W.h Auden If i could tell you villanelle essay
Jamie maher 14530483
W.H Auden villanelle is a beautiful piece of poetry which holds true to that of a villanelle. His use of imagery , language, form and various themes show us a true great 20th century poet at work.
Language
This poem was written in 1940 during the second world war. This becomes evident through Audens language. In the first stanza he talks about the “price we have to pay”. This is in retrospect to the damage a war can cause, the poet wonders will he have to pay in damage or maybe his life. This adds heightened anxiety for the listener throughout the poem. By giving time a capital T Auden shows us how precious it is in an era of uncertaincy. Audens “If I could tell you I would” shows the poet doesn’t have complete power. He may reference the fact that if he does indeed die he’d tell you about the afterlife if he could. The language here shows how Auden is infact comtemplating the meaning of life and religious beliefs. He may be unsure what to believe as death is a possibility and wishes he could tell others, the anxiety is evident from the speaker in the poem.
IMAGERY
Auden almost paint live like pictures in our mind through his use of brilliant imagery, “if we should weep when clowns put on their show”, shows strong images of darkness. We see darkness and depressions inside the poets life. The poet cannot feel happy even at a comedy show like the circus. Possible the poet fears for the children during the war hence mentioning clowns who preform for children usually. The autumn imagery of seasons changing and leaves “decay” gives a sense of the end of love. The poet feels love is no longer and option with his life possible looming. The imagery of season changing leaves decaying in autumn and winter beginning shows a change. The change is natural as it happens in life regularly just like regularly love fails for people and like the changing of seasons sometimes love failing cannot be stopped its just a natural course of events in life. However
W.H Auden villanelle is a beautiful piece of poetry which holds true to that of a villanelle. His use of imagery , language, form and various themes show us a true great 20th century poet at work.
Language
This poem was written in 1940 during the second world war. This becomes evident through Audens language. In the first stanza he talks about the “price we have to pay”. This is in retrospect to the damage a war can cause, the poet wonders will he have to pay in damage or maybe his life. This adds heightened anxiety for the listener throughout the poem. By giving time a capital T Auden shows us how precious it is in an era of uncertaincy. Audens “If I could tell you I would” shows the poet doesn’t have complete power. He may reference the fact that if he does indeed die he’d tell you about the afterlife if he could. The language here shows how Auden is infact comtemplating the meaning of life and religious beliefs. He may be unsure what to believe as death is a possibility and wishes he could tell others, the anxiety is evident from the speaker in the poem.
IMAGERY
Auden almost paint live like pictures in our mind through his use of brilliant imagery, “if we should weep when clowns put on their show”, shows strong images of darkness. We see darkness and depressions inside the poets life. The poet cannot feel happy even at a comedy show like the circus. Possible the poet fears for the children during the war hence mentioning clowns who preform for children usually. The autumn imagery of seasons changing and leaves “decay” gives a sense of the end of love. The poet feels love is no longer and option with his life possible looming. The imagery of season changing leaves decaying in autumn and winter beginning shows a change. The change is natural as it happens in life regularly just like regularly love fails for people and like the changing of seasons sometimes love failing cannot be stopped its just a natural course of events in life. However