Multidimensional Unity: ‘A Dozen Features of Propriety’

Abstract

This chapter considers the collection as a whole, suggesting some stylistic and thematic links and similitudes which establish the volume as one which has a considered unity. These facets are summarized as (1) enchantment and disenchantment (Fraistat), (2) dreams and visions, (3) the theme of loss, (4) a word, ‘adieu’, (5) bringing back the past, (6) antithetical states and contrast (7), the concept behind Milton’s ‘L’Allegro’ and ‘Il Penseroso’, (8) dialectic and debate, (9) beauty and truth (10) associational logic (11) ‘stitching’ imagery (12) the theme of melancholy, which the rest of this book will explore. These aspects are analysed by moving across the collection as a whole, while the reasons behind the ordering of the poems will be considered in the final chapter.