Download
1 / 14
140 likes | 382 Vues
Moths. Eavan Boland. History. Moths are located all over the world However, they are found most abundantly in regions such as Ireland due to high moisture levels. Vocabulary. Fuchsia( line 14)
E N D
Moths Eavan Boland
History • Moths are located all over the world • However, they are found most abundantly in regions such as Ireland due to high moisture levels
Vocabulary • Fuchsia( line 14) • noun 1. aplantbelongingto the genus Fuchsia,of the eveningprimrosefamily, including many varieties cultivated for their handsomedrooping flowers. Also calledCaliforniafuchsia. a nonwoodyshrub,Zauschneriacalifornica,having large crimson flowers. • 2. a bright, purplish-redcolor. • Moths (Title, lines 4,9 • anyofnumerousinsectsofthe order Lepidoptera,generallydistinguishedfromthebutterflies by having featheryantennae and byhavingcrepuscularornocturnalhabits. • Facsimile (line 21) • Also called fax. Telecommunications. a. a methodor device fortransmittingdocuments,drawings,photographs, or the like, by means of radioortelephone for exact reproductionelsewhere. an image transmitted by such a method. • Perishing (19) • causing destruction,ruin,extremediscomfort,or death
Tonight the air smells of cut grass.Apples rust on the branches. Already summer isa place mislaid between expectation and memory.
This has been a summer of moths.Their moment of truth comes well after dark.Then they reveal themselves at our window --ledges and sills as a pinpoint. A glimmer.
The books I look up about them are full of legends:Ghost-swift moths with their dancing assemblies at dusk.Their courtship swarms. How some kinds may steer by the moon.
The moon is up. The back windows are wide open.Mid-July light fills the neighbourhood. I stand by the hedge.
Once again they are near the windowsill---fluttering past the fuchsia and the lavender,which is knee-high, and too blue to warn them
they will fall down without knowing howor why what they steered by became, suddenlywhat they crackled and burned around. They will perish---
I am perishing -- on the edge and at the threshold ofthe moment all nature fears and tends toward:The stealing of the light. Ingenious facsimile.
And the kitchen bulb which beckons them makesmy child's shadow longer than my own.
Inarguables • Main topic is of Moths • At night • In summer • The Narrator has a child • Speaker is a adult / parent • Audience is everyone, especially people who can relate to this experience of moths in the summer • Structure • There are 9 stanzas • After the 6th stanza, the narrator goes from talking about moths to talking about themselves
Literary Features • Location • “between expectation and memory” • “at our window” • “near the windowsill” • Light • “a glimmer” • “light” • “kitchen bulb” • Night” • “tonight” • “after dark” • “moon” • “shadow” • Colors in Stanza 5 • “fuchsia” • “lavender” • “blue”
Arguables • Location • Changes in location represent time passing • Summer now gone • Light • The moths seek out light in the nighttime • The narrator is “perishing” but seeks the light in the dark time, finding it in their child • Night • The narrator is growing old or dying • Color in Stanza 5 • The only passage that refers to color • The colors are the beautiful things around the narrators life, distracting them from the coming old age/death • In the next stanza, the moths “fall” just like the narrator becomes too old or sick
