Moths

1. Moths Eavan Boland

2. History • Moths are located all over the world • However, they are found most abundantly in regions such as Ireland due to high moisture levels

3. Vocabulary • Fuchsia( line 14) • noun 1. aplantbelongingto the genus Fuchsia,of the eveningprimrosefamily, including many varieties cultivated for their handsomedrooping flowers. Also calledCaliforniafuchsia. a nonwoodyshrub,Zauschneriacalifornica,having large crimson flowers. • 2. a bright, purplish-redcolor. • Moths (Title, lines 4,9 • anyofnumerousinsectsofthe order Lepidoptera,generallydistinguishedfromthebutterflies by having featheryantennae and byhavingcrepuscularornocturnalhabits. • Facsimile (line 21) • Also called fax. Telecommunications. a. a methodor device fortransmittingdocuments,drawings,photographs, or the like, by means of radioortelephone for exact reproductionelsewhere. an image transmitted by such a method. • Perishing (19) • causing destruction,ruin,extremediscomfort,or death

4. Tonight the air smells of cut grass.Apples rust on the branches.  Already summer isa place mislaid between expectation and memory.

5. This has been a summer of moths.Their moment of truth comes well after dark.Then they reveal themselves at our window --ledges and sills as a pinpoint.  A glimmer.

6. The books I look up about them are full of legends:Ghost-swift moths with their dancing assemblies at dusk.Their courtship swarms.  How some kinds may steer by    the moon.

7. The moon is up. The back windows are wide open.Mid-July light fills the neighbourhood.  I stand by the    hedge.

8. Once again they are near the windowsill---fluttering past the fuchsia and the lavender,which is knee-high, and too blue to warn them

9. they will fall down without knowing howor why what they steered by became, suddenlywhat they crackled and burned around. They will perish---

10. I am perishing -- on the edge and at the threshold ofthe moment all nature fears and tends toward:The stealing of the light. Ingenious facsimile.

11. And the kitchen bulb which beckons them makesmy child's shadow longer than my own.

12. Inarguables • Main topic is of Moths • At night • In summer • The Narrator has a child • Speaker is a adult / parent • Audience is everyone, especially people who can relate to this experience of moths in the summer • Structure • There are 9 stanzas • After the 6th stanza, the narrator goes from talking about moths to talking about themselves

13. Literary Features • Location • “between expectation and memory” • “at our window” • “near the windowsill” • Light • “a glimmer” • “light” • “kitchen bulb” • Night” • “tonight” • “after dark” • “moon” • “shadow” • Colors in Stanza 5 • “fuchsia” • “lavender” • “blue”

14. Arguables • Location • Changes in location represent time passing • Summer now gone • Light • The moths seek out light in the nighttime • The narrator is “perishing” but seeks the light in the dark time, finding it in their child • Night • The narrator is growing old or dying • Color in Stanza 5 • The only passage that refers to color • The colors are the beautiful things around the narrators life, distracting them from the coming old age/death • In the next stanza, the moths “fall” just like the narrator becomes too old or sick