The Elegy
Tiara, by Mark Doty, and The last night that she lived, by Emily Dickinson are both considered to be elegies. Before going to a dictionary or searching online, write your own definition of an elegy based on your understanding from the reading of these two poems. If you're stuck, start off by listing a few adjectives that would describe both poems. Then you might want to consider:
*elements of language
*subject matter
*tone and mood
*imagery
*narrative voice
Once you've written your definition, go to
Poets and see what else you kind find out about elegies. But remember: your definition is very important -- so don't trash it just because someone else says something different.
Mort d'Arthur, by Jamie Wyeth
Another place to search is Ploughshares. Type elegy in the search box and find other contemporary poets who have written elegies.
You might also want to try searching the National Public Radio archives at NPR to find poems read by Mark Doty at a 2000 poetry festival.
For readings of Emily Dickinson's poetry, try The Atlantic.
After you've explored the idea of elegies, re-read the poems in preparation for the Regents-type tasks below. Try not to let the formal wording of the essays and the multiple-choice questions determine your own interest in this poetic form.
For extra credit, write your own elegy. It doesn't have to be about the death of a loved one, right? It can also be about the death of an idea or an interest.
Elegy, by Robert Motherwell
Tiara
by Mark Doty
Peter died in a paper tiara
cut from a book of princess paper dolls;
he loved royalty, sashes
and jewels. I don't know,
he said, when he woke in the hospice,
I was watching the Bette Davis film festival
on Channel 57 and then–
At the wake, the tension broke
when someone guessed
the casket closed because
he was in there in a big wig
and heels, and someone said,
You know he's always late,
he probably isn't here yet–
he's still fixing his makeup.
And someone said he asked for it.
Asked for it–
when all he did was go down
into the salt tide
of wanting as much as he wanted,
giving himself over so drunk
or stoned it almost didn't matter who,
though they were beautiful,
stampeding into him in the simple,
ravishing music of their hurry.
I think heaven is perfect stasis
poised over the realms of desire,
where dreaming and waking men lie
on the grass while wet horses
roam among them, huge fragments
of the music we die into
in the body's paradise.
Sometimes we wake not knowing
how we came to lie here,
or who has crowned us with these temporary,
precious stones. And given
the world's perfectly turned shoulders,
the deep hollows blued by longing,
given the irreplaceable silk
of horses rippling in orchards,
fruit thundering and chiming down,
given the ordinary marvels of form
and gravity, what could he do,
what could any of us ever do
but ask for it.
Copyright © Mark Doty 1990
The last night that she lived
by Emily Dickinson
The last night that she lived,
It was a common night,
Except the dying; this to us
Made nature different.
We noticed smallest things,–
Things overlooked before,
By this great light upon our minds
Italicized, as ’t were.
That others could exist
While she must finish quite,
A jealousy for her arose
So nearly infinite.
We waited while she passed;
It was a narrow time,
Too jostled were our souls to speak,
At length the notice came.
She mentioned, and forgot;
Then lightly as a reed
Bent to the water, shivered scarce,
Consented, and was dead.
And we, we placed the hair,
And drew the head erect;
And then an awful leisure was,
Our faith to regulate.
Your Tasks
Directions:
Read the two elegies, Tiara, by Mark Doty, and The last night that she lived, by Emily Dickinson, then answer the multiple-choice questionsbased on these passages.
After you have answered the multiple-choice questions, write a unified essay about the effect that the loss of a loved one has on the narrator's world view as revealed in these two poems. In your essay, use ideas from both poems to establish a controlling idea and show how the poets use the form of the elegy and specific literary elements or techniques to convey the effect of loss to the reader.
Answer these multiple choice questions, then write your essay. You may refer back to these questions or to the text of the poems at any time during your writing.
Questions 1-5 refer to Tiara, by Mark Doty, and questions 6-10 refer to The last night that I saw her, by Emily Dickinson. The answers are given after the last question -- use them to check your work.
1) In Mark Doty's Tiara, what might the narrator mean by the phrase "the salt tides of wanting (l. 19-20):
1. a place to go fishing
2. an inescapable longing
3. a reckless desire
4. a muddy confusion
2) In line 27, the word stasis means:
1. imbalance
2. balance
3. frenzy
4. calm
3) Doty uses the phrases "ravishing music of their hurry (l. 25)" and "the music we die into (l.30)" to symbolize:
1. the fast pace of life
2. the sonatas Peter loved
3. the songs he hears in his head
4. the canned music of the hospital
4) The title Tiara most broadly refers to:
1. Peter's flamboyant wardrobe
2. Peter's love of jewelry
3. Peter's sense of humor
4. Peter's ability to take chances in life
5) The concluding lines ("what could he do,/what could any of us ever do/but ask for it.") refer to what?
1. hoping for the best
2. questioning our existence
3. living life fully
4. asking for directions
6) In The last night that she lived, what made nature different in lines 1-4?
1. the common night
2. the weather
3. the woman's dying
4. the narrator's imminent death
7) In line 8 of Dickinson's poem, the poet uses the word italicized to refer to:
1. a grammatical notation
2. a heightened sense of the world
3. an overlooking of small things
4. a way to say goodbye
8) The narrator's attitude can best be described as:
1. sanguine
2. celebratory
3. contemplative
4. shocked
9) Lines 13-16 suggest that time spent waiting for death seems:
1. to move quickly
2. to move slowly
3. to move both quickly and slowly
4. to go nowhere
10) The phrase "then lightly as a reed/Bent to the water" is what type of literary device?
1. a simile
2. a metaphor
3. an allusion
4. a conjecture
Answers
1. 2
2. 2
3. 1
4. 4
5. 3
6. 3
7. 2
8. 3
9. 3
10.1
