8.

The poet accuses that the King has done wrong by hanging the innocent bards and this curse will fructify. As the army comes down from “Snowdon’s shaggy side,” the bard’s curse becomes clearer. His father-in-law comes to hear the bard’s curse and is struck with fear and becomes speechless. The army captain senses something awful, calls the army, and takes his spear when he hears the bard’s curse. The first stanza clarifies the idea of the poem which depicts the conflict between the Welsh bards, who represent the spirit of Wales, and the English invaders, who seek to subjugate them.

Part 1 Stanza 2 Lines 15-28

“On a rock, whose haughty brow

Frowns o'er old Conway's foaming flood,

Rob'd in the sable garb of woe,

With haggard eyes the poet stood;

(Loose his beard, and hoary hair

Stream'd, like a meteor, to the troubled air)

And with a master's hand, and prophet's fire,

Struck the deep sorrows of his lyre;

"Hark, how each giant-oak, and desert cave,

Sighs to the torrent's awful voice beneath!

O'er thee, O King! their hundred arms they wave,

Revenge on thee in hoarser murmurs breathe;

Vocal no more, since Cambria's fatal day,

To high-born Hoel's harp, or soft Llewellyn's lay.”

In the second stanza, the poet describes the last surviving bard. He describes his attire as the bard is standing on a high rock, which he compares with a brow, and the Conway River flows beneath him. The bard is wearing a furry robe, and his eyes are exhausted after everything he experienced. His beard and hair are unruly and float like a meteor in “the troubled air.”

The bard pays his gratitude towards the “ master,” or the god, for saving his life and sings a poem about how the giant oak trees and caves disrespect the torrent’s voice. The bard curses the brutal king as he silences all the Cambrian bards, they will come back with a hundred arms to take revenge upon him. The bard accuses King Edward I of killing the innocent poet Hoel and the king of Wales, Llewellyn, and warns that the King’s end will also be extreme. The bard continues to curse and says that the resistance will not end as he hopes Wales rises against its conquerors, with the “maddening” sound of war drums and the “terrible array” of battle. The bard is confident of the ‘mighty chiefs’ of Wales who he says, will lead their people to victory and that the “fiends of hell” will join the battle on their side. The bard describes the Welsh people on the side of Good as they are fighting for their cultural and spiritual identity while the King’s army is Evil.

The poet used Imagery in this stanza to depict the bard and the situation. “On a rock, whose haughty brow,” “giant oak,” “desert cave,” and “torrent’s awful voice,” are examples of Imagery.

“Sighs to the torrent’s awful voice beneath” is an example of Assonance as the sound of ‘i’ is repeated. ‘Hundred arms’ of Giant Oak is hyperbole. “Stream’d, like a meteor, to the troubled air” is Simile comparing the bard’s hair to a meteor.

Part 1 Stanza 3 Lines 29-48

“"Cold is Cadwallo's tongue,

That hush'd the stormy main;

Brave Urien sleeps upon his craggy bed:

Mountains, ye mourn in vain

Modred, whose magic song

Made huge Plinlimmon bow his cloud-topp'd head.

On dreary Arvon's shore they lie,

Smear'd with gore, and ghastly pale:

Far, far aloof th' affrighted ravens sail;

The famish'd eagle screams, and passes by.

Dear lost companions of my tuneful art,

Dear, as the light that visits these sad eyes,

Dear, as the ruddy drops that warm my heart,

Ye died amidst your dying country's cries—

No more I weep. They do not sleep.

On yonder cliffs, a griesly band,

I see them sit, they linger yet,

Avengers of their native land:

With me in dreadful harmony they join,

And weave with bloody hands the tissue of thy line:—”

In this stanza, the last surviving bard is reminiscing about his fellow bards and how much potential they had. He first remembers Cadwallo, a talented poet who could stop the storm with his poetry. He recalls the brave poet Urien, who is now sleeping in the mountains. The mountains also mourn his death, but everything is in vain now.

He then remembers Modred, the magical poet who can make the highest mountain Plinlimmon, bow before him with his poetry. All these great poets are now lying on the shore of the river Avron. Their blood-stained bodies become pale, and even the crows are afraid to come near. The ravenous eagle also passes away without eating them.

The bard cries for his lost companions. However, he says that these three poets he mentioned, along with the other innocent bards executed by King Edward I, are not sleeping, and for that reason, he will not weep more. While the poets are dead as they have been murdered by the King’s soldiers, their work and the desire to struggle still survives. The remaining Welsh are still encouraged by those dead poet who are hungry to avenge against the brutal King Edward I for the massacre he did with the Cambrian bards. The stanza ends with the poet’s desire to join in this end game of King Edward I by weaving the death robe for those bloody hands.

“Mountains, ye mourn in vain” and “Dear lost companions of my tuneful art” are examples of Apostrophes, where the poet addresses the mountains and his deceased colleagues as if they were present and could hear him. Gray used the Personification of Mountains as they mourn. “Cold is Cladwallo’s tongue” and “Modred, whose magic song,” are examples of Alliteration.

The stage is set now. The strophe is sung, and the three stanzas within the group actually also follow the strophe-antistrophe-epode pattern within themselves.

Part 2 Stanza 1 Lines 49-62

“'Weave the warp, and weave the woof,

The winding sheet of Edward's race.

Give ample room, and verge enough

The characters of hell to trace.

Mark the year, and mark the night,

When Severn shall re-echo with affright

The shrieks of death, thro' Berkley's roofs that ring,

Shrieks of an agonising King!

She-Wolf of France, with unrelenting fangs,

That tear'st the bowels of thy mangled mate,

From thee be born, who o'er thy country hangs

The scourge of Heav'n. What terrors round him wait!

Amazement in his van, with Flight combin'd,

And Sorrow's faded form, and Solitude behind.”

In the first stanza of Part second, the poet offers a vivid and intense description and imagery of the downfall of Edward’s race that awaits him. In these lines, the bard spells out the horrors that await those who adopt cruel ways against the natural order. In the first line, the “warp” and “woof” refer to the threads used in weaving. Gray uses Symbolism here. The bard is weaving the “winding sheet” of Edward’s race, which means that he is symbolically preparing for their death.

The bard says to his audience to “give ample room, and verge enough” to the “characters of hell” which suggests the vast and overwhelming power of those who will judge and they will not have to be in a small space. The poet further urges the audience to “mark the year, and mark the night,” which suggests his confidence and a sense of urgency and foreboding. The bard gives a hint that something awfully terrible is about to happen and the audience must be ready to acknowledge it.

The bard then describes the “shrieks of death” that will echo through Berkley’s roofs as the death of the king approaches him. The use of the word “agonising” emphasizes the pain and suffering that the king will endure. He then mentions the “She-Wolf of France” and describes her as having “unrelenting fangs.” The wife of King Edward I is described as a predator. The Imagery of the She-Wolf tearing the bowels of her mate or the towers of Julius being fed with foul and midnight murder are very potent and disturbing. The bard curses that the ‘She-wolf’ will “give birth” to a son who will be the scourge of heaven or a punishment by the gods. The stanza ends with a description of the terrors that will surround this son. Amazement, flight, sorrow, and solitude will all be his companions. “Weave the warp, and weave the woof” is an example of Repetition. Thomas Gray used Metaphor to describe the impending downfall of the King’s dynasty, comparing it to a “winding sheet”. The poet Personifies Amazement, Flight, Sorrow, and Solitude and presents them as the living companions of the son of King Edward I.

Part 2 Stanza 2 Lines 63-76

“'Mighty victor, mighty lord,

Low on his funeral couch he lies!

No pitying heart, no eye, afford

A tear to grace his obsequies.

Is the Sable Warrior fled?

Thy son is gone. He rests among the dead.

The swarm, that in thy noon-tide beam were born?

Gone to salute the rising Morn.

Fair laughs the Morn, and soft the Zephyr blows,

While proudly riding o'er the azure realm

In gallant trim the gilded vessel goes;

Youth on the prow, and Pleasure at the helm;

Regardless of the sweeping Whirlwind's sway,

That, hush'd in grim repose, expects his evening prey.”

At the beginning of the second stanza of Part 2, Thomas Gray used Irony. The contrast between the King’s past glory and his current downfall is ironic. The bard is now prophecizing or cursing the harsh future of King Edward II who once was a ‘Mighty victor’, and a ‘mighty lord,’ now lies “low on his funeral couch he dies.” The bard continues to curse the Edward I race and says that Edward III, son of Edward II, will die before him and lie among the dead. Then the bard asks what happened with the people who were with the wealthy king and answers that those people have left to pay homage to the new King Richard II. The bard then offers a beautifully serene and scenic Imagery of a new ship proudly riding on the “azure” sea. On the front part of the ship, there is youth, and on the back, there is pleasure mingled up with each other to make the time better. The sea is very much calm, but in reality, it is violent. The bard says that while the ship is unable to look for danger in its silence, the sea is quietly waiting for its evening prey. It is an Allusion to the historic troubles that the Kingdom of England faced which include the Hundred Years’ War, peasant revolts, etc., which started in the reign of Richard II.

Part 2 Stanza 3 Lines 77-96

“'Fill high the sparkling bowl,

The rich repast prepare;

Reft of a crown, he yet may share the feast.

Close by the regal chair

Fell Thirst and Famine scowl

A baleful smile upon their baffled guest.

Heard ye the din of battle bray,

Lance to lance, and horse to horse?

Long years of havoc urge their destin'd course

And thro' the kindred squadrons mow their way.

Ye towers of Julius, London's lasting shame,

With many a foul and midnight murther fed,

Revere his consort's faith, his father's fame,

And spare the meek usurper's holy head.

Above, below, the rose of snow,

Twined with her blushing foe, we spread:

The bristled Boar in infant-gore

Wallows beneath the thorny shade.

Now, brothers, bending o'er th' accursed loom

Stamp we our vengeance deep, and ratify his doom.”

The bard continues to prophesize the future of Britain and the fate of the Welsh people. The bard asks to “fill high the sparkling bowl” to celebrate the defeat of an enemy of the Welsh people. Though it is not clear, it becomes apparent later that the defeat is of the English oppressors who have subdued the Welsh people. The bard then imagines the defeated king “Reft of a crown, he yet may share the feast.” Though he has lost his crown and power, he is still alive and present at the feast. The Bard mocks the fallen king by suggesting that he is now a guest at his table, forced to share in the revelry of his conquerors. The poet then personifies Thirst and Famine, who “scowl a baleful smile” at the defeated king. These are the two unwelcome guests at the feast. The poet then urges the audience to imagine “the din of battle bray, lance to lance, and horse to horse.” He then uses historical allusions to suggest violent conflicts in Britain. The “Towers of Julius” refers to the Tower of London, which was built by Julius Caesar and later became a symbol of oppression and tyranny. The “foul and midnight murder” refers to the many bloody events that have occurred within its walls. The Bard calls on the people of Britain to “revere” the English king’s “consort’s faith” and his “father’s fame,” suggesting that despite his defeat, the king is still worthy of respect. The bard then uses Symbolism. The “rose of snow” and “blushing foe” refer to the English rose and its red color. The “bristled Boar in infant gore” is a reference to the symbol of Wales and the bloody battle that has taken place between the two nations. The bard says that the English have been plotting against the Welsh people for a long and now is the time for the Welsh people to take revenge.

The second part is the poem's antistrophe, for it deepens and develops the situation set up in the poem's first section. Again, the three stanzas follow, to some extent, although not perfectly, the strophe-antistrophe-epode pattern in themselves.

Part 3 Stanza 1 Lines 97-110

“'Edward, lo! to sudden fate

(Weave we the woof. The thread is spun)

Half of thy heart we consecrate.

(The web is wove. The work is done.)'

Stay, oh stay! nor thus forlorn

Leave me unbless'd, unpitied, here to mourn!

In yon bright track, that fires the western skies!

They melt, they vanish from my eyes.

But oh! what solemn scenes on Snowdon's height

Descending slow their glitt'ring skirts unroll?

Visions of glory, spare my aching sight,

Ye unborn Ages, crowd not on my soul!

No more our long-lost Arthur we bewail.

All-hail, ye genuine kings, Britannia's issue, hail!”

In the first stanza of Part 3, the bard curses and prophesies the fate of the English soldiers who murdered innocent Welsh people. The bard addresses Edward I and says that the cloth is complete. The cloth the bards started weaving to write all the curses his family would face. The poet then asks The spirits of his fellow bards, who helped him to weave the cloth, not to leave him alone to mourn. Thomas Gray uses panoramic imagery to show the emotions of the bard. The spirits are fading away from his bright sight and vanishing in the western sky. The word “long-lost Arthur” signifies the belief of the Welsh people that the dead King Arthur of the Tudor Dynasty, will resurrect someday and conquer his land again.

Part 3 Stanza 2 Lines 111-124

“Girt with many a baron bold

Sublime their starry fronts they rear;

And gorgeous dames, and statesmen old

In bearded majesty appear.

In the midst a form divine!

Her eye proclaims her of the Briton-line;

Her lion-port, her awe-commanding face,

Attemper'd sweet to virgin-grace.

What strings symphonious tremble in the air,

What strings of vocal transport round her play!

Hear from the grave, great Taliessin, hear;

They breathe a soul to animate thy clay.

Bright Rapture calls, and soaring, as she sings,

Waves in the eye of Heav'n her many-colour'd wings.”

The poet describes the haunting music of the last surviving bard as he foretells the downfall of Edward I and the triumph of Welsh independence in this stanza which describes a scene of great pomp and ceremony as the Welsh bards gather to honor their fallen warrior prince. The Welsh people have arrived at the palace “girt with many a baron bold,” suggesting that powerful and influential men surround them. The bard wonderfully describes these Welsh people as they have “starry fronts” and “gorgeous dames” and “statesmen old” surrounding them. The bard then depicts the rise of a ‘form divine,’ a representation of Queen Elizabeth I, who is believed to have descended from the Welsh royal line of Cadwaladr. The divine lady is also a symbol of the rise of the Tudor dynasty. Thomas Gray describes the accompanying beautiful music in the following lines. Bright Rapture” soaring and waving her “many-colour’d wings” suggests a sense of spiritual ecstasy, as though the music is capable of lifting the soul to new heights. The poem is heading towards a positive end in the future of the last surviving bard and thus it works as an Epode.

Part 3 Stanza 3 Lines 115-134

“The verse adorn again

Fierce War, and faithful Love,

And Truth severe, by fairy Fiction drest.

In buskin'd measures move

Pale Grief, and pleasing Pain,

With Horror, tyrant of the throbbing breast.

A voice, as of the cherub-choir,

Gales from blooming Eden bear;

And distant warblings lessen on my ear,

That lost in long futurity expire.

Fond impious man, think'st thou, yon sanguine cloud,

Rais'd by thy breath, has quench'd the orb of day?

To-morrow he repairs the golden flood,

And warms the nations with redoubled ray.

Enough for me: with joy I see

The different doom our Fates assign.

Be thine Despair, and scept'red Care,

To triumph, and to die, are mine."

He spoke, and headlong from the mountain's height

Deep in the roaring tide he plung'd to endless night.”

The third stanza is a monologue of the bard as he prophesizes the future of the Welsh people and his nation. He then ends his speech and informs about the dramatic suicide that he has planned. King Edward I hanged the poets and artists but the bard describes the power of poetry to “adorn again,” i.e., the poetry will win again and will be everywhere in the themes of war, love, truth, grief, pain, and horror. Thomas Gray again employs Allusions as the bard mentions a line from Spenser’s The Faerie Queene’(“Fierce wars and faithful loves shall moralize my song”[l. 9]). He again alludes to Shakespeare in the line “Pale Grief, and pleasing Pain….”. The bard describes music as being capable of summoning the “voice of the cherub choir” and bringing the distant warblings of the past to life.

The bard says that the music carries the sounds of Eden which means that music has the power to transport the listener to a higher realm of spiritual awareness. Thomas Gray then alludes to John Milton as the bard talks about a man who will convey the voice of God. He is actually alluding to the “Eden Garden” episode of Milton’s “Paradise Lost.”

The bard then addresses Edward I as a “fond impious man,” suggesting that humans often fail to understand the true power and significance of the world around them. He says that the brutal king may think that he killed all the bards and all the poetry, but he is wrong. The bard then says that everyone will be doomed in their assigned way and then he jumps from the cliff into the river.

So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!