Analysis of Spring Night

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Many type of literatures expressed in more than one way in how to understand it. Those ways in order to understand particular literature called approach. In this case, poetry written by very well-known American poet, named Sara Teasdale. Sara Teasdale respected by all her wonderful works. Her poetries continued to be admired by many reader all over the world. One of those following reasons was very beautiful way she expressed her talent into it.
Spring Night was created in same way as well as her other poetry. Of course as if beautifulness is one of her special character, Spring Night got this elements that embodied its entire stanzas. At the end, once again her readers got impressed from how wonderful the poetry was. All of those impression getting well as we appreciated by understand it by using biographical approach. What does this kind of this approach deal with Spring Night ? Well, we could not really tell until we proceed to next chapter.

CHAPTER II DISCUSSION
2.1 Definition of Biographical Approach Biographical approach is somehow close to what we called as historical approach. This type of approach is kind of approach that used to understand poem by looking at author’s life. By knowing her / his past, we as readers might be able to interpreted what its theme or what kind of idea did the poet what to showed up.
Commonly biographical approach tell the reader closely about the author or writter’s past life. Because single poetry could be interpreted in many meaning by using different approaches, it possible that the result of interpreting got off of the rail. But anticipating using several poetry in one could help us to determine which result suit the poetry best.
In this case, although using usual way to interpreted Spring Night already impressed us with its beautifulness, by using biographical approach, we realize the poetry carried deeper meaning we never expected.
2.2 Poetry Basic Versification a. Rhythm
Spring Night (from Rivers to The Sea, 1915)
First Stanza
Park is filled with night and fog, (A)
The veils are drawn about the world, (B)
The drowsy lights along the paths (C)
Are dim and pearled. (D)
Second Stanza
Gold and gleaming the empty streets, (A)
Gold and gleaming the misty lake. (B)
The mirrored lights like sunken swords, (A)
Glimmer and shake. (B)
Third Stanza
Oh, is it not enough to be (A)
Here with this beauty over me ? (A)
My throat should ache with praise, and I (B)
Should kneel in joy beneath the sky. (B)
Oh beauty, are you not enough ? (C)
Why am I crying after love (C)
With youth, a singing voice, and eyes (D)
To take earth’s wonder with surprise ? (D)
Fourth Stanza
Why have I put off my pride, (A)
Why am I unsatisfied- (A)
I, for whom the pensive night (B)
Binds her cloudy hair with light- (B)
I, for whom all beauty burns (C)
Like incense in a million urns ? (C)
O beauty, are you not good enough ? (D)
Why I crying after love ? (D)
Sara Teasdale

There is no repeating sound in first stanza (ABCD). The first stanza leads with no spesific rhythm. But it is not same for second stanza. It follows with cross-like pattern as AB,AB. For third and fourth rhythm are entirely different. Its pattern follows same sound from previous line and start in different sound with same process (AA,BB,CC,DD). b. Rhyme 1. Perfect Rhyme and Half Rhyme
As for rhythm in poetry that sounds identical, neither perfect nor half rhyme does not exists in first stanza. In second stanza and others, particular rhyme occurs which shows below :
Second Stanza Streets and swords (first and third lines) are half rhyme. lake and shake (second and fourth lines) are perfect rhyme
Third Stanza be and me (first and second lines) are half rhyme.
I and sky (third and fourth lines) are half rhyme. enough and love (fifth and sixth lines) are perfect rhyme. eyes and surprise (seventh and eighth) are perfect rhyme.
Fourth Stanza
Pride and unsatisfied- (first and second lines) are half rhyme. night and light- (third and fourth lines) are perfect rhyme. burns and urns (fifth and sixth lines) are perfect rhyme. enough and love (seventh and eighth lines) are perfect ryhme.

2. Feminime and Masculine Rhyme
Feminime rhyme deals with stressed and followed identical unstressed syllable of sounds. As for this poetry :
First Stanza, drowsy. Second Stanza, gleaming, empty, misty, sunken. Third Stanza, beauty, singing, beneath, after. Fourth Stanza, unsatisfied-, cloudy.
Meanwhile masculine rhyme deals with unstressed and followed identical stressed syllable of sound. As for this poetry :
Second Stanza, mirrored, glimmer. Third Stanza, enough, after, surprise, wonder. Fourth Stanza, incense, pensive, million.

3. Rhyme Scheme
As for first stanza its rhyme scheme is ABCD. Second stanza is ABAB, third rhyme is AABBCCDD. Lastly, fourth stanza is AABBCCDD. c. Accent, Kind of Foot and Metrical Line
First Stanza
The park is filled with night and fog, lambic tetrameter
The veils are drawn about the world, lambic tetrameter
The drowsy lights along the paths lambic tetrameter
Are dim and pearled. lambic dimeter
Second Stanza
Gold and gleaming the empty streets, trochaic tetrameter
Gold and gleaming the misty lake. trochaic tetrameter
The mirrored lights like sunken swords, lambic tetrameter
Glimmer and shake. trochaic dimeter
Third Stanza
Oh, is it not enough to be trochaic tetrameter
Here with this beauty over me ? trochaic tetrameter
My throat should ache with praise, and I lambic tetrameter
Should kneel in joy beneath the sky. lambic tetrameter
Oh beauty, are you not enough ? lambic trimeter
Why am I crying after love lambic tetrameter
With youth, a singing voice, and eyes lambic tetrameter
To take earth’s wonder with surprise ? anapestic tetrameter
Fourth Stanza
Why have I put off my pride, trochaic trimeter
Why am I unsatisfied- trochaic trimeter
I, for whom the pensive night trochaic trimeter
Binds her cloudy hair with light- trochaic trimeter
I, for whom all beauty burns trochaic trimeter
Like incense in a million urns ? anapestic trimeter
Oh beauty, are you not enough ? lambic tetrameter
Why am I crying after love lambic tetrameter d. Stanzaic Form Judge from its stanzas, this poetry has probably two stanzaic form. First and second stanzas are quatrain. Third and Fourth stanzas are octave.

2.3. Biography of Sara Trevor Teasdalec (The Author)

Enlarge Picture

Sara Trevor Teasdale was born on August 8, 1884 in St. Louis Missouri. She was the youngest child of Mary Elizabeth Willard and John Warren Teasdale. At the time of Sara 's birth, Mary was 40, and John was 45. Teasdale had three other siblings. She had two brothers, George, who was the oldest child at 20, and John Warren Jr., was was 14. Teasdale also had a sister, named Mary (she was fondly called "Maime"), and she was 17. Mary loved her sister Sara and took very good care of her. Sara was named after her grandmother. Teasdale 's first word was "pretty". According to her mother, Sara 's love of pretty things was what inspired her poetry..

Teasdale was always very frail, and caught diseases easily. For most of her life, she had a nurse companion that took care of her. Teasdale grew up in a sheltered atmosphere. She was the youngest child. Because of that, she was spoiled and waited on like a princess. She never had to do normal chores, like make her bed, or do the dishes. She was known to have described herself as "a flower in a toiling world". Because she was so sickly, she was homeschooled until she was nine. She never had communication with her peers. Teasdale grew up around adults. She was forced to amuse heself with stories and things that she made up in her own lonesome world. When Teasdale was ten, she had the first communication with her peers. Her parents sent her to Miss Ellen Dean Lockwood 's school for boys and girls. When she was fourteen, she went to Mary Institute. She didn 't graduate there, but switched to Hosmer Hall when she was fifteen. There, she began to put the thoughts and dreams that amused her as a girl onto paper. Thus, she wrote her first poem. Teasdale 's first published poem was "Reedy 's Mirror", and it was published in a local newspaper. Her first collection, "Sonnets to Duse and Other Poems", was published in 1907. In 1911, her second collection, "Sonnets to Duse and Other Poems" was published. She published many other collections including "Rivers to the Sea", "Love Songs", "Flame and Shadow", "Dark of the Moon", "Stars To-night", and finally, "Strange Victory".

Teasdale married her sweetheart Ernst Filsinger in 1914. They had a happy marriage, but it was too good to last. They divorced in 1929, and lived the rest of her life only for her poetry. Sara was always frail and sickly, but in 1933, Teasdale caught chronic pneumonia and it weakened her not only in body but also in mind and spirit. No longer able to see the beauty in simple things, Teasdale committed suicide at age 48 in New York, NY on January 29, 1933. Her final book of poetry was published that year.

Teasdale 's works continue to be admired by poets everywhere. Her works show us what a lovely person she was, and how much she appreciated the beautiful things about life. Her love for beautiful things appeared in her poetry. She was a very talented poet, and we are glad she shared her talent with us.

2.4 Analysis Poetry
1. Title
Spring Night contains a descriptive admiration to nature’s beauty of an evening in the park of springtime, and wonders why enjoying that natural beauty isn 't enough for her. She wonders why she makes herself unhappy by wishing she had a lover, instead of just letting herself be happy that she lives in such a beautiful world. We can see from the several lines like:
The park is filled with night and fog ( taman yg dipenuhi dengan malam dan kabut)
Gold and gleaming the empty street (berwarna emas dan berkilauan di jalan sepi)
Gold and gleaming the misty lake (warnanya keemasan dan berkilau di danau berkabut)
Here with this beauty over me ( di sini bersama keindahan di atasku)
O beauty, is it not enough to be? (O keindahan, masih belum cukupkah)
Why am I crying after love? (mengapa aku harus menangis karena cinta?)
Why am I unsatisfied? (mengapa aku masih belum puas)
2. Theme
The theme of this poem is loneliness of love or perhaps it somethings deals with feeling of sadness by having no one who would enjoy the beautifulness of spring night beside the author. At first glance, this poem tends to show how beautiful a spring night is. It was revealed in first and second of stanza. In those stanza, the author described a scene of soft spring night in the park and foggy lake. Beautifulness of first and second stanza caried out in outmost impression. One single word could represent all of those is just beauty.
Although, at the end, third and fourth stanza delivered entirely different story. By having scene in the park and lake described in one word, beauty, the author impressed the readers by referring beauty isn’t enough to stop her crying after love.
Through biographical approach, it was turned out she really appreciated the beautiful thing about life. Much as she represented her admiration in first and second stanzas. But those beauty cannot satisfied her because she felt it was not enough. There is something missing. There are something need to filled little gap in her heart. Feeling of love by having someone dear to her. Feeling of loneliness by having no one she love beside her.

3. Atmosphere
Mood and Tone
The writer and the reader feel awe and praise, relaxed and calm and should be grateful to God by looking at the beautiful world. She saw the beauty around her. Sometime feel unhappy and unsatisfied because having no love in life. It can be seen from such as line below: the drowsy lights along the path : cahaya keterlenaan di sepanjang jalan are dim and pearled : redup dan terkikis
Gold and gleaming the emty street : berwarna keemasan dan berkilau di jalan kosong
Here with this beauty over me : di sini di bersama keindahan di atasku
Why am I unsatified ; mengapa aku masih tidak puas?
Why am I crying after love : mengapa aku harus menangis demi cinta?

4. Point of View
a. The writer is the first person. She knows everything around her, what the park image, how does the street like, the lake, all beauty around her. She stated her self with “I”.
b. Nature’s beauty, we can see from the imagery by using nature material such as, night, fog, lake, sky, street, etc.
c. Love, how the author feeling in her love. We can see from “why am I crying after love?”
d. Religion, “My throat should ache with praise, and I Should kneel in joy beneath the sky.
The bold word refer to thankful to God as the creator of the sky and the universe.
e. Biographical, this poem picture a little bit story of the author (Sara Teasdale) who love pretty/beauty things and created that poem. She had a sad love story, divorced with her husband. (see in biography of Sara Teasdale)

5. Imagery
The imageries in this poem are the description of nature. They can be seen in several words such as: the park, night, fog, the path, street, misty lake, the sky, etc.

6. Figurative
The veils are drawn about the world = personification
The mirrored light like sunken swords = alletiration
My throat should ache with praise = hyperbola
Oh beauty, are you not enough ? = apostrophe
To take earth’s wonder with surprise = hyperbola

7. Symbol
Some of the symbols contain in this poem are :
Night and fog : wavering heart.
Empty street : loneliness
Misty lake : wavering heart
Sunken sword : two side of one personality
Gold : the color of light, precious and worthful
The mirrorred lights : the reflection of light
Kneel : thankful/grateful
The sky : refers to God
Beauty : one word to described how amazing is the scene she saw of.
8. Summary
In this poem the author would like to express her admiration to the nature’s beauty. But sadly all of those unable to take off her heart from feeling lonely because no one beside her.
9. Analyze of every stanza
The park is filled with night and fog,
The veils are drawn about the world, the scene is a soft spring night in the park. The
The drowsy lights along the paths lamp street along the path is dimly shining.
Are dim and pearled.

Gold and gleaming the empty streets,
Gold and gleaming the misty lake, the dimly shining of light like gold on the foggy
The mirrored lights like sunken swords, and reflect in the water like sunken sword. It glimmer
Glimmer and shake. and shake gently as the water ripples in the night

Oh, is it not enough to be
Here with this beauty over me?
My throat should ache with praise, and I
Should kneel in joy beneath the sky.
Oh, beauty are you not enough? Why am I crying after love
With youth, a singing voice and eyes
To take earth 's wonder with surprise?

Why have I put off my pride,
Why am I unsatisfied,
I for whom the pensive night
Binds her cloudy hair with light,
I for whom all beauty burns
Like incense in a million urns?
Oh, beauty, are you not enough?
Why am I crying after love?

CHAPTER III
CONCLUSION

Biographical approach is somehow close to what we called as historical approach. This type of approach deals with something that related between the poet’s particular life and poetry itself. By knowing her / his past, we as readers might be able to interpreted what its theme or what kind of idea did the poet what to showed up.
By understanding particular poem with biographical approach, we as reader realized the theme that poet wished to deliver have deeper meaning that expected. Also at first glance, poem tends to deceived the reader but it turned out its hidden meaning showed much as long as we know how to discover by using right approach.
.

REFERENCES

How To Analize Poetry. Reaske Russel Christopher. Department of English Havard University.
On Wings of Verse. 1985. Malkoc Maria Anna. English Education Division Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affair. United States Information Agency. Washington D.C. http:www.reelyredd.us/sara_teasdale. http://awinlanguage.blogspot.com/2012/03/biographical-approach-to-analyze.html http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/sara_teasdale

References: How To Analize Poetry. Reaske Russel Christopher. Department of English Havard University. On Wings of Verse. 1985. Malkoc Maria Anna. English Education Division Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affair. United States Information Agency. Washington D.C. http:www.reelyredd.us/sara_teasdale. http://awinlanguage.blogspot.com/2012/03/biographical-approach-to-analyze.html http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/sara_teasdale