What Is The Mood Of Rhapsody On A Windy Night

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The beginning of the 19th centure brought a rapid development in all world affairs. Technological advancements and the next century’s two world wars caused a shift in the values to which people aspired. The changes were also apparent in the artistic movements and modernism and imagism shaped a new face of poetry. Relying on a set of literary means of expression, using simple words, the representatives of these movements created powerful images, metaphors and similes to give a powerful twist to their works. These movements influenced T. S. Eliot, considered to have developed imagism to new heights, which is especially apparent in his poem “Rhapsody on a Windy Night”. Melancholy and darkness make their way from every line of the work. From the beginning, Eliot hints that the protagonist walks through the night, under the “lunar synthesis” and …show more content…

Instead of relying on the traditional approach of rhyming and metering, the author poured his work through stream of consciousness that created a disturbingly beautiful piece. Despite the ghastly, melancholic mood of the poem Eliot uses odd combinations of words to amalgamate an artistic piece that presents what looks like (as in most artistic forms the true meaning of the poem is subjectively linked to the reader’s perception) the protagonists’ last life journey. On the other hand, it is possible that the poem is a projection of the protagonists’ fears and that the narrative of the poem is a dream that presents his miserable existence in which even the lights are a source of torment. As in other similar works (“A London Thoroughfare. 2. A. M., “Acquainted with the Night”) the character goes through the night reminiscing about dramatic, depressive existence, with the moon providing a frail source of comfort. In Eliot’s work the character’s journey ends with “the last twist of the knife”; the last blow before the end