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A summary of Lines 2821–3182 in Anonymous's Beowulf. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of Beowulf and what it means. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans.
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- Protagonist
Beowulf drives the action of the poem with his desire for...
- Suggestions for Further Reading
Grisby theorizes that Beowulf contains more pre-Christian...
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From a general summary to chapter summaries to explanations...
- Foreshadowing
Beowulf’s death. From the beginning, Beowulf is haunted by...
- Setting
Beowulf is set in Scandinavia, sometime around the year 500...
- Themes
Some readers have seen his journey to the bottom of the mere...
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Jan 5, 2015 · The poem ends with his subsequent death and ‘burial’ at sea. But the poem doesn’t begin with Beowulf. It opens with an account of a Danish king named Hrothgar, who was the one responsible for building a great hall (named Heorot), a hall which is now being terrorised by the monstrous Grendel.
Nov 21, 2023 · After his death, he becomes firmly part of the past, part of a more mystical time when it was dragons and monsters that threatened human life.
As he dies, Paris asks to be laid near Juliet in the tomb, and Romeo consents. Romeo descends into the tomb carrying Paris’s body. He finds Juliet lying peacefully, and wonders how she can still look so beautiful—as if she were not dead at all.
- Summary
- Structure
- Techniques
- Themes
- Tone
- Detailed Analysis
‘After Death‘ is from the perspective of somebody who appears to be dead. It sets the scene of a domestic environment, where perhaps the narratoris on her deathbed. Then a foreign figure enters who ‘leaned above’ the narrator. What follows is a progression of mourning in which the male figure expresses sympathy, ‘poor child’, then cries. The speake...
This poem uses an ‘ABBAABBA…’ rhyme scheme which is referred to as a ‘Petrarchan sonnet’. Sonnets are usually about either love or death, yet ‘After Death‘ skillfully discusses both. Historically, Petrarchan Sonnetsare love poems written by men and addressed to women; yet here, the male is the passive listener to Rossetti’s discussion of death and ...
Rossetti skillfully uses a variety of literary and structural techniques in ‘After Death‘ to portray the themes and tone associated with death and tragic romance. For instance, she uses nouns like, ‘curtains’, ‘floor’, and ‘bed’ which share domestic connotations, in order to allude to the ordinary feel of life despite the looming sense of death. Th...
A variety of themes are addressed within this poem; in particular, the theme of death, the afterlife, unconventional or tragic love, and gender stereotypes. The theme of death is instantly revealed through the title of the poem, ‘After Death.’ However, such a title could illustrate the afterlife in a religious sense- as, at the time, religion was a...
The tone within ‘After Death’ varies throughout the lines. For instance, it begins quite ordinary, then seems sorrowful; where the narrator expresses desperation and hopelessness towards the lack of affection shown to her by her living lover. In the last few lines, the tone of the poemis bitter, but also contains elements of selflessness- where the...
Lines 1-2
The nouns, ‘curtain’ and ‘floor’ have domestic connotations and thus allude to elements of normality. They also act as spatial deixis to set the scene of ‘After Death’ in a form of a Victorian deathbed environment. Also, the fact that the ‘curtains’ are ‘half drawn’ offers a sign of respect, yet the adjective, ‘half’ suggests an ‘undead’ state that the narrator may be occupying; one which could be purgatory- neither life nor death. Where the narrator states that the ‘floor was swept’, this ag...
Lines 3-4
In the poem ‘After Death,’ Rossetti refers to a ‘bed’ which could allude to a deathbed. This sets the scene of a Victorian deathbed; a scene prevalent in many pieces of literature from the Victorian era. Rossetti skillfully uses the personification of nature to convey an ominous atmosphere. This is seen in the quote, ‘ivy-shadows crept’, where the movement of the plant seems sinister and almost unsettling. As well as this, ivy is commonly seen to cover abandoned buildings, so this reference t...
Lines 5-6
At this point in the poem, readers are introduced to a new character; an unnamed, ambiguous, male figure who appears to be the narrator’s lover. This figure ‘leaned above’ her, a scene that suggests intimacy between the two. Yet the proposition, ‘above’, places the female narrator as a passive figure, and the male as one with authority. This skillfully reinforces the idea of the patriarchal system and emphasizes the husband’s power over her. The narrator is considered the passive figure as sh...
- Female
- January 19, 2004
- Poetry Analyst
Aug 10, 2017 · The end of the poem strikes our heart, as she says that she is glad her beloved is still alive even though she is dead. She also feels the joy to know that he finally has some ‘warm’ feelings for her – maybe not love, but even pity is enough. After Death Theme: The central theme of the poem deals with tragic love and death. Tragic love:
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Both Hamlet and Laertes are fatally poisoned during the match, and before he dies, Hamlet kills Claudius. The ending of Hamlet leaves it unclear whether the events leave Hamlet’s struggles with self-doubt unresolved, or whether they in fact settle his various quandaries.
