1. A commentary and some background details
Tichborne’s Elegy, written with his own hand in the Tower before his execution.
A commentary and some background details
http//

2. Tichborne’s Elegy The poem was written by Charles Tichborne in
1586, as part of a
letter to his wife, Agnes
An elegy is a
reflection on the
death of someone
or about sorrow
The theme of the poem is simple:
Tichborne is too young to die
Chidiock (Charles) Tichborne ( ) was born to Roman Catholic parents. Given the recent succession of Elizabeth I to the throne over Mary I, he was allowed to freely practice his religion for most of his early life. However in 1570 the Queen was excommunicated by the Pope for her support of the Protestant religion and in retaliation ended her tolerance of the Catholic Church. Catholicism was made illegal, and Roman Catholics were once more banned by law from practicing their religion.
In 1583, Tichborne and his father were arrested and questioned concerning the use of "popish relics." Though they were released without charge, records suggest that this was not the last time they were to be questioned by the authorities over their religion.
In June 1586, Tichborne agreed to take part in the Babington Plot to murder Queen Elizabeth and replace her with the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots who was next in line to the throne. The plot was foiled by Sir Francis Walsingham using double agents, most notably Robert Poley who was later witness to the murder of Christopher Marlowe, and though most of the conspirators fled, Tichborne had an injured leg and was forced to remain in London. On August 14 he was arrested and he was later tried and sentenced to death in Westminster Hall.While in custody in the Tower of London on September 19 (the eve of his execution), Tichborne wrote to his wife Agnes. The letter contained three stanzas of poetry that is his only known piece of work, Tichborne's Elegy.
On September 20, 1586, Tichborne was executed with Anthony Babington, John Ballard, and four other conspirators. They were disembowelled while still alive on specially erected gallows in St Giles Field, London as a warning to other would-be conspirators; however, when the Queen heard reports of these particularly gruesome executions, she gave orders that the remaining seven conspirators were to be allowed to hang until dead before being disembowelled.”
Notes from Wikipedia
Tichborne wrote the poem about his own life,
knowing that he would be executed the next day.
http//

3. Tichborne’s Elegy uses antithesis
Key word
Tichborne’s Elegy uses antithesis
This is where two ideas are juxtaposed,
or placed alongside each other
“feast” picks
up on
“dish.”
My feast of joy is but a dish of pain,
What is Tichborne saying about his feast of joy?
The line can
be separated
in two
The words are
in opposition
to each other
“joy” and “pain”
contrast
http//

4. You will see that the lines follow a similar pattern of antithesis
weeds
My crop of corn is but a field of tares,
My fruit is fallen, and yet my leaves are green
My thread is cut and yet it is not spun
What ideas are in opposition in each of the three lines?
What does “my thread” is cut mean? Think about the circumstances in which Tichborne is writing the poem.
For further details of the parable of the wheat and the tares see
In Greek mythology
the Fates would
spin thread to decide
how long a man would live.
These words set
the ideas in opposition
http//

5. What kind of effect is created by these lines? Which words
contribute to
this effect?
sadness?
The day is past, and yet I saw no sun,
regret?
negatives
My youth is spent and yet I am not old,
ghost
despondency?
I looked for life and saw it was a shade,
What effect do the negatives have?
Make a list of the negatives in rest of the poem. What is their combined effect?
grief?
I trod the earth and knew it was my tomb,
sorrow?
These words are all associated with elegies
http//

6. The elegy makes use of paradox
Doesn’t seem to make
sense on a first reading
A contradiction
My tale was heard and yet it was not told,
The reader tries
to work out
the meaning
Does this mean that
at his trial
he did not get the
chance to put his
own version of events?
Can you find other lines in the poem that use paradox?
Does this refer to
his life being cut short?
http//

7. Here’s another example of paradox:
My glass is full, and now my glass is run,
Potentially he
has the rest
of his life
in front of him
His life has run out -
it’s time to die
http//

8. You will have noticed that each stanza ends with the same line
But he knows
his life is effectively over
For the moment he lives
And now I live, and now my life is done.
Experiment with different ways of reading the line aloud. How does this affect meaning?
If you were reading
the poem out aloud
would you read this line
in the same way
in each stanza?
Also the sense of his
life’s work is complete
http//

9. The style of the poem All stanzas follow
Single syllable words contribute
to simple and stark effect.
All stanzas follow
the same pattern
The style of the poem
The rhyme scheme
My tale was heard and yet it was not told,
My fruit is fallen, and yet my leaves are green,
My youth is spent and yet I am not old,
I saw the world and yet I was not seen;
My thread is cut and yet it is not spun,
And now I live, and now my life is done. A B C
Find the word in the stanza with more than one syllable.
What’s the effect of the repetition of “my” and “I?”
Nearly all lines
begin with “my” or “I” -
repeated later.
End-stopped lines- each
one a complete thought
http//

10. The most loving wife alive I commend me to thee,
Extract from a letter written by Chidiock Tichborne to his wife, the night before he suffered.
The most loving wife alive I commend me to thee,
and desire God to bless thee with all happiness.
Pray for thy dead husband, and be of good comfort,
for I hope in Jesus Christ this morning
to see the face of my Redeemer, in the most
joyful Throne of his glorious kingdom.
For the full text and some further details on Tichborne:
http//