William Bell Scott - Death

Hi everyone,


This is probably the most unique poet I've come across, more remarkable for the fact that he wasn't very good at the consistently flowing and beautiful language forms we normally associate with the word 'poetry.'

'Death' was part of Scott's "Poems: 1854" anthology.  Twenty eight years later, he published "Poems: 1875" which largely included the same material, edited to one degree or another.  'Death' does not appear in this second publication.

Except it does.  Scott has taken the original poem and made it part of a much larger narrative ballad he titled 'The Dance of Death', though here it is altered in various ways.  This version of the poem was originally released in a brochure called 'The Edinburgh University Souvenir,' which I leave to you to research for any potentially useful facts.
(You will not be expected to know the altered version.  Still, being able to comment on its existence may be a good thing.)

I found a 1951 doctorate thesis on the life and works of this poet.  I can make it available if you're that interested, but below are what I think are the main points.

Regarding the changes in the poet's style from the 1854 to the 1875 publications:

• "One might summarize by saying that the basis of the later work was present in the earlier and that the advance was one of technique rather than inspiration."

Finally, these two quotes seemed the most applicable for our concerns:

• "Scott's most positive virtue was his originality"
• "The distinction Rossetti makes is valuable: Scott is interesting because he offers his personal meditation on some of the current problems of the nine-teenth century..."  (Obviously life and death would have been high on that list.)

Focus on his originality.  His use of repetition is powerful if not necessarily purposeful.  You should discuss the effects of his continuous enjambments and caesuras, despite the fact that he may not have put much planning into using them.  Good opportunity to weigh up effectiveness of poet technique.

In fact, considering his nearly accidental use of standardised poetry techniques, think about why Scott bothered persisting with the rhyming couplets at the end of each stanza!

Definitely talk about scansion in terms of rhythm and the rising and falling metre variations; overwhelmingly iambic, yet several single lines that are mostly dactylic / trochic or possibly contain spondee.

Above all, know the speaker voice and the subject he is speaking to.  The first word, "I", places the narrator voice as a personification of Death, which leaves "thee" [archaic singular form of 'you'] as the specified "man" in the poem.

Using all you now know, be ready to answer this:

Explain, based on this poem, the poet's view of Death's character.
(Hint: Start by looking at the feeling / concept being communicated by each individual stanza)


- T. Marcus