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A song (Absent from thee) - Coggle Diagram
A song (Absent from thee)
Written during the restoration period- seen as a time of freedom and liveliness. A free and sexually liberal society. Embodied ideas of instantaneous gratification and the pursuit of pleasure.
Wilmot subverts traditional romantic tropes and conventions, using the form of a love poem and religious language to satirise traditional ideas of love.
This juxtaposition in language reflects the overwhelming message that carnal desires are entirely overpowering, and lust is a more potent force than love.
"Absent from thee, I langiush still, Then ask me not, when I return?"
The use of anastrophe places the emphasis on the speaker being away from his lover, as the speaker contends that his separation from his lover is the reason for his inner turmoil
"languish" could mean a lack of vitality, but it could also mean to be forced to stay in an unpleasant place or situation. This could perhaps be representative of the consequences of a life driven by impulse. The speaker argues that he is weak with longing, perhaps denoting his entitlement and the wholly consuming nature of male virility and desire.
The extended languid sounds further reinforce this ongoing sense of pain. The dramatised nature of this makes it seem disingenuous.
The cutting monosyllabic sounds of the second line directly juxtapose the extended sense of yearning, as the audience comes to question the nature of the relationship. His previous romantic conventions are immediately dispelled, depicting how male inability to resist temptation has corrupted the very fundamentals of love.
The structure of the poem is a clean, classic, love poem structure, with 4 stanzas arranged into quatrains. This allows him to subvert the expectations of the reader by satirising romantic tropes and love conventions. The speaker is not longing or loving, but instead is attempting to convince his lover to allow him to sleep around and engage in infidelity.
"The straying Fool, 'twill plainly kill"
The lexical choice 'straying' constructs a chasm between the speaker and his lover, perhaps representing how the speaker engages in self serving logic in order to justify his infidelity, depicting the power afforded to men to construct these twisted moral standards which compromise the very concept of love.
'straying' also connotes a sense of aimlessness, depicting the overconsumption and meaningless love which restoration era cultural practices encouraged.
The euphemistic language of 'fool' demonstrates how men failed to take accountability for their infidelity as it was encouraged and facilitated by social norms.
The monosyllabic 'kill' has this sense of finality, perhaps demonstrating the corruption of love and its purity whilst male entitlement and domination thrives. It is abrupt, hyperbolic.
'fool' he is trying to engineer himself some sympathy, justify his actions by presenting this front
"To thy safe bosom I retire/ Where love and peace and truth does flow,/ May I contented there expire."
The lexis 'retire' has connotations of peace and finality. The speaker will be allowed to return to his lover despite his twisted moral standards. The existential irony that his satirisation and corruption of love will have no consequences.
"expire" may represent death but also has connotations of sexual climax, denoting how she serves to satiate his every need- and is awarded no autonomy outside of this.
"To wish all day, all night to mourn"
Weaponises romantic tropes, insincere pining.