{"id":651,"date":"2021-09-08T23:32:28","date_gmt":"2021-09-09T03:32:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/?p=651"},"modified":"2021-09-08T23:32:28","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T03:32:28","slug":"the-inevitable-awareness-of-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/2021\/09\/08\/the-inevitable-awareness-of-death\/","title":{"rendered":"The Inevitable Awareness of Death"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michael Field\u2019s \u201cShe gathered me rue and roses\u201d from Underneath the Bough <\/em>uses repetitive binaries and intentional syntax to exhibit the central and unavoidable awareness of death when love is present (37).<\/p>\n

The verb \u201cmingled\u201d immediately draws a binary between \u201croses\u201d and \u201crue\u201d in the first line of the poem, revealing that they were apart before \u201cshe\u201d brought them together. Roses generally symbolize love, and the Oxford English Dictionary defines \u201crue\u201d as \u201csorrow\u201d and \u201cdistress\u201d (OED). \u201cShe\u201d not only serves as the beginning of the poem but is also syntactically associated with a \u201ccomplet[ed] bliss\u201d. \u201cShe\u201d, then, presents as the beloved of the speaker. Further, \u201csweet\u201d and \u201cbitter\u201d replace \u201croses\u201d and \u201crue\u201d as synonyms in the last sentence of each stanza and therefore take on the initial binary, building on their already opposing definitions. Between these two binaries, there is a consistent distinction between a concept affiliated with nature or love and a concept associated with sorrow. The way that both binaries begin apart and then come together alludes to the larger opposition between life and death, which the poem proposes feels very separate until you love someone. When love is present, death and sorrow feel both intimate and imminent.<\/p>\n

The almost identical syntax in the first and last lines of the stanzas point to the central and inevitable awareness of death. The only differences between the first lines are \u201cshe\u201d and \u201clife\u201d. Both, the poem says, \u201cmingle you rue and roses\u201d, or bring together love and death. The near but unsuccessful identicality of these lines presents the awareness of death on both a personal and universal level. \u201cShe\u201d caused this alignment for the speaker, but \u201clife\u201d, the piece proposes, will do it for you, too. \u00a0The last two lines of each stanza are also near-identical: the first reads \u201cthe bitter that lived with the sweet\u201d and the second, \u201cthe bitter will smell of the sweet\u201d. Both lines reinforce the intimacy between the binaries of love and death. Further, the use of both past and future tense in virtually the same line emphasizes the relativity of that intimacy.<\/p>\n

This moment directly relates to the whole of the text because it clings to the Pagan aestheticism throughout \u201cUnderneath the Bough\u201d that treats \u201cdeath as the dark twin of desire\u201d (Thain, Vadillo 113). Especially throughout Book 2, death is just as pertinent of a subject as love. Throughout Underneath the Bough <\/em>and \u201cShe gathered me rue and roses\u201d, love and an awareness of death come in unison.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael Field\u2019s \u201cShe gathered me rue and roses\u201d from Underneath the Bough uses repetitive binaries and intentional syntax to exhibit the central and unavoidable awareness of death when love is present (37). The verb \u201cmingled\u201d immediately draws a binary between \u201croses\u201d and \u201crue\u201d in the first line of the poem, revealing that they were apart … Continue reading The Inevitable Awareness of Death<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3837,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[145909],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2021-blog-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3837"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/403lit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}