Analyzing the Theme of Transience using Two Poems
INTRODUCTION
The thematic analysis in poetry is an important aspect of their study because most poets have hidden messages they intended to communicate in their works. Edgar Allan Poe is one such poet whose ballad titled ‘Annabel Lee’ effuses the theme of transience in various ways. Similarly, William Wordsworth’s famed sonnet titled ‘The World is too Much with Us’, also points to some distinct and serious aspects of mutability in human society. This essay analyses the two poems from the perspective of transience with the intention of establishing its level of inevitability in human existence relative to reality.
TRANSIENCE IN ANNABEL LEE AND THE WORLD IS TOO MUCH WITH US
Renowned writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe wrote Annabel Lee to narrate the experiences and love of the narrator for his wife. Unfortunately, she passed on, but that did not change the love he had for her. The poem recounts all the sweet feelings he had for her while alive and reiterates them even after she is long dead. Therefore, Annabel Lee’s first depiction of the theme of transience is how the narrator’s wife passes on, but his love remains strong (Schmidgall 542). Transience or mutability relates to the capability of things or feelings in human society to pass on or go away leaving society with no choice but to move on as well. However, even as the narrator’s wife passed on which is mandatory for all human beings, his love for her remains stronger than ever. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
The passing of Annabel demonstrates the inevitable fate of all human beings. Although people can educate themselves, achieve great social, political, or even financial fetes, their fate is sealed in death. One of the most potent human emotions is love for a spouse, and the narrator’s attitude towards his dead wife perfectly exemplifies that. However, although his love seems endless and timeless, it fails to change the inevitability that human life is subject to mutability.
William Wordsworth himself defined mutability as the ability of various human and social creations to pass on just as we do after life has ended. His poem ‘This World is too Much with Us’ defines the changes that humanity has undergone in his quest for self-advancement. His love for material things such as wealth and power seems to be designed to outlive his life, but the inevitable truth is that human life is subject to transience (Ma 83). It does not matter how successful you are regarding political power, financial ability, or even physical might, and all human beings die at one time or another.
Wordsworth’s message in his poem was based on the need for human beings to realise the futility in relying on materialism too much. His attitude towards the changes that the Industrial Revolution caused testified to the need for human beings to change their attitude. Material wealth and all its underpinnings are transient, just like human life. The poet’s message was to remind human society that was quickly placing too much emphasis on material wealth about its true nature and the mutability of human life. Indeed, one should concentrate on personal development with the intention of living a fulfilled life free of vanity or failure.
THE ROLE OF BOTH POEMS IN ANSWERING THE QUESTION OF MORTALITY
Both poems seem to respond to the reality of transience in its role of reiterating the inevitability of human mortality. Edgar Allan Poe’s poem depicts the sweetness of true love. It exemplifies the potency of a true love projected from a husband to his wife. Although the love seems timeless and even all-powerful in the way it influences his mind, it fails to change the mutability of human life (Schmidgall 544). The narrator’s wife passed on leaving him lonely but still in love. However, strong his love for her was, it could not change the transient nature of human life. Even the strongest and sweetest human emotions cannot alter the inevitability of human mortality.
William Wordsworth’s poem also seems to reflect a direct response to the relationship between transience and the inevitability of human mortality. He castigates and warns human society for its fixation on materialism. He points out the vanity in such endeavours pointing out that human beings fixated on squandering their lives on acquiring material gains and spending them risk not enjoying the gifts of life (Ma 86). Regardless of one’s real accomplishment, their lives must end as intended by nature. Death is certain meaning that the fixation among human beings on material gains is an exercise in futility and sheer vanity.
THE TONES OF BOTH POEMS WITH REGARDS TO UNRELIEVED MISERY
Each of the two poems seems to use a different tone concerning communicating unrelieved misery. Annabel Lee depicted a man so, in love with his wife, he seems immune to the transient nature of human life and her death. However, human nature also handles loss rather badly meaning that although he was still in love with her, he must also have been in pain because of his loss. Edgar Allan Poe’s use of alliteration and repetition was not only to reiterate the narrator’s love for his dead wife but also to juxtapose this love with the sad reality that is her death and his loneliness. He may not seem to be in anguish, but real love and loss cannot exist in the same space without sadness or anguish. Therefore, Annabel Lee also communicates unrelieved misery albeit in a rather subtle manner.
Wordsworth’s poem, on the other hand, seems to have a different tone concerning misery. It does not depict personal loss or the anguish of a bereaved spouse. Instead, it castigates society for fixating on materialism while oblivious of the fact of life, which is human mortality. While Edgar Allan Poe’s poem took on a sombre tone to define the immunity of human mortality to love, Wordsworth takes on a more confrontational tone to warn his audience. He speaks about the vanity of relying too much on material gains and associated goals in a life where one’s ultimate end is death.
CONCLUSION
Most poems have hidden messages that their authors intend to communicate to the audience. Edgar Allan Poe’s work depicts a widower who continuously confesses his love for his dear departed wife. This poem exemplifies the theme of transience perfectly because the inevitable end of human life is oblivious to the existence of strong emotional attachments such as love and marriage. Similarly, Wordsworth’s poem exemplifies the vanity of human ambitions based on materialism whereby the ultimate fate is death. Both poems testify to the inevitability by exemplifying the mutability of human life.