Poem lucifer In The Starlight: New Meanings And Ideas :: essays research papers

Poem "Lucifer in the Starlight" New Meanings and Ideas     Examining a poem in detail can bring reveal new meanings and ideas. Bycareful analysis, the full beauty of the poem can be appreciated. The poem"Lucifer in Starlight (p. 959)", by George Meredith, can be examine to refinethe authors purpose, by examining every subtle hint, every possibility, for adeeper theme. Also, "deciphering" formal literary techniques such as metaphor,connotation, and symbolism is the key to unlock other expressions. The chief(prenominal)theme of the poem is that Lucifer has no place out of his blaze, and anything hetries to reenter heaven is futile. As with any poem, it is best to first examinehow the title, "Lucifer in Starlight" relates to the body of the poem.     Obviously, Lucifer is the defiant angel that was banished from heaven,and sent to the underworld of hell, where he known as Satan. The title refersto the devil as "in starlight", so this means he has to rise to a place wherethe stars are visible, not the fires of hell. This rising from the underworld issummed up in the first line. It is later explained that he is doing so becausehe is tired of his dark dominion." Ironically, the first line refers to Luciferhonorably, as a "Prince", while in the second line he is tagged as a fiend. Thisleaves the reader feeling perplexed, yet still thinking of Lucifer as the enemy.At first it may seem as Lucifer has risen to the Earth, save it is furtherclarified that he has elevated himself above the "rolling ball". However, godimagined the world as planar, with heaven on a higher plane, and hell on a lowerplane, not spherical as defined here. From his place in the stars above earth,Lucifer looks down through the clouds, and observes the sinners. He is lectureabout the denizens of the earth, for since Adam sinned in the beginning, all ofhis sons and daughters are also sinners. P erhaps he can relate to them, as heis also trying for access to heaven.     For now , he sets his mind on the people who will become denizens of hishell eventually. Here Meredith shows how much hubris the devil really has, forthe reader can comely see Lucifer savoring over the masses entering his viledomain. Then, Lucifer peers at the most extreme places in the world, describingthe sands of Africa. The Sahara desert with its barren, endless, rudimentarysand can seem like hell to anybody.