"Mariana in the moated grange."--'Measure for Measure'.

1 With blackest moss the flower-plots

2 Were thickly crusted, one and all:
3 The rusted nails fell from the knots
4 That held the pear to the gable-wall.
5 The broken sheds look'd sad and strange:
6 Unlifted was the clinking latch;
7 Weeded and worn the ancient thatch
8 Upon the lonely moated grange.
9 She only said, "My life is dreary,
10 He cometh not," she said;
11 She said, "I am aweary, aweary,
12 I would that I were dead!"
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24

Her tears fell with the dews at even;

Her tears fell ere the dews were dried;
She could not look on the sweet heaven,
Either at morn or eventide.
After the flitting of the bats,
When thickest dark did trance the sky,
She drew her casement-curtain by,
And glanced athwart the glooming flats.
She only said, "The night is dreary,
He cometh not," she said;
She said, "I am aweary, aweary,
I would that I were dead!"

25
26
27
28
29
30

Upon the middle of the night,

Waking she heard the night-fowl crow:
The cock sung out an hour ere light:
From the dark fen the oxen's low
Came to her: without hope of change,
In sleep she seem'd to walk forlorn,

Good morning, my name Kubendiran and my candidate number is 000902-0042. The

extract Ive been given has been taken from the poem Mariana in the moated
grange by Alfred Tennyson. It mainly revolves around a young woman waiting for
her lover named Angelo, who has abandoned her. It brings out the themes of
isolation and melancholy or pain.
The poem uses the poetic persona of an indirect speech mostly. However towards
the end of the stanza like in the refrain it switches to a direct speech by Mariana
herself. Also a change in poetic persona is shown by the word her and she.
Visual imagery is used, as the phrase blackest moss in the line 1 gives us an idea
of a dark, desolate and bleak setting. The color black given to the moss brings out
the atmosphere of gloominess and darkness. The thickly crusted flower pots in line
2 and rusted nails in line 3 tell us that the garden has not been tended to in a long
time. It thus amplifies the desolate setting. Furthermore, in line 6 the unlifted
clinking latch works to the same effect as Tennyson emphasizes on the fact that the
house is isolated. We see how he uses imagery to introduce the setting to us, and
then continue to develop this desolate atmosphere further.
The thatch in the house is described as 'weeded' and 'worn' in line 7. The alliteration
here emphasizes the fact that the house is a 'lonely' place surrounded by a moat.
The moat around the house physically isolates it from the rest of the area. Due to
her loneliness even inanimate objects seem alive. For example, in line 5 the 'broken
sheds' looked 'sad and strange' add further to an atmosphere of desolation and
misery. The alliteration found in 'sad and strange' contributes to this effect again. It
thus portrays to us that everything around Mariana is falling apart.
Mariana laments, 'My life is dreary' as seen in line 9. The structure is important here
as this line is a refrain and shows her feeling of dissatisfaction. It thus brings out the
sense that she is crying aloud and yearning for her lover to come back. In the lines
12 and 24, where 'I would that were I dead!' is repeated, the exclamation mark
emphasizes her desperation and longing for her lover. There is also a continuous
sense of repetition and routine throughout the poem.
Next, we see him using the atmosphere and setting he previously developed to
reflect her emotions. We see in line 15 that she is so depressed, she 'cannot look on
the sweet heaven' in the morning or evening, which describes her antipathy to all
things beautiful. In line 17 a dark atmosphere is shown by the 'flitting of the bats',
and also by the phrase 'thickest dark' in line 18. The use of pathetic fallacy conveys
Mariana's melancholy as her emotions are reflected in the weather and her
surroundings. In the night, she gives a monologue and conveys her feelings by
lamenting how 'the night is dreary' and goes on to say 'He cometh not', and 'I am
aweary, aweary' in lines 21, 22 and 23 respectively. This suggests that everything is
the same to her; day or night does not make any change to her sufferings.

Tennyson also now uses sound imagery such as the night-fowl 'crowing', and the
oxen's 'low' in the lines 26 and 28 respectively. These contribute to a lonely
atmosphere, and to the fact that she is surrounded by nobody but animals. There is
again sound imagery seen in line 27 as The cock sung out an hour ere light. This
again emphasizes how even though it is the break of dawn, it does not make a
difference to her as she has no hope of change. The external changes in setting do
not seem to affect her internal pain and anguish after this point.
In the end, we are left with a feeling of pity towards her. Her loss of hope and feeling
of loneliness is brought out by the fact that even in her sleep she walks forlorn as
suggested in line 30. The word forlorn describes her depression and this is
magnified by the fact that she can feel such emotions even in a state of
unconsciousness.
Overall the poem has a contemplative tone that projects her hurt and pain at being
abandoned and rejected by her lover. There are also places where a selfdepreciating tone is seen, like in lines 12 and 24, as mentioned before, where she
wishes she were dead. The variations in tone evoke sympathy in the readers.
Question:
What do you think is the structure of the poem?
This extract consists of 12 plus 12 and 6 lines. The last 6 lines of this extract are
first half of the last stanza. Each stanza is divided in the pattern of ABAB CDDC
EFEF. The ending 4 lines remain the same in each stanza with direct speech in it. The
poem lines fall into an Iambic Tetrameter form. However, the lines 10 and 12 follow
the trimeter to bring out the variation. It is as if Mariana cries out of pain in these
lines. In this way, I think the structure makes the poem more appealing and effective
in terms of evoking a readers response of sympathy and empathy.