Sunday, February 17, 2013

Analysis of Lord Byron's "All Is Vanity, Saieth the Preacher"

Lord Byron
All is Vanity, Saieth the Preacher
Analysis of Close Reading
Fame, wisdom, love, and power were mine,
And health and youth possess’d me;
My goblets blush’d from every vine,
And lovely forms carress’d me; (4)
I sunn’d my heart in beauty’s eyes,
And felt my soul grow tender;
All earth can give, or mortal prize,
Was mine of regal splendour. (8)
 
I strive to number o’er what days
Remembrance can discover,
Which all that life or earth displays
Would lure me to live over. (12)
There rose no day, there roll’d no hour
Of pleasure unembitter’d;
And not a trapping deck’d my power
That gall’d not while it glitter’d. (16)
 
The serpent of the field, by art
And spells, is won from harming;
But that which coils around the heart,
Oh! Who hath the power of charming? (20)
It will not list to wisdom’s lore,
Nor music’s voice can lure it;
But there it stings for evermore
The soul that must endure it. (24)
  • Rhyme scheme
    • ABABCDCD
  • Foreshadow
    • "Fame, wisdom, love, and power were mine" (Byron 1)
    • Foreshadows the loss of a standard of living
  • Dramatic irony
    • The preacher has induced his own demise (not being thankful for the material commodities)
    • A preacher is a messenger of God's holiness, someone who devotes his life to living in God's image
      • The preacher shows remorse for his past mistakes
  • Vulnerability of humans
  • External beauty used to be of the utmost pertinence
  • Personification
    • "And health and youth possess'd me" (Byron 2)
      • Regression of the speaker
      • An inability to stop and learn from his past mistakes
    • "Remembrance can discover" (Byron 10)
      • Preacher blames his conscience for a loss of memories
      • Shows remorse for the ulalterable past
  • Alliteration
    • "Would lure me to live over" (Byron 12)
      • Hastens pacing of poem
        • Added emphasis
  • Repentance of sins
  • Verbal irony
    • The preacher is supposed to be of a higher morality
  • Paradox
    • "That gall'd not while it glitter'd" (Byron 16)
      • Contradicts his prominence with distcontent
        • Ungratious
        • Immature
  • Human condition
    • Is to make mistakes
      • Learn from previous mistakes
  • World is devoid of hope
    • Incapable of change
  • Gothic imagery
    • Snakes, indicative of evil, can corrupt human nature
  • Rhetorical question
    • "who hath power of charming?" (Byron 20)
    • Highlights internal struggle of preacher
      • The preacher understands the desire for atonement
  • An undetermined quality can lead to the salvation of the preacher
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1 comment:

  1. UnknownMarch 1, 2013 at 4:57 AM

    For some reason when I was reading the poem you chose, “All is Vanity, Saieth the Preacher” by Lord Bryon, I was reminded of the Great Gatsby, at a man who had it all, and surrounded himself with material items that left him both unfulfilled and alone. This can be shown from the line “fame, wisdom, love, and power were mine, / And health and youth possess’d me; / My goblets blush’d from every vine, / And lovely forms carress’d me; (4) / I sunn’d my heart in beauty’s eyes, / And felt my soul grow tender; / All earth can give, or mortal prize, / Was mine of regal splendour. (8)” His materialistic life has captured him through its immediate, yet empty, satisfaction, a satisfaction “which coils around the heart.” He addresses how enticing wealth and object can be, and says: “Oh! Who hath the power of charming?” (19-20). As you have already stated beside the poem, this displays the weakness and vulnerability of man, as well as the high importance put on external beauty instead of internal beauty.

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