Already sharing a comment before you’re done. Just found you 2 days ago - like a Christmas gift. I am so excited to have commentary shared on so many writings and their creators. I am a neurodivergent and to have these videos in bite size minutes, thoughtful choices of which works, and a calm presentation gives me interest and excitement to see what’s next. Nice to meet you.
Thanks for this excellent video! Having just discovered your channel, I am very much looking forward to watching your other content. The poem's connection with Saint Lucy is really interesting. In many European nations, St Lucy's Day is a festival of light, which is obviously relevant to some of the themes of the poem. Then there's the myth of St Lucy herself, who descended into the Roman catacombs, which again aligns to some of the poem's content. St Lucy's Day was also one of the "ember days" which marked the quarters of the year... which again is relevant to all the content about marking the passage of time in the poem. It was helpful that you used a modernised version of the text for the analysis. I think there's also a lot to be gained from reading a text with the 1633 orthography, since the many small differences in spelling and capitalisation create some quite significant potential shifts in the meaning/reception. To pick one example among many, "Chaosses" (l. 25) in the 1633 text is capitalised, which brings the word closer to alluding to the Chaos of Greek mythology, which one might then see being referenced again in the words "first nothing". It's also spelt differently compared to your modern version, which visually emphasises the rhyme with "carcasses" at l. 27. Ultimately, it's all good -- there's such a huge amount of meaning to be unlocked from the poem, which I suppose is what makes it so profound. Anyway, just a few thoughts from me, and thanks again for such a great analysis.
This is a really excellent reading, thank you. I have always adored this jewel-like poem and read it every year on the winter solstice. There is something ambiguous about where the poem ends. Why is he "prepar[ing] towards her"? Is he thinking of his own death in a direct way, or contemplating hers as a memento mori? And is he addressing the dead beloved, or St. Lucy, or both?
