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A Nocturnal Upon St Lucy's Day, Being the Shortest Day - Coggle Diagram
A Nocturnal Upon St Lucy's Day, Being the Shortest Day
Language
Light and dark Imagery
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'tis the year's midnight, and it is the day's Lucy's' - darkness: feels dark because of her death.
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'nor will my sun renew' - no more light, could be pun on family member of 'sun'
'as a shadow, a light and body must be here' - uses light imagery to reflect his emptiness
Motif of Death
'is sunk', 'hath drunk', 'is shrunk' - use of passive verbs in past tense enforce ideas about a lack of life
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'yet all these seem to laugh, compared with me, who am their epitaph' - headstone inscription enforces death image
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'and often absences withdrew our souls, and makes us carcasses' - doesn't feel alive without her; sibilance enhances sense of silence
'I am re-begot of absence, darkness, death' tricolon of death is oxymoronic to 'rebegot'
Ideas of love
'I, by love's limbeck' -metaphysical image of distilling object suggests a purity of love
'drowned the whole world, us two' - strength of their emotions had capability to override all other feelings
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Context
Potentially written about his wife Ann Moore, who died in childbirth when giving birth to their twelfth child OR Lady Russell, his patron
St Lucy's is the shortest day of the year with the longest night, but afterwards there is more light
As a priest, Donne would be aware of the meaning of Lucy
Structure
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irregular line lengths remove a heavy over-regular rhythm, creating a sense of peace
Themes and Comparison
Sadness: Valediction of Weeping, Going to the Wars
Use of weather to reflect emotion: The Sun Rising, Imagined Corners