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Difficulty: MediumAllusion and Intertextuality

Read the following poem carefully before answering the question.

The Wake of Years

We stood beside the slow and silted stream,
Where heavy willows leaned to touch the dark,
And watched the silver ripples fade and gleam,
Like ash that drifts from some forgotten spark.
You reached to scoop the Lethe in your palm,
To wash the bitter salt of grief away,
Seeking the quiet of that ancient calm
That makes a ghost of every yesterday.
But I withheld my hand, and turned aside;
To lose the sting would be to lose the scar,
And I would rather keep the rising tide
Than drift where no remembered shorelines are.

In the poem, the allusion to "Lethe" (line 5) primarily serves to accomplish which of the following?

  1. A
    establish a literal setting in the classical Underworld to suggest the characters are deceased
  2. B
    mirror the poet's own historical and biographical struggles with memory and personal loss
  3. underscore the companion's desire to escape painful memories, contrasting with the speaker's resolution to retain themAnswer
  4. D
    act as a simple metaphor for the passage of time without connecting it to the emotional conflict between the characters
  5. E
    signal a shift in the speaker's tone from deep mourning to a state of complete emotional detachment

Answer

The allusion to Lethe primarily serves to underscore the companion's desire to escape painful memories, contrasting with the speaker's resolution to retain them.
The allusion to Lethe, the mythological river of forgetfulness, highlights the companion's attempt to wash away grief. This action contrasts with the speaker's refusal to drink, showing that the speaker believes forgetting the pain would mean losing the meaningful connection to the past.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the classical allusion within the poem and trace its mythological origin.
The word 'Lethe' in line 5 refers to the river of forgetfulness in the classical Underworld.
Recognizing the source of the allusion is necessary to understand what connotations and meanings are imported into the poem.
2
Analyze how the characters interact with the allusion in the context of the narrative.
The companion attempts to scoop the water to wash away grief, while the speaker actively refrains, choosing to keep the 'scar.'
This establishes the central conflict and contrast between the two characters' reactions to loss.
3
Link the contrast to the broader thematic argument of the poem.
The allusion to Lethe highlights the theme of memory and grief, illustrating that the speaker values the preservation of memory over the comfort of oblivion.
This determines the primary function of the allusion in developing the poem's central theme.

Key Concept

Allusion and Intertextuality
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Topics

Allusion and Intertextuality

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