Spanish Cloister

Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister
• Setting o Tetrameter (with irregularities) o Non-verbal sounds – “Gr-r-r” – conventions of spoken language (symmetry with the end – nothing is resolved) o Colloquial/filial language – “Hell dry you up with its flames!” o Rhythm retained throughout poem – speaker’s self-righteousness and careful adherence to tradition and formal convention o Similarities to dramatic monologue – interest in sketching out a character, attention to aestheticizing detail, implied commentary on morality o Tone – ironic, sarcastic, critical, bitter
• Breaking of social expectations and hypocrisy o Antithesis of a monk (caring, peaceful, patient) – disturbing (violence) o Righteousness vs self-righteousness and corruption
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Your myrtle-bush wants trimming? Oh, that rose has prior claims –” – catalexis (missing syllable) o Fantasies about trapping Lawrence into damnation – suggests that L is a good man (will receive salvation) – the most vehement moralists invent their own opposition to elevate themselves
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