Theodore Roethke examines the difficult thinking in his poem “Elegy for Jane.” At first, the speaker’s tone was nostalgic, honest, and pleasant, evoking wonderful recollections of the speaker and Jane. However, as the piece went, the tone shifted from warm, honest poetry to a dreary, somber piece. The speaker opens the poem by reflecting on Jane, both as a person and as a performer, using descriptive language such as “sidelong pickerel grin” and “bright syllables sprung for her.” She even acknowledges her singing in the second stanza. When she’s sad, she even goes so far as to talk about her low points and deep feelings. Wet stones and moss are utilized to imply that the speaker has no notion where he wants to go next and that his sorrowful feelings are inconsolable. In the last lyric, the speaker recognizes that they have “no rights in this manner,” displaying signs of acceptance and honest thoughts.
The message might be that you never know what you have until it’s gone, with the speaker reflecting on his true feelings for the girl and finally expressing them after her death. In the first stanza, the speaker explains Jane’s actions and descriptions. In the second stanza, he continues to highlight her bad times when she is despondent. Jane’s sorrow and the deep depression she had fallen into are described in the third line. In the poem’s final two stanzas, the speaker pines for Jane and wishes she could return from her “sleep,” despite the reality that she cannot. I’m aware that the speaker is writing an elegy in which he expresses his grief over his former pupil Jane’s death. Jane’s death has greatly affected poet Roethke, who hopes he could bring her back to life. My heart is filled with sadness when I read this poetry. With lines like “My sparrow, you are not her,” the poem’s tone intensifies the speaker’s grief throughout. “If only I could jolt you out from your slumber,” she adds. This statement is a technique for evoking the speaker’s emotion and allowing the reader to feel the speaker’s sadness. The poem’s theme, I assume, is “death,” because the speaker is remembering Jane after her death. Despite the fact that he recognizes the permanency and change of death, he cares deeply for her and wishes for her return.
The shape of the poem reflects the odd nature of the poetry. Elegies are frequently written in ABAB rhyme pattern elegiac stanzas. The comforting emotion at the end of the poem is common in elegies. Roethke, on the other hand, achieves neither of these goals, instead underlining that this is an elegy in the title. The title has no bearing on the meaning of the poem after reading it because it is written in the form of an elegy.
Under the line, (My pupil, hurled by a horse) is said, hinting that the speaker is a teacher. The first sentence read, “A wren, pleased, tail into the wind, her song shaking the branches and tiny trees. Jane is referred to as a wren in this line. Most wrens are small and quiet, save for their loud and often intricate songs. Despite her nervousness, Jane is rather outspoken in this presentation. As soon as she began speaking, she expressed her delight in her thoughts. These lines might be a reference to the speaker addressing her in class and her correctly answering. When Jane was happy, she sang like a bird with its tail in the wind; her singing was so loud that it made little trees quiver.
Through words and visuals, the author describes Jane’s personality and the influence she had on others. The first verse’s goal is to paint a vivid picture of Jane. Roethke describes her hair as “neck curls, hanging, and moist tendrils” and her grin as “pickerel.” In the second lyric, Roethke compares Jane to “a wren, thrilled, tail towards the breeze.” Throughout the poem, Roethke relates Jane to birds, or, to put it another way, he uses nature imagery. As a result, he avoids describing his feelings for Jane in sexualized terms. Jane is seen as a person, not a beauty, by the readers. In some aspects, the author seems to be overcompensating by frequently highlighting his platonic relationship with Jane. He does this by employing unromantic, neutral bird metaphors and stating unequivocally that he is not her lover.
Roethke incorporates a variety of literary motifs in ‘Elegy for Jane.’ Personification, metaphor, and simile are examples of this, although they aren’t the only ones. Personification is initially visible at the end of the first stanza, when the speaker pictures nature singing with her, talking to her, and adoring her. Metaphors and similes play an important role in this piece. Throughout the novel, Roethke employs nature-related images to depict Jane’s personality. Although some are more difficult to put into practice than others, they are all beneficial. He compares her sorrow to storing the “clearest water” in the second stanza, for example. He compares her to a clean pool of water that has become disturbed due to her unhappiness. Alliteration is also present in the third sentence, “cannot console.”
Works Cited
Roethke, Theodore. “Elegy for Jane.” Selected Poems. London: Faber and Faber 25 (1969).
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