[ENG] Stormcock in elder quotes & analysis

Author

Ruth Pitter

Main idea

• Details a dramatic scene of a Stormcock singing beautifully through a dark day

• Stormcock acts as a herald, provides spiritual nourishment to the speaker

Main themes

• Herald, faith, religion

• Hope

• Celebration of nature

• Resilience

Significance of the choice of bird

Stormcock is also known as Mistle thrush, a bird known for singing even during bad weather & bad times 

• this displays persistence as it’s a symbol of spiritual or admirable strength amid hardship 

Effect of iambics

• The iambic rhythm reflects the ‘throbbing throat’ of the bird 

• Thick sound patterning with plosives, alliteration to create a cacophony effect and therefore strengthen the audiences impression of the bird and its rhythmic song

Effect of stanzaic form

• ABABCC

• Regularity & predictable form show how speakers troubled soul gets a sense of harmony from the birds song

“dark hermitage, aloof / From the World’s sight and the worlds sound”

• Suggests loneliness, speaker finds the solitude disturbing

• Personification of “World” suggests speakers belief in divine design

“groped along the shelf for bread/but found celestial food instead”

• “Bread” —> Enriching life

• The speakers poverty and hunger is a metaphor for spiritual impoverishment. Suggests speaker views the bird as spiritual nourishment. 

• Depicts how seeing the bird is seen as a revelation, enlightenment. 

“for suddenly close at my ear”

• Intensifier “Suddenly”

• Marks change of tone from quiet/isolated to energetic and lively

• Volta

“loud, loud and wild with wintry glee”

• Contrast/Juxtaposition with stanza 1

• Marks birds intrusion into speakers secluded life

• Tripartite structure

“unfailing chorister”

• Metaphor that shows the bird as a angelic or godly spirit 

• Religious diction 

• Chorister - choir singer who leads in a church congregation 

• Shows that the bird has honed its craft (singing) over many years 

“burst out in pride of poetry”

• Birds song has an inspirational, moving effect

• Intentionally written or composed to remedy the speakers’ melancholy

• Allterative ‘p’ creates sense of rejuvenation

Lexical clutter : “found”, “saw”, “spied”

• Further emphasize this idea of a revelation, discovery 

• Rare sighting

Effect of physical descriptions in stanza 3

• Concrete images

• Plosive alliteration used to strengthen impression of bird/song

• Visual, tactile senses

“the large eye ringed with many a ray”

• Allusion to divine design

• “Ray” —> connotations of religious enlightenment

• Complimented by alliteration sequences to convey speakers impression

• Assonance (A/Y) to create euphony —> Harmonious and uplifting

“minion feathers, finely laid”

• Assonance (A/Y) to create euphony —> Harmonious and uplifting

“how strongly used, how subtly made”

• Juxtaposition —> “strongly” and “subtly”

• Alludes to skilful creator (god)

• Anaphora of ‘How’ emphasises sheer awe and admiration

“scale, the sinew and the claw”

• Precise diction indicates close, detailed, intimate knowledge of the bird —> Indicates enlightened mind, contrasts with previous

• Tripartite structure

• Sibilant S, assonant AY —> Euphonic patterns

Lexical clutter : “silver”, “sequins”, “spots”

• Suggests the bird has been deliberately adorned with figments of purity and beauty 

• Use of precious metals implies the bird is precious and rare and offers value to the speaker

"brindled flower”

• Figurative language —> Shows the bird as a symbol for something more than itself

“full-fed in february and dressed/like a rich merchant at a feast”

• This line in the 6th stanza mirrors the very first stanza, which frames the speaker as having spiritual hunger (Cyclical structure)

• Suggests the speaker, upon seeing/hearing the stormcock, is now fully-fed, nourished within. 

• “Rich” and “feast” implies the bird has given her more than she ever could have wanted, and she is now rich not in money but in spirituality. 

“as bright as gabriel to smile”

• Simile comparing the bird to gabriel; known to be god’s messenger or herald. 

• This shows how the stormock fulfils the role of a godly sentiment to the speaker

• This portrays the stormcock as a revelation, a spiritual turning point in the speakers  previously dark and lonely life