‘Tichborne’s Elegy’

1. ‘Tichborne’s Elegy’ Chidiock (Charles) Tichborne

2. Repetitive structure. What’s the effect of this? The sun usually represents life & happiness. Immediately introduces his youth. It’s blunt to create a contrast with the message of death. • My prime of youth is but a frost of cares, • My feast of joy is but a dish of pain, • My crop of corn is but a field of tares, • And all my good is but vain hope of gain; • The day is past, and yet I saw no sun, • And now I live, and now my life is done. Negative imagery Why did he hope to gain from his good? Food imagery. “Feast” usually suggests celebration, creating a contrast with approaching events. He can only gain from his good deeds in Heaven now.

3. What do you think this could be referring to? Why repeat ‘and yet’? What does it emphasise? A possible link to the fall of Adam and Eve. • My tale was heard and yet it was not told, • My fruit is fallen, and yet my leaves are green, • My youth is spent and yet I am not old, • I saw the world and yet I was not seen; • My thread is cut and yet it is not spun, • And now I live, and now my life is done. Traditional metaphors for death & youth. Reference to Greek mythology. The Fates cut your thread (life) at the appropriate time. What could this line suggest? This is the only 2 syllable word – what is the effect of this poem being monosyllabic?

4. The rhyme highlights the contrast of these two words. Like Cares / Tares (weeds); Pain / Gain Contrast of the beginning & end of life. Does this sound like he wanted to die? • I sought my death and found it in my womb, • I looked for life and saw it was a shade, • I trod the earth and knew it was my tomb, • And now I die, and now I was but made; • My glass is full, and now my glass is run, • And now I live, and now my life is done. Suggests some consolation in the idea of fate. Written in Iambic Pentameter with an a b a b c c rhyme scheme.

5. Comparing ‘Tichborne’s Elegy’ to... • ‘On my first Sonne’ – theme of death • ‘Mid-Term Break’ – theme of death • ‘On the Train’ – theme of death • ‘The Man He Killed’ – use of irony • ‘Follower’ – use of irony • ‘October’ – theme of death & use of imagery • ‘Perch’ – use of imagery • ‘Inversnaid’ – use of imagery

6. ‘The Song of the Old Mother’ William Butler Yeats

7. William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats was born in Ireland in 1865. His father and brother were famous painters, but Yeats chose to concentrate on literature, composing poetry, editing the poems of others (including William Blake) and writing plays. He was fascinated by the history and culture of Ireland, particularly its folklore, and went on to become involved in Irish politics - he was a nationalist and wanted Ireland to be self-governing. This poem was written in 1899, so is one of his earlier poems. It reflects his interest in the Irish peasantry.

8. Perspective of the old mother. Shows how long she works. The use of a list makes the work seem endless & monotonous. I rise in the dawn, and I kneel and blow Till the seed of the fire flicker and glow; And then I must scrub and bake and sweep Till stars are beginning to blink and peep; And the young lie long and dream in their bed Of the matching of ribbons for bosom and head, And their day goes over in idleness, And they sigh if the wind but lift a tress: While I must work because I am old, And the seed of the fire gets feeble and cold. Alliteration emphasises the unfairness of this. Trivial matters compared to the mother Shallow & selfish concerns. The fire is a metaphor for the old woman, who is approaching the end of her life. Seems unfair. The young should look after the old, not the other way round.

9. The use of rhyming couplets make the poem seem repetitive which emphasises the repetitive nature of the woman’s work. The poem is only written in one sentence. This makes the poem seem like a long list of the old mother’s troubles, making them seem worse & never ending. As well as this the end of the sentence, like the fire growing “feeble and cold”, is a metaphor for the end of the mother’s life.

10. Comparing ‘The Song of the Old Mother’ to... • ‘The Affliction of Margaret’ – attitudes to others, parent / child relationship • ‘Baby-sitting’ – attitudes to others • ‘Digging’ – attitudes to others • ‘Mid-Term Break’ – use of first person, strong emotions • ‘Tichborne’s Elegy’ – use of imagery • ‘October’ – use of imagery • ‘Follower’ – Parent / child relationship • ‘Catrin’ – Parent / child relationship