"A Summer Evening" is an Italian sonnet written by Alfred Tennyson Turner, the brother of the more famous poet, Alfred, Lord Tennyson. An explication—that is, a line-by-line explanation of the poem's meaning—follows.
It is a pleasantly warm evening right at dusk (gloaming) in June (line 3).
An "infant moon," either an early waxing or late waning crescent moon, is visible in the sky.
Perhaps the light seems eerie, since the poet uses the word "fraught," which usually implies oncoming danger or at least anxiety.
The narrator of the poem walks in a deserted garden and hears his footsteps echoing.
The narrator listens carefully and believes he hears the dew—that is, water condensing from the air onto the surfaces of the ground. This, of course, is hyperbole, for such a process is silent.
The poet personifies the forest and imagines that the dew disturbs the sleep of the quiet woods.
The poet rethinks his previous assumption and wonders whether he is hearing the stir of insects instead. (Lines 7-8)
Many of the colors of the scene have now faded because the light is growing dim. (Lines 8-9)
Any birds that are flying are doing so in a calm fashion.
Even a hunting bat seems to be doing so stealthily, rather than quickly or powerfully.
The bat leaves its home and flies away noiselessly—as silently as a falling snowflake.
The bat dips and soars over the quiet thickets of trees.
The bat flies in a repetitive pattern.
The overall meaning of the poem, then, is that the poet is observing dusk fall over a quiet country scene. A mood of calm pervades the poem, despite some hints at anxiety (fraught, lonely, and bat). The poem is sufficiently ambiguous that one reader might feel relaxed after reading it, while another might feel vaguely on edge.
https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/summer-twilight
Monday, January 29, 2018
Write an explication for "Summer Twilight."
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