Queen Mab by Thomas Hood ERIN BUCHANAN CHRIS

“Queen Mab” by Thomas Hood ERIN BUCHANAN CHRIS KAO NATALIE BRENDERS

READING

“Queen Mab” by Thomas Hood A little fairy comes at night, Her eyes are blue, her hair is brown, With silver spots upon her wings, And from the moon she flutters down. She has a little silver wand, And when a good child goes to bed She waves her wand from right to left, And makes a circle round its head. And then it dreams of pleasant things, Of fountains filled with fairy fish, And trees that bear delicious fruit, And bow their branches at a wish; Of arbours filled with dainty scents From lovely flowers that never fade; Bright flies that glitter in the sun, And glow-worms shining in the shade. And talking birds with gifted tongues, For singing songs and telling tales, And pretty dwarfs to show the way Through fairy hills and fairy dales. But when a bad child goes to bed, From left to right she weaves her rings, And then it dreams all through the night Of only ugly horrid things! Then lions come with glaring eyes, And tigers growl, a dreadful noise, And ogres draw their cruel knives, To shed the blood of girls and boys. Then stormy waves rush on to drown, Or raging flames come scorching round, Fierce dragons hover in the air, And serpents crawl along the ground. Then wicked children wake and weep, And wish the long black gloom away; But good ones love the dark, and find The night as pleasant as the day.

PARAPHRASE A fairy with blue eyes and brown hair with silver spots on her wings flies down from the moon at night. She carries a wand waves it from right to left in a circle around the good child’s head. The child dreams of happy, beautiful things, including fountains with fairy fish and trees with delicious fruit. The child dreams of a pavilion with beautiful flowers that give off fresh, delicate scents, and of glowing worms and flies. The child dreams of singing birds who can talk and kind dwarves to help the child find its way. However, the fairy moves her hands over the bad child and it dreams of frightening things. It dreams of lions, tigers, and ogres that want to hurt the child. Oceans come to drown the child along with fierce flames, dragons, and serpents that surround the child. The bad children wake up and cry, wishing the night to end, while the good children love the night as much as daytime.

THEME & SUBJECT Theme Bad behavior leads to terrifying consequences Show the existence of a “higher power” Subject The fairy Queen Mab and her role in human life

NARRATIVE This poem is a narrative poem, not a lyric. It is used to give advice and try to teach children the consequences of bad behavior. The style and subject give it a story-like quality.

VOICE

TONE Peaceful 1 st part of the poem Indifferent Attitude of the speaker toward the suffering “bad” child Violent After the shift

PERSONA & IRONY Persona: The speaker of the poem is a “story-teller” Written from an objective point of view Irony: The character is a fairy, which is usually a “good” character in children’s literature Children are usually afraid of the dark, yet the good children mentioned in the poem find the night peaceful and pleasant

WORDS

DICTION �Concrete �Descriptive �There is a shift from positive to negative �Change of “right to left” (7) to “left to right” (22) �Abstract concept: Good vs. Bad

ALLUSION The name of the poem “Queen Mab, ” who is the fairy, alludes to a traditional Celtic legend. Queen Maeve brought dreams to people while they slept. This poem is Hood’s version of the legend.

WORD ORDER & LEVELS OF USAGE Word order: Follows Subject-Verb-Object Deviations, such as line 4, are used to maintain the rhyme scheme as well as the poem’s iambic tetrameter. Levels of Usage: General English: used to appeal to a public audience as well as children Uncomplicated and concrete diction

SAYING & SUGGESTING

DENNOTATION Arbours: a latticework bower intertwined with climbing vines and flowers. Dainty: of delicate beauty Dale: A valley

CONNOTATION �“Scents” has a more positive connotation than words such as “smells. ” �“Bear” sounds as if the tree is giving fruit to the children (as opposed to having to pick fruit). �“Noise” creates a more negative connotation than words such as “sound. ” �“Rush” creates quickness in the waves. �“Raging” is more negative as opposed to the word “big. ” �“Hover” gives a sense of menacing judgment.

IMAGERY

TYPES & EFFECT Visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory imagery are all used in the poem. Effect: Makes the audience part of the dreams, experience the same emotions as the children in the poem.

VISUAL IMAGERY A little fairy comes at night, Her eyes are blue, her hair is brown, With silver spots upon her wings, And from the moon she flutters down. She has a little silver wand, And when a good child goes to bed She waves her wand from right to left, And makes a circle round its head. And then it dreams of pleasant things, Of fountains filled with fairy fish, And trees that bear delicious fruit, And bow their branches at a wish; Of arbours filled with dainty scents From lovely flowers that never fade; Bright flies that glitter in the sun, And glow-worms shining in the shade. And talking birds with gifted tongues, For singing songs and telling tales, And pretty dwarfs to show the way Through fairy hills and fairy dales. But when a bad child goes to bed, From left to right she weaves her rings, And then it dreams all through the night Of only ugly horrid things! Then lions come with glaring eyes, And tigers growl, a dreadful noise, And ogres draw their cruel knives, To shed the blood of girls and boys. Then stormy waves rush on to drown, Or raging flames come scorching round, Fierce dragons hover in the air, And serpents crawl along the ground. Then wicked children wake and weep, And wish the long black gloom away; But good ones love the dark, and find The night as pleasant as the day.

AUDITORY, TACTILE, OLFACTORY, AND GUSTATORY IMAGERY A little fairy comes at night, Her eyes are blue, her hair is brown, With silver spots upon her wings, And from the moon she flutters down. She has a little silver wand, And when a good child goes to bed She waves her wand from right to left, And makes a circle round its head. And then it dreams of pleasant things, Of fountains filled with fairy fish, And trees that bear delicious fruit, And bow their branches at a wish; Of arbours filled with dainty scents From lovely flowers that never fade; Bright flies that glitter in the sun, And glow-worms shining in the shade. And talking birds with gifted tongues, For singing songs and telling tales, And pretty dwarfs to show the way Through fairy hills and fairy dales. But when a bad child goes to bed, From left to right she weaves her rings, And then it dreams all through the night Of only ugly horrid things! Then lions come with glaring eyes, And tigers growl, a dreadful noise, And ogres draw their cruel knives, To shed the blood of girls and boys. Then stormy waves rush on to drown, Or raging flames come scorching round, Fierce dragons hover in the air, And serpents crawl along the ground. Then wicked children wake and weep, And wish the long black gloom away; But good ones love the dark, and find The night as pleasant as the day.

FIGURES OF SPEECH

SIMILE, PERSONIFICATION, OVERSTATEMENT, AND METONYMY A little fairy comes at night, Her eyes are blue, her hair is brown, With silver spots upon her wings, And from the moon she flutters down. She has a little silver wand, And when a good child goes to bed She waves her wand from right to left, And makes a circle round its head. And then it dreams of pleasant things, Of fountains filled with fairy fish, And trees that bear delicious fruit, And bow their branches at a wish; Of arbours filled with dainty scents From lovely flowers that never fade; Bright flies that glitter in the sun, And glow-worms shining in the shade. And talking birds with gifted tongues, For singing songs and telling tales, And pretty dwarfs to show the way Through fairy hills and fairy dales. But when a bad child goes to bed, From left to right she weaves her rings, And then it dreams all through the night Of only ugly horrid things! Then lions come with glaring eyes, And tigers growl, a dreadful noise, And ogres draw their cruel knives, To shed the blood of girls and boys. Then stormy waves rush on to drown, Or raging flames come scorching round, Fierce dragons hover in the air, And serpents crawl along the ground. Then wicked children wake and weep, And wish the long black gloom away; But good ones love the dark, and find The night as pleasant as the day.

SOUND

WORDS The poem is mostly euphonic, especially at the start of the poem. There a few instances of cacophony as the speaker describes the nightmares of bad children. Onomatopoeia Alliteration, assonance, and consonance are used to add to the rhythm of the poem, continuing to draw the audience into the story.

Euphony, Cacophony, and Onomatopoeia A little fairy comes at night, Her eyes are blue, her hair is brown, With silver spots upon her wings, And from the moon she flutters down. She has a little silver wand, And when a good child goes to bed She waves her wand from right to left, And makes a circle round its head. And then it dreams of pleasant things, Of fountains filled with fairy fish, And trees that bear delicious fruit, And bow their branches at a wish; Of arbours filled with dainty scents From lovely flowers that never fade; Bright flies that glitter in the sun, And glow-worms shining in the shade. And talking birds with gifted tongues, For singing songs and telling tales, And pretty dwarfs to show the way Through fairy hills and fairy dales. But when a bad child goes to bed, From left to right she weaves her rings, And then it dreams all through the night Of only ugly horrid things! Then lions come with glaring eyes, And tigers growl, a dreadful noise, And ogres draw their cruel knives, To shed the blood of girls and boys. Then stormy waves rush on to drown, Or raging flames come scorching round, Fierce dragons hover in the air, And serpents crawl along the ground. Then wicked children wake and weep, And wish the long black gloom away; But good ones love the dark, and find The night as pleasant as the day.

Alliteration, Assonance, and Consonance A little fairy comes at night, Her eyes are blue, her hair is brown, With silver spots upon her wings, And from the moon she flutters down. She has a little silver wand, And when a good child goes to bed She waves her wand from right to left, And makes a circle round its head. And then it dreams of pleasant things, Of fountains filled with fairy fish, And trees that bear delicious fruit, And bow their branches at a wish; Of arbours filled with dainty scents From lovely flowers that never fade; Bright flies that glitter in the sun, And glow-worms shining in the shade. And talking birds with gifted tongues, For singing songs and telling tales, And pretty dwarfs to show the way Through fairy hills and fairy dales. But when a bad child goes to bed, From left to right she weaves her rings, And then it dreams all through the night Of only ugly horrid things! Then lions come with glaring eyes, And tigers growl, a dreadful noise, And ogres draw their cruel knives, To shed the blood of girls and boys. Then stormy waves rush on to drown, Or raging flames come scorching round, Fierce dragons hover in the air, And serpents crawl along the ground. Then wicked children wake and weep, And wish the long black gloom away; But good ones love the dark, and find The night as pleasant as the day.

RHYME & RHYME SCHEME Rhyme: Accented and Masculine End rhyme with a few occurrences of internal rhyme Mostly exact rhyme Slant/Off rhyme also occur Rhyme Scheme: abcb defe cghg ijkj klml ecac nono bbpb qmrm

KEY: RHYME A little fairy comes at night, Her eyes are blue, her hair is brown, With silver spots upon her wings, And from the moon she flutters down. She has a little silver wand, And when a good child goes to bed She waves her wand from right to left, And makes a circle round its head. And then it dreams of pleasant things, Of fountains filled with fairy fish, And trees that bear delicious fruit, And bow their branches at a wish; Of arbours filled with dainty scents From lovely flowers that never fade; Bright flies that glitter in the sun, And glow-worms shining in the shade. And talking birds with gifted tongues, For singing songs and telling tales, And pretty dwarfs to show the way Through fairy hills and fairy dales. Exact Rhyme Slant Rhyme Internal Rhyme But when a bad child goes to bed, From left to right she weaves her rings, And then it dreams all through the night Of only ugly horrid things! Then lions come with glaring eyes, And tigers growl, a dreadful noise, And ogres draw their cruel knives, To shed the blood of girls and boys. Then stormy waves rush on to drown, Or raging flames come scorching round, Fierce dragons hover in the air, And serpents crawl along the ground. Then wicked children wake and weep, And wish the long black gloom away; But good ones love the dark, and find The night as pleasant as the day.

RHYTHM

SCANSION A little fairy comes at night, Her eyes are blue, her hair is brown, With silver spots upon her wings, And from the moon she flutters down.

METER �Iambic Tetrameter �Caesura: lines 2 and 26 �Foot of two syllables �Mostly end-stopped line, but run-on line is found on lines 6, 13, 19, 23, and 35 This creates a natural pause and adds to flow of the poem. �Repetition: “Of fountains filled” (10) and “Of arbours filled” (13) “fairy hills and fairy dales” (20) “And”

VARIATIONS & EFFECTS �Variations: Lines 2 and 26 contain two clauses. Both lines contain descriptions. The first appears at the beginning of the poem, while the second occurs just after the shift. This is used to continue the iambic tetrameter of the poem. �Effect: The unvarying rhythm of the poem makes it pleasant to listen to. Since it is a narrative poem, the speaker needed to capture the attention of the audience and keep them listening.

FORM

FORM & SIGNIFICANCE Closed form of nine stanzas Ballad quatrain The poem is structured by its rhyme and meter. There are three stanzas that describe the good children’s dreams, while there are only two focused on the bad children’s dreams. Reflects that a person will want to stay in a good dream, but will want to quickly wake up from a nightmare.

THE END