Thou Blind Man's Mark Personification

In Sir Philip Sidney’s poem “Thou Blind Man’s Mark”, expresses disapproval of desire as an immoral emotion that overpowers the speakers true meaning of satisfaction. Sidney expresses throughout the poem that desire acts as a form of self- destruction, communicating it as “the band of all evils.” The speaker addresses the complex idea of desire through several literary devices to add depth to the piece, truly depicting the loathing he possesses over such a feeling. In conveying the convoluted and bitter attitude toward desire, Sidney employs poetic devices including anaphora, alliteration, and personification. Sidney displays anaphora to present to the audience the overall tone. By doing so, the speaker enables the reader to comprehend the profound and sinister hatred towards to feeling of desire. In lines 10-11, Sidney states “In vain thou madest me to vain things aspire; In vain thou

Sidney applies human characteristics to the sensation of desire through numerous quotes. In line 11, Sidney exclaims “In vain thou kindlest all thy smoky fire;”, by using the personification and imagery the speaker is giving the desire life-like traits of fire. Sir Sydney associates desire to a “smoky fire” which burns the eyes and blurs the vision making a person unable to see clearly what they want or where they are going unless he can extinguish the feeling. This image further enforces the idea of “a blind man’s mark.” Personification is also revealed in the final line in the poem. “Desiring naught but how to kill desire.” The poet speaks as if he wants to kill desire, giving it yet another anthropological attribute. This shows that the poet believes that the only desire one should have is to rid oneself of desire, but since this desire is through morality, the goal can be accomplished, and one will eventually emerge from the blinding cloud and be released from “web of will” that is