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By Walter de la Mare (1873-1956) A Study Guide [email protected] |
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Study
Guide Prepared by Michael J. Cummings...© 2012 ......."The Moth" is a lyric poem about a moth attracted to a flame. A lyric poem presents the author's imaginative or emotional response to a person, a place, a thing, an event, or an idea. Unlike a narrative poem, a lyric poem does not tell a story. Publication ......."The Moth" was published in 1919 in an illustrated collection entitled Flora. J. B. Lippincott published the collection in Philadelphia, and William Heinemann published it in London. .......The
tone is dark and secretive. .......Like a light on a tiny island, a flame sends out its midnight glow. “Come,” it says, inviting a moth to rendezvous with it in the darkness. A moth awakens to the light, arrayed in makeup and fluttering a fan (her wings). She stares at the light for a moment, then responds to its allure, flying off in in a springtime breeze to meet her paramour—and death.
The Moth By Walter de la Mare Isled1 in the midnight air, Musked2 with the dark's faint bloom, Out into glooming and secret haunts The flame cries, 'Come!' Lovely in dye and fan,3 A-tremble in shimmering grace, A moth from her winter swoon Uplifts her face:4 Stares from her glamorous eyes; Wafts her on plumes like mist; In ecstasy swirls and sways To her strange tryst.5 Notes 1.. Isled: Isolated, like an island in an ocean of darkness. 2.. Musked: (1) Giving off a strong odor. Many animals secrete musk, which is used in the manufacture of perfumes. Elephants secrete musk when they are ready to mate. In the poem, the word may indicate that the fire wants to "mate" with the moth. 3.. dye and fan: Many types of moths have colorful markings with wings resembling fans. Click here to view pictures of moths. 4.. A moth . . . face: Moths emerge from cocoons at the end of winter. 5.. tryst: Secret meeting between lovers.
.......Fatal love is the theme of the poem. De la
Mare compares the flame and the moth to lovers. Like a
man seeking the company of a woman, the flame invites
the moth—described as lovely (line 5), shimmering
with grace (line 6), and having glamorous
eyes (line 9)—to a midnight rendezvous. The moth
flies in an ecstasy to the flame. The poem does not
say what happens next. But one can assume that as she hovers near him, he
consumes her.
.......Stanza 1 begins with three introductory
phrases, then announces the presence of the flame in
line 4. Stanza 2 begins with two introductory phrases,
then announces the presence of the moth in line 3.
Line 4 of the second stanza introduces the third
stanza, which tells what the moth does after seeing
the flame.
.......De la Mare uses internal and end rhyme to
unify the images and harmonize the sounds. The rhyming
syllables include air
and stares;
bloom, glooming, swoon, and plumes; dye and eyes; grace and face; and mist and tryst. Isled1 in the midnight air,Personification ....... Personification is another important figure of speech in the poem. De la Mare uses it to compare the flame to a man (first stanza) and the moth to a woman (second stanza). Study Questions and Essay Topics
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