Literary Analysis of the poem “Hymn to the Night”, by

Literary Analysis of the verse Hymn to the night, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, applying the New Criticism approach.

Imagery: The imagery of the anthem is very(prenominal) rich and diverse. Longfellow uses a lot of personifications, similes, parables, and other literary figures to stool the aesthetic glory of the poem.

Personification: The most all in all-inclusive use device of the poem is personification. The central image of the poem is the night that is a personification of the manage life woman. Personification is utilize through and through the whole poem: the wickedness has clothes (the tracking garments and sable skirts). Moreover, the Night is disco biscuited with the capital letter want a persons name. In the fifth 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 Night is worry a wise teacher who consoles the poet. Moreover, the Night is a variety of divine hurl. The adjective holy contri andes to the image of the Night as a saintly and pure woman. In the last stanza the Night is the most beloved woman, divine, heavenly beautiful, pure and f tonal pattern. It even has wing like an angel: Descend with broad-winged flight. The comparison of the Night with the beloved woman is kept throughout the poem.

Longfellow does not skip even little spoken language, he enriches even the simplest and the humblest of them. The definite name before the Night contributes to the meaning 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.

Metaphor:         Another figure of idiom that is widely utilize in the poem is metaphor. The sable 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 fountain of cool air. This metaphor creates a feeling of calmness and pacification. The midnight air is described as contained in the cool deep cisterns. This comparison of the atmosphere to cisterns is implicit. These dickens comparisons work metaphorically and the meanings and associations become bingle.

Similes and allusions: Longfellow to a fault uses similes when he is talk of the town about two things at the same time. He explicitly compares the calm, majestic 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 last 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. Orestes was the only 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 Athena for calmness. So, the poet compares himself to Orestes, because he also longs for peace, for peace of mind and soul. The goddess he prays to is not Athena, it is the Night, his best beloved woman, who can console him and give rest.

There is another allusion to Homers Illiad, in the third line of the last stanza: The welcome, 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 such a figure of speech as a paradox. The chambers of the Night 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 unusual one.

Dennotation of some words:         In the poem on that point are some words that give birth to be looked up in a dictionary in order to understand them, like those that follow:          trail (COME AFTER) verb to (allow to) happen upon slowly along the ground or through the air or weewee, after someone or something garment noun [C] pro cast of charactersa a found of wear sweep (MOVE) verb to move, esp. quickly and powerfully fringe (DECORATION) noun [C] a decorative edge of hanging destine strips of material or threads on a piece of clothing or material If a piece of clothing is fringed with something, it is decorated with it.

might (POWER) noun [U] power, strength or force stoop (BEND) verb [I] to bend the top half of the body transport and down manif experienced (MANY) adjective LITERARY many and of some(prenominal)(prenominal) polar types chime verb (of bells) to make a clear sonority sound Let the church bells chime. [I] The grandfather clock chimed night club 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 tierce times care (WORRY) noun a feeling of worry or anxiety fair (BEAUTIFUL) adjective OLD USE (of a woman) beautiful spell (MAGIC) noun [C] spoken words which are melodic theme to have magical power, or (the condition of being 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 English such as thrice that means three times, thou, layest, thy, thee. The author also uses different filtrates, for exercising the past tense: I heard the tracking garments of the Night,I saw 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. Connotation of some words.

nearly words in the poem exploit a wide range of associations. In the second stanza we can find the words the spell of might, and the haunted chambers 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 ancient castles or houses; there are ghosts and spirits who remind about themselves to those whom they loved. This epithet creates the atmosphere of an old story, about far-away times and about eternal love that can never be destroyed by all distance or time.

The simile like some old poets rhymes gives to this image even more romanticism and charm.

In the 4th stanza Longfellow uses the image of water: the fountain of peace, the spirit drank repose. The word cisterns usually has associations with a vessel 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, solemn occasions.

Other comments: Longfellow also uses adjectives or phrases that express some quality 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 used 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 celestial 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-prayed 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 poetic 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.

Rhyme: 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: The tone of the poem could be defined as a sort of admiration and awe that there is toward a woman, who is personified as the Night. The Night is like a goddess honored, respected and above 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 point of view to emphasize that he is the one who is singing this hymn 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.

        Peace! Peace! Orestes-like I breathe this prayer!         Descend with broad-winged flight,         The welcome, the thrice-prayed for, the most fair,         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.

        

If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Orderessay



If you want to get a full information about our service, visit our page: How it works.