2. About the poet
Stevie Smith was a well known british
poet from the 20th century. She was
born on the date September 1902 in
Yorkshire. As a girl she lived with her
aunt, and in 1950 worked as a
secretary in a magazine company.
She wrote poems for the majority of
her life but they only became popular
in 1960. Where she was featured in
several radio broadcasts and
magazine interviews. Her first poems
include Novel on yellow paper (1936)
followed by Over the frontier (1989),
She would then go on to release The
Collected Poems of Stevie Smith
(1975). Furthermore as a poet she
was known for writing about death .
3. About the poem
Away melancholy is a poem
written by Stevie smith that was
released in the year 1957. The
poem revolves around the
message melancholy and it’s
connection to nature.
4. Themes
The poem saliently features the themes of nature and melancholy. In
the poem Smith invokes imagery of the propensities of nature while
constantly emphasizing melancholy. The message she’s essentially
trying to convey is that there is little reason to feel melancholic when
there is such unfathomable beauty in the world. For example in the
second stanza there are lines that state “Does not the wind blow fire
leaps and rivers flow? Away melancholy”. Here she cites the beauty
of nature as evidence for not feeling melancholic.
5. Literary devices
“Away melancholy” uses alliterations and repetitions. She uses repetition
to constantly emphasize the phrase “Away melancholy” which appears in
nearly every stanza. Moreover, alliteration is prominently featured, for
example in the first couplet both lines begin with “Away”.
In addition to that, there are several cases of enjambments being used.
The second stanza includes the line “The ant is busy” without any
punctuation.
6. Structure of poem
The poem consists of nine stanzas, all of which greatly vary in length. For
instance the first stanza is a couplet, compare this to the fifth stanza which
consists of eleven lines. This may signify the erratic and almost arbitrary way
melancholy can occur.
Furthemore, there is some semblance of a rhyme scheme. For example
“hurries” and “buries” in the fourth stanza.
7. Conclusion
Away melancholy is a beautiful poems that has themes of
melancholy, uses several literary devices and has an erratic structure
