Analysis Of The Poem Night By Tom Wainwright
This poem is written in first person perspective, expressing my love for my lover in a long-distance relationship. Being written in the form of Shakespearian sonnet, it strictly conforms to the end-rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. Composed by three quatrains and one couplet, it is basically an iambic pentameter, with variations in some lines.
The poem depicts the pain of being separated both in time and space respectively in the first two stanzas. The third stanza is where the “turn” appears. Although many Shakespearian sonnets put the turn at the couplet to suggest a conclusion, Wainwright mentions that “he often offers a distinct turn of thought after line 8 just as he sometimes waits…until the couplet before his idea develops and resolves” (Wainwright, 2011, 149). In order to change the addressing object from the long-distance relationship itself to the lover directly, I choose to put my turn after line 8. …show more content…
Compared with the former part, the third one and the couplet are more positive, revealing my undefeated confidence towards our future.
In the poem, I use many poetic devices to make it more interesting.
In the first stanza, by arranging two sets of opposing ideas within the same line (“black” “white” and “day” “night”), this antithesis constructs a sense of pain from separating. I apply synesthesia in line 4, connecting the bitterness of feeling to the bitterness of taste, to make the pain seem more tangible and real.
Reduplicated words are put here in line 5 and in line 13 to give the poem a far-reaching mood. By reading “Far far” and “Long long” aloud, these long syllables give the readers a more real feeling of the existed distance between the lovers. In line 7, I use a rhetoric question and answer it immediately in line 8. This suspense makes the poem less boring.
In stanza 3, by using anaphora at the beginning of the lines, the tone is amplified. As this stanza is a turn in the whole poem, two “same”s also change the emphasis from moaning the pain of separating to expressing the confidence in each other. Elisions here are to save the syllables to conform to the pentameter
standard.
There are many enjambements and caesuras in the poem. The enjambements make the flow of the poem more fluent. In stanza 3, the unstopped sentence presents a consistency in holding on to the relationship. Caesuras are mainly marked by commas in the poem. For example, the 2 pauses in stanza 3 are to emphasize the exact person being addressed.
As for the rhyme, there are many kinds of rhymes. Alliterations such as “Same sun shines” in line 9 and “Far far sway forever” in line 5. In line 2, “white nights” is an example of assonantal rhyme, which also appear at many ends of lines, such as line 5 and 7.
This poem is my first attempt, although it may seem superficial, it is what I feel right now.
The poem depicts the pain of being separated both in time and space respectively in the first two stanzas. The third stanza is where the “turn” appears. Although many Shakespearian sonnets put the turn at the couplet to suggest a conclusion, Wainwright mentions that “he often offers a distinct turn of thought after line 8 just as he sometimes waits…until the couplet before his idea develops and resolves” (Wainwright, 2011, 149). In order to change the addressing object from the long-distance relationship itself to the lover directly, I choose to put my turn after line 8. …show more content…
Compared with the former part, the third one and the couplet are more positive, revealing my undefeated confidence towards our future.
In the poem, I use many poetic devices to make it more interesting.
In the first stanza, by arranging two sets of opposing ideas within the same line (“black” “white” and “day” “night”), this antithesis constructs a sense of pain from separating. I apply synesthesia in line 4, connecting the bitterness of feeling to the bitterness of taste, to make the pain seem more tangible and real.
Reduplicated words are put here in line 5 and in line 13 to give the poem a far-reaching mood. By reading “Far far” and “Long long” aloud, these long syllables give the readers a more real feeling of the existed distance between the lovers. In line 7, I use a rhetoric question and answer it immediately in line 8. This suspense makes the poem less boring.
In stanza 3, by using anaphora at the beginning of the lines, the tone is amplified. As this stanza is a turn in the whole poem, two “same”s also change the emphasis from moaning the pain of separating to expressing the confidence in each other. Elisions here are to save the syllables to conform to the pentameter
standard.
There are many enjambements and caesuras in the poem. The enjambements make the flow of the poem more fluent. In stanza 3, the unstopped sentence presents a consistency in holding on to the relationship. Caesuras are mainly marked by commas in the poem. For example, the 2 pauses in stanza 3 are to emphasize the exact person being addressed.
As for the rhyme, there are many kinds of rhymes. Alliterations such as “Same sun shines” in line 9 and “Far far sway forever” in line 5. In line 2, “white nights” is an example of assonantal rhyme, which also appear at many ends of lines, such as line 5 and 7.
This poem is my first attempt, although it may seem superficial, it is what I feel right now.