Renouncement, Alice Meynell
Comment in detail on the ways in which the writer expresses her strong thoughts and
feelings.
Meynell effectively expresses the admirable and empowering ability of women to feel
viscerally, conveying the tragedy of unattainable love and the infuriating confinement of
women and their emotions due to societal norms.
To begin with, the modernist poem is written in the form of a Petrarchan sonnet, its rigid
form structurally demonstrating how the poet is restricted from voicing her true emotions
even in her writing, forced into subservience in fear of upsetting the patriarchy. The poem
therefore could be viewed from a feminist perspective, something confirmed by the poet’s
involvement in the suffragette movement, amplifying the undercurrent of criticisms towards
male-dominated society that runs through the poem. While the first half of the sonnet
abides by the Petrarchan rhyming scheme (ABBAABBA), the second half breaks apart the
rhymes, perhaps conveying a sense of hopelessness as “loose apart” and “thy heart” are
separated, creating a sense of incompletion and detachment of true feelings from reality.
The poet makes use of forceful verbs to convey the ‘renouncement’ of her feelings,
recognising how they are illicit yet part of the female experience, perhaps demonstrating the
unfairness that accompanies being a woman. “I must not” and “I shun” convey how she
vehemently rejects her feelings, emphasised by the anaphora in “it must never, never come
in sight”, enhancing the theme of forbidden love. Additionally, the power of her feelings is
evident in how the general colourless nature of the poem is interrupted when she
references the “blue Heaven’s height” that she reaches when she thinks of “thee”,
augmenting the intensity of her feelings. When she does speaks of her emotions, the poem
becomes glazed over in a sheen of pink, shown through saccharine sensory imagery in
“sweetest passage of a song”, “all delight” and “the fairest thoughts”, that contrast the
dental sounds in “difficult day” that represent her need to suppress her emotions. The line
“but when sleep comes to a close each difficult day” thus constitutes a volta in the poem,
where the speaker admits that she allows herself to surrender to her feelings at night, after
having spent all day trying to suppress them.
Moreover, the idea of ‘confessing’ is illustrated through the poem as “night” is referenced,
creating a sense of secrecy and demonstrating how the speaker is only able to indulge in her
true feelings when she is concealed, only able to feel a sense of freedom behind closed
doors. The poem is arguably purposefully vague as to what that freedom is; on the one
hand, it could allude to forbidden love and the speaker’s conflict between desire and
conformity, conveying tragedy in that she has to suppress her all-encompassing and
overwhelming feelings to protect herself from society around her. On the other hand, the
speaker could be referencing literal freedom of expression, linking the poem to the
suffragette movement and the inability of women to speak, feel and act freely, thus making
it a general comment on the difficulty of being a woman, constantly required to be passive
and obedient, distant yet caring, loving yet never emotional, strong yet never overpowering.
The speaker is thus only allowed to run in the realm of sleep, dreaming about freedom yet
unable to make it her reality, thus conveying a sense of tragedy that deeply resonates with
female readers. The repetition of “I run, I run” also demonstrates the speaker’s strong desire
Comment in detail on the ways in which the writer expresses her strong thoughts and
feelings.
Meynell effectively expresses the admirable and empowering ability of women to feel
viscerally, conveying the tragedy of unattainable love and the infuriating confinement of
women and their emotions due to societal norms.
To begin with, the modernist poem is written in the form of a Petrarchan sonnet, its rigid
form structurally demonstrating how the poet is restricted from voicing her true emotions
even in her writing, forced into subservience in fear of upsetting the patriarchy. The poem
therefore could be viewed from a feminist perspective, something confirmed by the poet’s
involvement in the suffragette movement, amplifying the undercurrent of criticisms towards
male-dominated society that runs through the poem. While the first half of the sonnet
abides by the Petrarchan rhyming scheme (ABBAABBA), the second half breaks apart the
rhymes, perhaps conveying a sense of hopelessness as “loose apart” and “thy heart” are
separated, creating a sense of incompletion and detachment of true feelings from reality.
The poet makes use of forceful verbs to convey the ‘renouncement’ of her feelings,
recognising how they are illicit yet part of the female experience, perhaps demonstrating the
unfairness that accompanies being a woman. “I must not” and “I shun” convey how she
vehemently rejects her feelings, emphasised by the anaphora in “it must never, never come
in sight”, enhancing the theme of forbidden love. Additionally, the power of her feelings is
evident in how the general colourless nature of the poem is interrupted when she
references the “blue Heaven’s height” that she reaches when she thinks of “thee”,
augmenting the intensity of her feelings. When she does speaks of her emotions, the poem
becomes glazed over in a sheen of pink, shown through saccharine sensory imagery in
“sweetest passage of a song”, “all delight” and “the fairest thoughts”, that contrast the
dental sounds in “difficult day” that represent her need to suppress her emotions. The line
“but when sleep comes to a close each difficult day” thus constitutes a volta in the poem,
where the speaker admits that she allows herself to surrender to her feelings at night, after
having spent all day trying to suppress them.
Moreover, the idea of ‘confessing’ is illustrated through the poem as “night” is referenced,
creating a sense of secrecy and demonstrating how the speaker is only able to indulge in her
true feelings when she is concealed, only able to feel a sense of freedom behind closed
doors. The poem is arguably purposefully vague as to what that freedom is; on the one
hand, it could allude to forbidden love and the speaker’s conflict between desire and
conformity, conveying tragedy in that she has to suppress her all-encompassing and
overwhelming feelings to protect herself from society around her. On the other hand, the
speaker could be referencing literal freedom of expression, linking the poem to the
suffragette movement and the inability of women to speak, feel and act freely, thus making
it a general comment on the difficulty of being a woman, constantly required to be passive
and obedient, distant yet caring, loving yet never emotional, strong yet never overpowering.
The speaker is thus only allowed to run in the realm of sleep, dreaming about freedom yet
unable to make it her reality, thus conveying a sense of tragedy that deeply resonates with
female readers. The repetition of “I run, I run” also demonstrates the speaker’s strong desire
