Appearance
Excerpt
Excerpt from Children of the Night, by Edwin Arlington Robinson
But as I went majestic on my way,<br />
Into the dark they vanished, one by one,<br />
Till, with a shaft of God's eternal day,<br />
The dream of all my glory was undone, --<br />
And, with a fool's importunate dismay,<br />
I heard the dead men singing in the sun.
The Night Before
Look you, Dominie; look you, and listen!<br />
Look in my face, first; search every line there;<br />
Mark every feature, -- chin, lip, and forehead!<br />
Look in my eyes, and tell me the lesson<br />
You read there; measure my nose, and tell me<br />
Where I am wanting! A man's nose, Dominie,<br />
Is often the cast of his inward spirit;<br />
So mark mine well. But why do you smile so?<br />
Pity, or what? Is it written all over,<br />
This face of mine, with a brute's confession?<br />
Nothing but sin there? nothing but hell-scars?<br />
Or is it because there is something better --<br />
A glimmer of good, maybe -- or a shadow<br />
Of something that's followed me down from childhood --<br />
Followed me all these years and kept me,<br />
Spite of my slips and sins and follies,<br />
Spite of my last red sin, my murder, --<br />
Just out of hell? Yes? something of that kind?<br />
And you smile for that? You're a good man, Dominie,<br />
The one good man in the world who knows me, --<br />
My one good friend in a world that mocks me,<br />
Here in this hard stone cage. But I leave it<br />
To-morrow. To-morrow! My God! am I crying?<br />
Are these things tears? Tears! What! am I frightened?<br />
I, who swore I should go to the scaffold<br />
With big strong steps, and -- No more. I thank you,<br />
But no -- I am all right now! No! -- listen!<br />
I am here to be hanged; to be hanged to-morrow<br />
At six o'clock, when the sun is rising.<br />
And why am I here? Not a soul can tell you<br />
But this poor shivering thing before you,<br />
This fluttering wreck of the man God made him,<br />
For God knows what wild reason. Hear me,<br />
And learn from my lips the truth of my story.<br />
There's nothing strange in what I shall tell you,<br />
Nothing mysterious, nothing unearthly, --<br />
But damnably human, -- and you shall hear it.<br />
Not one of those little black lawyers had guessed it;<br />
The judge, with his big bald head, never knew it;<br />
And the jury (God rest their poor souls!) never dreamed it.<br />
Once there were three in the world who could tell it;<br />
Now there are two. There'll be two to-morrow, --<br />
You, my friend, and -- But there's the story: --
Explanation
Detailed Explanation of the Excerpts from Children of the Night by Edwin Arlington Robinson
Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869–1935) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet known for his psychological depth, dark realism, and exploration of human failure, isolation, and fate. Children of the Night (1897) is his second collection, featuring poems that delve into the struggles of marginalized, flawed, or doomed individuals. The two excerpts provided—one a short lyric and the other a dramatic monologue—exemplify Robinson’s themes of hubris, guilt, existential dread, and the fragility of human ambition.
Below is a close analysis of each excerpt, focusing on language, imagery, tone, literary devices, and thematic significance, with some broader context where necessary.
1. First Excerpt: The Lyric Poem (Untitled in the Collection)
But as I went majestic on my way,Into the dark they vanished, one by one,Till, with a shaft of God's eternal day,The dream of all my glory was undone, —And, with a fool's importunate dismay,I heard the dead men singing in the sun.
Context & Themes
This short, haunting poem encapsulates Robinson’s recurring preoccupation with the collapse of human grandeur in the face of divine or cosmic indifference. The speaker, once "majestic," experiences a sudden revelation ("a shaft of God's eternal day") that shatters his illusions of glory. The final image—dead men singing in the sun—is both eerie and paradoxical, suggesting a mocking chorus of the past that undermines the speaker’s self-importance.
Key themes:
- Hubris and Downfall – The speaker’s "majestic" demeanor is undercut by reality.
- Illusion vs. Reality – The "dream of all my glory" is "undone" by truth.
- Divine Judgment or Indifference – The "shaft of God's eternal day" could symbolize either enlightenment or punitive revelation.
- The Haunting Past – The "dead men singing" may represent guilt, memory, or the inescapable weight of history.
Literary Devices & Analysis
Imagery & Symbolism
- "Majestic on my way" → Suggests pride, self-assurance, even arrogance.
- "Into the dark they vanished, one by one" → The "dark" could symbolize ignorance, death, or forgotten ambitions. The gradual disappearance ("one by one") implies a slow unraveling.
- "Shaft of God's eternal day" → A sudden, blinding truth (like a spear of light) that destroys illusion. "Eternal day" suggests timeless judgment.
- "Dead men singing in the sun" → A surreal, oxymoronic image. The dead should not sing, and they should not be in the sun (a place of life). This could imply:
- Mockery (the dead laugh at the living’s folly).
- Guilt (the speaker hears the voices of those he wronged).
- Irony (the "sun," a symbol of vitality, is now associated with death).
Tone & Mood
- The tone shifts from grandiosity ("majestic") to dismay ("a fool's importunate dismay").
- The mood is uncanny and melancholic, with a sense of inevitable doom.
Sound & Rhythm
- The poem follows a loose iambic pentameter, giving it a formal, almost stately quality that contrasts with the speaker’s downfall.
- The dash after "undone" creates a pause, emphasizing the abruptness of the revelation.
- "Importunate dismay" – The alliteration ("d" sounds) reinforces the speaker’s stubborn, almost childish resistance to truth.
Biblical & Mythological Allusions
- The "shaft of God's eternal day" evokes divine judgment (e.g., the light that exposes sin).
- The "dead men singing" may recall Dante’s Inferno (where sinners are tormented by their past) or the Biblical idea of the dead bearing witness (e.g., Abel’s blood crying out).
Significance
This poem distills Robinson’s view of human ambition as fragile and self-deceptive. The speaker’s "glory" is revealed as a mere dream, and the final image suggests that truth is not liberating but haunting. The dead do not rest; they sing—a chilling reminder that the past is never truly buried.
2. Second Excerpt: "The Night Before" (Dramatic Monologue)
(Note: This is likely an excerpt from "The Man Against the Sky," a long narrative poem in Children of the Night about a condemned man’s final confession.)
Look you, Dominie; look you, and listen!Look in my face, first; search every line there;Mark every feature, -- chin, lip, and forehead!Look in my eyes, and tell me the lessonYou read there; measure my nose, and tell meWhere I am wanting! A man's nose, Dominie,Is often the cast of his inward spirit;So mark mine well. But why do you smile so?Pity, or what? Is it written all over,This face of mine, with a brute's confession?Nothing but sin there? nothing but hell-scars?Or is it because there is something better --A glimmer of good, maybe -- or a shadowOf something that's followed me down from childhood --Followed me all these years and kept me,Spite of my slips and sins and follies,Spite of my last red sin, my murder, --Just out of hell? Yes? something of that kind?And you smile for that? You're a good man, Dominie,The one good man in the world who knows me, --My one good friend in a world that mocks me,Here in this hard stone cage. But I leave itTo-morrow. To-morrow! My God! am I crying?Are these things tears? Tears! What! am I frightened?I, who swore I should go to the scaffoldWith big strong steps, and -- No more. I thank you,But no -- I am all right now! No! -- listen!I am here to be hanged; to be hanged to-morrowAt six o'clock, when the sun is rising.And why am I here? Not a soul can tell youBut this poor shivering thing before you,This fluttering wreck of the man God made him,For God knows what wild reason. Hear me,And learn from my lips the truth of my story.There's nothing strange in what I shall tell you,Nothing mysterious, nothing unearthly, --But damnably human, -- and you shall hear it.
Context & Themes
This is a dramatic monologue spoken by a condemned man (likely a murderer) to a clergyman ("Dominie," a Scots term for a minister or teacher) on the night before his execution. The speaker is tormented by guilt, fear, and a desperate need for absolution, yet he also clings to the idea that some vestige of goodness remains in him.
Key themes:
- Guilt & Redemption – The speaker oscillates between self-loathing and hope for salvation.
- Existential Dread – His bravery ("big strong steps") crumbles into terror ("am I crying?").
- Human Frailty – He is a "fluttering wreck," reduced by his crimes and impending death.
- The Search for Meaning – He insists his story is "damnably human," not supernatural—his sins are his own, not fate’s.
- Isolation & Judgment – The world "mocks" him; only the Dominie offers pity.
Literary Devices & Analysis
Dramatic Monologue & Psychological Realism
- Robinson excels at interior monologues that reveal a character’s conflicted psyche.
- The speaker’s rapid shifts in tone (defiance, self-pity, fear, desperation) mirror his mental unraveling.
- The direct address ("Look you, Dominie") creates intimacy and urgency.
Imagery & Symbolism
- "Search every line there" → His face is a map of sin and suffering.
- "A brute's confession" → He sees himself as animalistic, beyond human morality.
- "Hell-scars" → His sins have physically marked him (like Dante’s sinners).
- "A glimmer of good" → A faint hope of redemption, perhaps childhood innocence that lingered.
- "Hard stone cage" → The prison, but also his own guilt as a prison.
- "Fluttering wreck" → He is broken, no longer a man but a shattered thing.
- "Damnably human" → His story is not extraordinary—just tragically ordinary.
Tone & Mood
- Desperate, confessional, erratic – He swings between defiance ("I swore I should go with big strong steps") and collapse ("am I crying?").
- Self-loathing mixed with plea for understanding – He wants the Dominie to see both his sin and his lingering humanity.
- Growing hysteria – The dashes, exclamations, and fragmented sentences ("No! -- listen!") show his mental instability.
Irony & Paradox
- He claims there’s "nothing mysterious" in his story, yet his desperation to be heard suggests he believes his life has some deeper meaning.
- He calls himself a "brute" but pleads for human connection ("my one good friend").
- He scoffs at fear ("big strong steps") but is terrified ("am I frightened?").
Biblical & Literary Allusions
- "The man God made him" → Echoes Genesis (man made in God’s image), now corrupted by sin.
- "Hell-scars" → Re calls Dante’s Inferno (where sinners bear physical marks of their sins).
- "Damnably human" → A twist on "divinely human"—his sins are not demonic, just tragically human.
Structure & Rhythm
- Free verse with irregular meter → Mimics natural speech, making it feel like a real confession.
- Repetition ("Look you, Dominie; look you, and listen!") → Urgent, pleading.
- Enjambment (lines flowing without pause) → Creates a rush of words, as if he’s racing against time.
Significance
This monologue is a masterclass in psychological realism. Robinson does not glorify the criminal; instead, he exposes the raw, ugly humanity beneath the sin. The speaker is:
- Not a monster, but a broken man – His crimes are "damnably human," not supernatural.
- Seeking absolution – He wants the Dominie to see the good in him, even if he can’t see it himself.
- Terrified of oblivion – His bravado crumbles as death nears.
The poem forces the reader to confront uncomfortable questions:
- Can a murderer be both evil and pitiable?
- Is there redemption in confession, or is it just self-delusion?
- What does it mean to be "damnably human"—flawed, sinful, yet still capable of remorse?
Connecting the Two Excerpts
Both poems explore the collision between human ambition and harsh reality:
- In the first poem, the speaker’s "glory" is undone by divine truth, leaving him haunted by the past.
- In the second, the condemned man’s self-image as a "strong" man is shattered by fear and guilt.
Robinson’s work often denies easy moral judgments. The "dead men singing in the sun" could be the same voices that haunt the murderer—the echoes of his victims, or the weight of his own conscience.
Conclusion: Robinson’s Bleak Humanism
Robinson’s poetry is not nihilistic, but tragically humanistic. His characters are flawed, doomed, yet undeniably real. These excerpts show:
- The fragility of human pride (first poem).
- The desperate search for meaning in sin and suffering (second poem).
His work resonates because it does not offer answers—only unflinching portraits of human failure and the lingering hope (or delusion) of redemption.
Would you like a deeper dive into any specific aspect (e.g., Robinson’s use of irony, comparisons to other poets like Browning or Poe, or the historical context of Children of the Night)?
Questions
Question 1
The "dead men singing in the sun" in the first excerpt most plausibly functions as a metaphor for:
A. the inevitability of mortality, where the dead are celebrated in the light of eternal truth.
B. the speaker’s repressed memories of past triumphs, now distorted by guilt.
C. a divine chorus offering absolution to the penitent sinner.
D. the cyclical nature of human suffering, where the past repeats in the present.
E. the mocking persistence of conscience, exposing the hollowness of the speaker’s former grandeur.
Question 2
The condemned man’s question—"Is it written all over, / This face of mine, with a brute's confession?"—primarily serves to:
A. elicit the Dominie’s professional assessment of physiognomic criminality.
B. externalize his self-loathing by projecting it onto the Dominie’s perceived judgment.
C. establish a contrast between his physical appearance and his inner nobility.
D. reveal his ambivalence about his own culpability, oscillating between defiance and remorse.
E. critique the Dominie’s failure to recognize the societal forces that shaped his crimes.
Question 3
The shift from "I swore I should go to the scaffold / With big strong steps" to "am I crying? / Are these things tears?" is most effectively interpreted as:
A. the collapse of performative stoicism under the weight of existential terror.
B. a rhetorical strategy to manipulate the Dominie’s sympathy before confession.
C. evidence of the speaker’s underlying mental instability, undermining his reliability.
D. an ironic commentary on the futility of human resolve in the face of divine justice.
E. a moment of catharsis, where fear purges him of his earlier defiance.
Question 4
The phrase "damnably human" in the final lines is best understood as emphasizing:
A. the speaker’s rejection of theological explanations for his actions.
B. the universality of his sins, which are ordinary rather than monstrous.
C. the paradox of human nature as both capable of evil and deserving of pity.
D. his resignation to a deterministic view of morality.
E. a critique of societal structures that force individuals into moral corruption.
Question 5
The structural juxtaposition of the two excerpts—one a lyric meditation on downfall, the other a dramatic monologue of confession—primarily serves to:
A. illustrate the progression from abstract philosophical reflection to concrete narrative.
B. contrast the speaker’s self-delusion in the first poem with the raw honesty of the second.
C. argue for the superiority of dramatic monologue over lyric poetry in conveying moral complexity.
D. highlight the universality of human suffering across different poetic forms.
E. underscore the inescapability of guilt, whether manifested as haunting imagery or direct confession.
Solutions and Explanations
1) Correct answer: E
Why E is most correct: The "dead men singing in the sun" is a surreal, oxymoronic image that disrupts the speaker’s "majestic" self-perception. The dead do not sing in sunlight—this is a mocking, uncanny chorus that undermines his former grandeur. The passage’s tone (dismay, undoing of glory) and the contrast between "dark" (where his illusions thrive) and "eternal day" (truth) suggest this is conscience or memory exposing his folly. E captures the ironic persistence of guilt as a force that haunts the living, rendering their ambitions hollow.
Why the distractors are less supported:
- A: "Celebrated in the light of eternal truth" misreads the tone—there’s no celebration, only dismay and mockery.
- B: "Reppressed memories of past triumphs" is plausible but too narrow; the image is more about active haunting than passive memory.
- C: "Divine chorus offering absolution" contradicts the speaker’s "fool’s dismay"—this is not absolution but exposure.
- D: "Cyclical nature of human suffering" is thematically relevant but not the primary function of this specific image.
2) Correct answer: D
Why D is most correct: The question "Is it written all over... with a brute's confession?" is rhetorical and self-lacerating, but it’s immediately followed by "Or is it because there is something better— / A glimmer of good...". This oscillation—between seeing himself as a brute and hoping for redemption—reveals his ambivalence about culpability. He both accepts and resists the label of monster, which aligns with D’s focus on defiance and remorse.
Why the distractors are less supported:
- A: "Elicit the Dominie’s professional assessment" is too literal; the question is self-directed, not seeking a physiognomic analysis.
- B: "Externalize his self-loathing" is partially true, but the ambivalence (brute vs. glimmer of good) is the deeper point.
- C: "Contrast with inner nobility" overstates the text; he hopes for nobility but doesn’t assert it.
- E: "Critique the Dominie’s failure" is unsupported; the Dominie is framed as his only friend, not a target of critique.
3) Correct answer: A
Why A is most correct: The shift from boastful resolve ("big strong steps") to collapsing vulnerability ("am I crying?") marks the failure of his performative stoicism. This is not just fear—it’s the existential terror of annihilation breaking through his constructed bravado. A captures the psychological unraveling under the weight of impending death, which is the passage’s core tension.
Why the distractors are less supported:
- B: "Manipulate the Dominie’s sympathy" is cynical and unsupported; his breakdown feels genuine, not strategic.
- C: "Undermining his reliability" is a stretch—his instability is thematic, not a narrative device to discredit him.
- D: "Futility of human resolve" is too abstract; the focus is on his personal collapse, not a general commentary.
- E: "Catharsis" implies purification, but the text suggests fragmentation, not release.
4) Correct answer: C
Why C is most correct: "Damnably human" is paradoxical: it acknowledges his capacity for evil ("damnably") while insisting on his shared humanity ("human"). This aligns with C’s emphasis on the duality of human nature—both culpable and pitiable. The phrase rejects monstrosity (he’s not a demon) but also excuses (he’s not a victim of fate). It’s a tragic humanism.
Why the distractors are less supported:
- A: "Rejection of theological explanations" is partial but misses the emphasis on shared humanity.
- B: "Universality of his sins" is true but too narrow—the phrase is more about tension than mere ordinariness.
- D: "Deterministic view" contradicts the text; he claims his story is human, not fated.
- E: "Critique of societal structures" is unsupported; he focuses on personal sin, not systemic forces.
5) Correct answer: E
Why E is most correct: Both excerpts grapple with guilt’s inescapability:
- The first uses lyric imagery (dead men singing) to evoke haunting consequence.
- The second uses direct confession to expose raw remorse. E captures the unifying theme: guilt manifests symbolically (in the first poem) and explicitly (in the second), but it is equally relentless in both.
Why the distractors are less supported:
- A: "Progression from abstract to concrete" is true but not the primary purpose—the link is thematic, not structural.
- B: "Self-delusion vs. honesty" oversimplifies; the first poem’s speaker is not necessarily deluded, just undone by truth.
- C: "Superiority of dramatic monologue" is meta-critical and unsupported by the text itself.
- D: "Universality of suffering" is vague; the connection is specific to guilt, not general hardship.