Advice to a Discarded Lover free essay sample

Each stanza effectively develops in showing the growth of revulsion the speaker feels towards the addressee, through the use of figurative language. Think, now: (line 1) commands attention through the use of instructive language, a sense of power is given to the speaker in this opening line. This is reinforced through the use of clipped diction when introducing the dead bird full of maggots. The short sharp sentence structure forces imagery in a sudden and severe way. The bird is Not only dead, not only fallen, (2), fallen implies that sins have been committed, hence a Discarded Lover (title). Maggots are associated with death and decay, this bird is full of maggots: (3), a rhetorical question is asked; does the bird cause more pity or more revulsion? (4) There is no room to argue a response ask the speaker moves quickly into the second stanza, this provides the speaker with an opportunity to express his/her feelings in a rhetorical way. Continued on from stanza one, stanza two explores both pity and revulsion Pity is for the moment of death, (5), but after pity is felt a change (6) occurs and revulsion is revealed through the maggots of stanza one. The use of personification creeping stench (7) invokes an image of a sneaky, odious creature that envelops the bird with the disgusting smells. This stench is caused by the maggots seen wriggling (8) and munching (8) away at the dead birds decaying body. The maggots can be likened to self-pity that the addressee feels towards themselves, the self-pity that is eating them up from the inside. The imagery of revulsion is a lot stronger and more pronounced than the imagery of pity, this is because revulsion conjures the enses. The revulsion smells foul, looks hideous and sounds disgusting. Stanza three reveals that after time has passed, the death and decay leaves behind clean bone, a few feathers, (10) it is An inoffensive symbol of what / Once lived. (11-12). The bird is a symbol of the dead affair (15), and now there is nothing left but the Clean bone (10), this symbolises the passing of time and the emotional separation from the dead affair, as it is free of complicating flesh and d eceit. As the dead bird is now inoffensive (11) there is nothing to fear or left to disgust the speaker or the addressee. Although the bone is clean and inoffensive the bone still remains, it is a visual representation of the emotional scars that are left behind. Nothing to make you shudder. (12), the decision to walk away will not be regretted by the speaker, nor does the speaker think that the addressee will regret all that has happened once time has passed. The speakers revulsion is briefly hidden behind a sarcastic facade in stanza four, the speaker chides the addressee, the Discarded Lover (title), But perhaps you find / The analogy I have chosen / For our dead affair rather gruesome- (13-15), the analogy was chosen to reveal the distaste and revulsion the speaker feels towards the addressee, pity may have once been felt but now nothing but disgust remains. The speaker wants the addressee to find the comparison Too unpleasant (16) as it greatly benefits the advice taking place, hoping that the advice will sink in as to stop the addressee from causing this much revulsion again. It is not accidental. (17) shows the speaker has no remorse for what they have said prior to stanza five. In stanza five a direct comparison is made between the addressee and the dead bird, in you / I see maggots close to the surface (17 18). The maggots have transformed through the stanzas from being real maggots that are wriggling (8) in the dead bird, to a figurative image of maggots inside the addressees body causing self-pity. You are eaten up by self-pity, (19), the speaker can see what the maggots (self-pity) are oing to the addressee, the addressee is now Crawling with unloveable pathos. (20). The speaker is at height of his/her revulsion by this point, the speaker breaks the authoritative voice to allow the utter disgust to unravel freely with no concern. The final stanza reveals just how revolting the speaker finds the addressee, If I were to touch you I should feel / Against my fingers fat, moist worm-skin. (21 22), the speaker explains that the discarded lover is bey ond repugnant. The use of the adjective fat toys with another idea, other than fat, moist worm-skin. (22), the maggots have grown fat from feeding off the of self-pity the addressee feels. When the speaker says Do not ask me for charity now: (23) it is clear that he/she has developed a cynical attitude towards the addressee, and that talking to them any longer would be a charity. The speaker feels nothing for the discarded lover anymore, and so the addressee is told to Go away until your bones are clean. (24), the speaker does not wish to lay eyes upon the addressee, until a great deal of time has passed and the revulsion is much less odious. The advice given is by no means severe, the language used is laced with the concept of death. All six stanzas are told through an authoritative voice that captures both the readers, and the addressees attention. The use of rhetorical questions, personification, analogy and the way the words sound contributes to the severe advice. The speaker is repulsed and has effectively illustrated that emotion. Works Cited: Adcock, Fleur. Advice to a Discarded Lover, 1934, Course Anthology, page 1