“From The Very First Coming Down" W.H Auden By: Danielle Anderson, Mauricio Perez, Michelle Casas A2

Thesis In “The Very First Coming Down” Auden uses nature imagery, symbolism, and poetry techniques to communicate the feeling of dynamic love.

Examples of nature imagery: Nature Imagery and Symbolism Auden uses nature imagery to develop the idea of change within a person’s experience with love. By using a season such as Spring, Auden describes the first stages of love which is generally seen as the time where feelings bloom and both people are happy. Using negative aspects of nature such as storms, Auden then depicts the darker side of love where heartbreak and feelings of being lost and lonely may occur. Examples of nature imagery: “Springs green, preliminary shiver, passed” (12-13): spring can be seen as a delicate season where the flowers bloom and the weather changes from cold to warm. This indicates a routine the narrator goes through with love, and spring is the first stage which brings overall happiness. Preliminary shiver communicates the feeling of expecting something bad to happen, which can describe how the narrator may be awaiting the worst to come next. “Cry out against the storm” (7): the action of crying and storms are normally seen as negative forces. This indicates a negative turn in the narrator’s on-going experience with love.

Poetry Techniques: Metaphors & Couplets The persistent use of metaphors in the poem elucidates the feelings and experiences the narrator is attempting to express. In poetry, a couplet is a pair of lines in a verse that rhyme. Auden uses this poetry technique to emphasize and develop the mood and meaning of the poem more clearly. Examples of personification and metaphors: “And love’s worn circuit re-begun” (9): Comparison between love and an electrical circuit. The worn electrical circuit is the failing relationship between the narrator and their significant other that is beginning to spark back up. This expresses the conflicting love the narrator is constantly experiencing throughout their lifetime. “Because of the sun and lost a way. You certainly remain: to-day” (3-4). “Lost a way” and “To-day” share the same vowel sound. This is used to set a positive mood in order to describe how the narrator is grateful towards his significant other for staying at his side when he lost his way. “That never was more reticent, Always afraid to say more than it meant” (27-28). Using the rhyming words reticent and meant draws attention to the idea that the narrator has become too afraid to express his true feelings of love towards someone in fear that the worst may happen as an outcome.

Themes

Personification setting mood Personification- The attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in humanity form. Auden’s use of personification in the poem gives the words used life and more power. Relating human qualities to inanimate objects allows poetry to grasp deeper connection. Throughout the poem Auden uses Seasons to depict the development of his ideas or emotions in order to set mood throughout the poem. Ex 1 : “Into a new valley with a frown” (2): A valley is large, wide, long, and can feel endless. This indicates the narrator is entering a chapter of their life, but with a negative view on the future ahead.

Examples Ex2:” Shall see, Shall pass, as we have seen The swallow on the tile , springs green… “ (11-12) Spring- reminiscent to starting over, a symbol of a new beginning. Takes us back to quote on line 2. Ex 3: “Preliminary shiver, passed solitary truck, the last Of shunting in the autumn”(13-15): Autumn often is viewed as cold, everything that grows in the spring dies in the autumn, sets a sad mood. Autumn- reminiscent to things beginning to die, this could possibly indicate him giving up on his “new beginning”.

Examples “Thought warmed to evening through and through, Your letter comes speaking as you” (17-18): Indicates the narrator’s thoughts towards his past significant other warm him, or makes him feel positive emotions. The narrator’s significant writes a letter, and the narrator’s can hear their voice their words conveying a strong feeling of lust and excitement. W. H. Auden uses Seasons and inanimate objects, to depict the development of his ideas or emotions in order to set mood throughout the poem.

Symbolism, tone, & structure Michelle

Point of view & tone “You certainly remain…” (line 4) “Your letter comes, speaking as you” (line 18) Auden is able to use second person point of view to make the reader feel more involved in the situation and “story” they are trying to tell creating a reflective tone in the poem. The reader feels the sense that they are eavesdropping on this exchange between the speaker and their “you” This also establishes perhaps a connection to the reader about some previous undisclosed information earlier in life providing a more intimate and familiar feel. “Into a new valley with a frown” (Line 2) This relates to the topic of the speakers solemn and seemingly unfulfilled love. They write that the valley is new, going into it with a frown seems like they have no hope.

Symbolism “Travel across a sudden bird” (line 6) “Cry out against the storm” (line 7) This represents a moving forward as well as a resistance to the change that has or had passed for the speaker. “Shall see, shall pass, as we have seen The swallow on the tile, Spring’s green” (lines 11-12) This may represent the passing of time and different points throughout the writer's relationship with this person. Using both future and past tense to depict a passing of time.

Structure “The stone smile of this country god That never was more reticent, Always afraid to say more than it meant” (lines 26-28). The poem was mainly touching on this endless cycle of seasons and commenting on a relationship. By now the reader knows that the exchange is between two people who have not reunited and this seems regretful of actions not taken or words not spoken but also not wanting to express more than they meant to. “Thought warmed to evening through and through Your letter comes, speaking as you, Speaking of much but not to come” (lines 17-19). This is used by auden to possibly symbolize the end of the love or the relationship the speaker had. We see that they have never reunited. *Reticent : disposed to be silent or not to speak freely; reserved, reluctant.

In “The Very First Coming Down” Auden uses imagery, symbolism, and poetry techniques to communicate a cycle of life through failed love.