An August Midnight

juxtaposition of stillness vs movement

“waving”

“beat”

“enter”

“idly stands”

“rubs”

“still place”

“besmear”

sematic field of seclusion

“a shaded lamp”

“a distant floor”

“point in space”

form of the poem

a lyric poem - suggesting the speaker is musing on a feeling

“A shaded lamp and a waving blind,”

• secrecy implied through setting

• “shaded and blind” - stressing the ignorance of humanity

“the beat of a clock from a distant floor:”

• setting - seclusion, isolated

• establishing the soundscape/ rhythm of the poem - moving towards an epiphany

“On this scene enter - winged, horned and spined”

• theatrical tone - two act/ stanza structure, reinforcing the falsehood of life - it is scripted - in turn personifies insects as actors

• costuming - mythical, other-worldly quality to the insects

“A sleepy fly, that rubs its hands …”

fly as omnipresent

• sibilance reflecting the privacy and seclusion of the moment and softness of nature

• ellipses slows pace - also suggests themes not just confined to the poem

“in this still place”

• ambiguity to the setting

• or stillness - temporal marker

• suggesting a unity in liminal moment

“At this point of time, at this point in space.”

refrain

• space = ambiguous, conveys a specificity in sense of place

• if talking about outer space of this specific place - so microcosmic and macrocosmic - juxtaposition

“They know Earth-secrets that know not I”

• personifying earth

• metaphor/ hyperbole, emphasising how we should value and respect the power and knowledge of nature - humble poet

What the poem is really about

• appreciating the small moments/ the small things

• everything is transient

• valuing all aspects of nature

AO5 by Jeanette winterson on Hardy appreciating the small details

“He was a man who could hear the grass growing”