"Mariana"

By Alfred, Lord Tennyson

The subject of ‘Mariana’ comes from Shakespeare’s play Measure for

Measure. The poet was interested in the line “Mariana in the moated
grange,” as it appears in the epigraph of the poem. This short line
describes a young woman who is waiting for her lover, Angelo. He has
abandoned her after losing possession of her dowry. It is this emotional
experience, one of isolation and loneliness, that the poem expands on.

Analysis of "Mariana"
Stanza One
In the first lines of ‘Mariana’, the speaker begins by introducing a dark
and dreary scene. There is moss “crusted” flowerpots and collapsing
walls. The entire structure, which turns out to be a farmhouse, is
abandoned. The speaker also describes a pear tree that was nailed to the
wall with rusted nails. The whole scene is strange and “sad“. The place
has been devoid of maintenance for a long period of time and weeds
are growing unabated everywhere. Tennyson makes use of several
literary devices in this first stanza including alliteration. It can be seen
with words such as “Weeded” and “worn”. At this point, the speaker
transitions into the refrain. In the last four lines of each stanza, the
speaker repeats dialogue and description that only changes slightly.

In this first iteration, a woman enters the story. It is Mariana, the main
character of this poem, who came from Shakespeare’s play Measure for
Measure. She is describing her current state of mind and alluding to the
fact that she has been abandoned by her lover and the man she
intended to marry. She’s weary, depressed, and wishes that she was
dead.
Stanza Two
In the second stanza of ‘Mariana,’ the speaker spends more time
describing the state that Mariana is in. He uses anaphora in
the repetition of the words “her tears fail“ at the beginning of lines one
and two of the stanza. Other words such as “dews“ are also repeated. In
the second stanza, the speaker describes how the young woman cries
constantly from the morning to the evening.

Rather than following a specific narrative arc, the poet spends this
stanza and all the others describing broadly this woman’s experience
and how she feels in her lonely state. The woman is unable to look
outside her window at the “sweet heaven“. She’s so depressed that the
only time she can look outside is when it’s dark and featureless. The
“glooming flats“ outside of her window are “dreary“. The same lines are
repeated at the end of this stanza as were featured at the end of the first
stanza except this time she says that the “night” is dreary.

Stanza Three
In the third stanza of ‘Mariana,’ the speaker describes a moment in which
the woman heard a sound in the middle of the night. It was the “night
foul crow“. The “cock sung out an hour ere light“. She wakes to the
sound of this crow that’s calling out an hour before dawn. She also hears
the sound of oxen in the fields. Even while she’s asleep her mind
wanders depressingly. She walks “forlorn” in her sleep until the morning
wakes her in this depressing environment. There are more examples of
alliteration in this stanza, as well as enjambment and personification. The
latter can be seen through the example of the morning being described
as “gray-eyed“.
Stanza Four
The fourth stanza of the poem describes how near the wall there is a
man-made passage for water. Rather than existing as a source of
refreshment in life, the waters are “blackened“ and filled with moss. The
decay and depression that can be seen in the environment is a product
of this woman’s state of mind, and the larger atmosphere that Tennyson
is hoping to convey. The speaker also describes a single poplar tree
that’s shaking back-and-forth. It is the only feature in an otherwise bleak
and flat landscape. The world around her is “level waste“. The refrain in
the stanza is identical to that which occurs in the first stanza.

Stanza Five
The fifth stanza of the poem describes the moon, the sky, and the wind.
When she looked outside her window she could see the moon hanging
low and the wind blowing through the landscape. It appears as though
the shadows are swaying and are entering into her personal space. The
shadow of the single poplar tree fell across her bed and across her
“brow“. This is a very clear and poignant image that accurately and
successfully depicts the darkness that’s upon her mind. In the refrain of
this stanza, the speaker says that the “night“ is dreary. The repetition of
these words at the end of each stanza creates a haunting atmosphere.
The lines take on the sound of a dark mantra or incantation.

Stanza Six
Despite the overall darkness and depression of the scene, there is
movement and sound. The speaker describes how all day the door
hinges creak and the mice shriek behind the wainscoting. This old
farmhouse that is at the center of this poem is filled with “old faces“.
These mental images, memories, and ghost-like presences have come
from the past and are haunting the speaker’s present. She is
experiencing other lives and other voices that sound throughout the
surroundings and mimic her own experience.

Stanza Seven
In the seventh stanza of ‘Mariana,’ the speaker picks back up by
describing the chirping of a sparrow on the roof. It’s a sound that
surprises and disturbs Mariana. The same can be said of the sound of
the clock ticking and the wind blowing. She is upset by the variety of
sounds, as well as the moments in which sunbeams lay across her
bedroom and the day enters its last moments of light. The sun “sloping
toward his western power“ bothers her. The poem concludes with one
final repetition of the refrain. This time rather than saying that the night,
the day, or her life is dreary, she says that she is the dreary one. The
emotional setting has cemented itself within her mind. It changed her
entire outlook and personality.

Structure of "Mariana"
‘Mariana’ by Alfred Lord Tennyson is a seven-stanza poem that is made up of
sets of twelve lines. These lines follow the consistent rhyme scheme of
ABABCDDCEFEF. The last four lines, with a few small exceptions, are the
same at the end of each stanza. This creates what is known as a refrain. In this
iteration, the technique becomes quite haunting and strange. The content
and context make the works feel like an invocation.

Tennyson further structured this poem in iambic tetrameter. This means that
each line contains four sets of two beats, the first of these are unstressed and the
second is stressed.

Literary Devices in Mariana

Tennyson makes use of several literary devices in ‘Mariana’. These include but
are not limited to alliteration, enjambment, and accumulation. The first of these,
alliteration, occurs when words are used in succession, or at least appear close
together, and begin with the same sound. For example, “Weeded” and “worn”
in line seven of the first stanza and “dews” and “dried” in line two of the second
stanza.

Another important technique commonly used in poetry is enjambment. It occurs

when a line is cut off before its natural stopping point. Enjambment forces a
reader down to the next line, and the next, quickly. One has to move forward in
order to comfortably resolve a phrase or sentence. For example, the transition
between lines three of four of the first stanza as well as that between lines four
and five of the third stanza.

Accumulation is a literary device that relates to a list of words or phrases that

have similar, if not the same, meanings. In a poem, story, or novel, these words
are grouped together or appear scattered throughout a work. They collect or pile
up, and a theme, image, sensation, or deeper meaning is revealed. This entire
poem acts as an example of accumulation. It provides the reader with details
that build up a physical image of the main character’s state of mind.