Sweeney  Among The Nightingales

Sweeney  among the Nightingales

by T. S. Eliot

Apeneck Sweeney spread his knees
Letting his arms hang down to laugh,
The zebra stripes along his jaw
Swelling to maculate giraffe.

The circles of the stormy moon
Slide westward toward the River Plate,
Death and the Raven drift above
And Sweeney guards the hornèd gate.

Gloomy Orion and the Dog
Are veiled; and hushed the shrunken seas;
The person in the Spanish cape
Tries to sit on Sweeney’s knees

Slips and pulls the table cloth
Overturns a coffee-cup,
Reorganised upon the floor
She yawns and draws a stocking up;

The silent man in mocha brown
Sprawls at the window-sill and gapes;
The waiter brings in oranges
Bananas figs and hothouse grapes;

The silent vertebrate in brown
Contracts and concentrates, withdraws;
Rachel née Rabinovitch
Tears at the grapes with murderous paws;

She and the lady in the cape
Are suspect, thought to be in league;
Therefore the man with heavy eyes
Declines the gambit, shows fatigue,

Leaves the room and reappears
Outside the window, leaning in,
Branches of wistaria
Circumscribe a golden grin;

The host with someone indistinct
Converses at the door apart,
The nightingales are singing near
The Convent of the Sacred Heart,

And sang within the bloody wood
When Agamemnon cried aloud
And let their liquid siftings fall
To stain the stiff dishonoured shroud.

Meanings of Sweeney among the Nightingales

The poem “Sweeney Among the Nightingales” by T. S. Eliot presents two women trying to woo Sweeney. This wooing shows the main ideas of immorality, sexuality, depravation, callousness, and materialism. The poem presents the context of post-WWI to show how violence and immorality have taken over the global cultural setting.

Meanings of Stanza -1

Apeneck Sweeney spread his knees
Letting his arms hang down to laugh,
The zebra stripes along his jaw
Swelling to maculate giraffe.

This stanza presents the person, Apeneck Sweeney, in his exact appearance. He is permitting his arms to hang down. He laughs in this way by showing a relaxed manner. His jaw strips become prominent during this laughing. It seems that these appearances resemble that of a zebra. He also takes out his long neck to enjoy what is outside. This shows that he is mimicking a giraffe. This also shows that the man is mimicking animals or that he is looking like wild animals to show his understanding of the context he is placed in. This stanza contributes to the depravation and immorality spreading in the world post-WWI world.

Meanings of Stanza -2

The circles of the stormy moon
Slide westward toward the River Plate,
Death and the Raven drift above
And Sweeney guards the hornèd gate.

This stanza presents the second scene. It shows the moon having circles on its course to the River Plate in South America. Side by side, the death, and the Raven are also drifting along though Sweeney is on high alert to the threats to the status quo. These lines further present the depraved situation. The story of the moon with circles presents the heavenly wrath that appears in the shape of the stormy river where death and omens are dominant themes. That is where the man enters and tries to save his skin. It shows that man’s anti-natural acts cause devastation. This stanza r highlights moral depravation and man’s anti-nature acts.

Meanings of Stanza -3

Gloomy Orion and the Dog
Are veiled; and hushed the shrunken seas;
The person in the Spanish cape
Tries to sit on Sweeney’s knees

This stanza further presents omens to man in the post-WWI world. It shows Orion and the Dog, a constellation and a star, showing signs of bad omens for man. They are now under the clouds, while the seas do not show any signs of movement. They are silent. On the other hand, the Spanish cape tries to seduce Sweeney through allurements. This stanza presents a threat to man’s existence on this earth that is moral and sexual depravity, a subcategory of the main idea of the poem.   

Meanings of Stanza -4

Slips and pulls the table cloth
Overturns a coffee-cup,
Reorganised upon the floor
She yawns and draws a stocking up;

This stanza presents the description of the scene of the Spanish cape seducing Sweeney who slips and catches the table cloth to save herself. However, it overturns and the floor becomes muddy when the utensils fall down. Yet, the Spanish cape does not feel any shame or is not sheepish over this act. She rather tries to win the attention of Sweeny and pulls up her stocking. She yawns with it, too. It shows how this stanza further presents the power of sexuality, moral depravity, and materialism playing havoc with man’s life in the post-WWI world.

Meanings of Stanza -5

The silent man in mocha brown
Sprawls at the window-sill and gapes;
The waiter brings in oranges
Bananas figs and hothouse grapes;

This stanza presents Sweeney dressed in a mocha brown dress with silence prevalent on his face. He gaps when moving along with windowsills to show his indifference to the allurements of the Spanish cape. On the other hand, the waiter presents natural fruits and deserts made of oranges, bananas, figs, and grapes though they do little to make nature prevalent in this materialistic scene. This scene adds to the theme of materialism and man’s indifference to both allurements and nature.

Meanings of Stanza -6

The silent vertebrate in brown
Contracts and concentrates, withdraws;
Rachel née Rabinovitch
Tears at the grapes with murderous paws;

Presenting silence as a personification of man’s different feelings and convulsions, this stanza shows that Rachel nee Rabinovitch eats grapes as if she is killing the people though she has tears in her eyes. It shows her depraved nature as well as her attempts to woo Sweeney. The presentation of silence and Rabinovitch shows how social and moral conventions are facing replacement with callousness and sexual deprivation.

Meanings of Stanza -7

She and the lady in the cape
Are suspect, thought to be in league;
Therefore the man with heavy eyes
Declines the gambit, shows fatigue,

This stanza presents both ladies who are in league with each other to hoodwink Sweeney. Both seem conspiring against him, while he, on his side, tries to understand them. His pretence of understanding their gimmicks is clear from his tiredness but it is ambiguous how he understands and what he understands about them. Interestingly, this stanza adds another theme to the main idea of depravity which is the absence of sincerity in human relations and social depravation.

Meanings of Stanza -8

Leaves the room and reappears
Outside the window, leaning in,
Branches of wistaria
Circumscribe a golden grin;

This stanza briefly puts Sweeney and both women together. The first verse shows that he leaves the room and appears again at the window. He looks at the branches of wistaria tree and shows his golden smile. It seems that he is celebrating his victory that he has hoodwinked both ladies, who are actually prostitutes. The stanza shows the moral depravation of society and the sexual advances of women in the post-WWI world.

Meanings of Stanza -9

The host with someone indistinct
Converses at the door apart,
The nightingales are singing near
The Convent of the Sacred Heart,

This stanza presents the owner of the pub or the host who is talking to somebody the speaker is unable to identify. He hears the nightingale singing nearby the Convent. The stanza also presents how people have lost identity in the conglomeration of this global setting where social and moral conventions are turning topsy turvy. The stanza adds to the meanings of social and sexual depravity and anonymity.

Meanings of Stanza -10

And sang within the bloody wood
When Agamemnon cried aloud
And let their liquid siftings fall
To stain the stiff dishonoured shroud.

This stanza presents Agamemnon singing with the nightingales in this modern world. It shows that the ladies after confronting failure are just throwing away their garb and leaving. This illusion of the fabled Agamemnon and the story of Queen Clytemnestra show how they add to the themes of moral depravity, sexuality, and callousness of the modern world in the post-WWI context.

Summary of Sweeney  among the Nightingales

• Popularity of “Sweeney among the Nightingales”: Written by T. S Eliot, a phenomenal English poet, and writer, “Sweeney among the Nightingales” is a mock-heroic poem. The epigraph occurs in a Grecian setting concerning Agamemnon. Keeping Sweeney in the center, the poem uses illusions and references to present the situation of a modern man in the post-WWI world. The writer beautifully shows how lust and sexual desires lead a person to a fearful end. The poem’s popularity lies in the fact that even after the ages of its publication, it still relates to modern society and its social ills.
• “Sweeney among the Nightingales” As a Representative of Horror:This poem is about betrayal and cheating Sweeney faces due to his seductive nature. It begins when the speaker sheds light on the animalistic appearance of Sweeney, sitting in a modern pub like a spotted giraffe. His gestures, looks, and lustful actions hint that he is ready to involve himself in violent acts. Soon, he encounters two women in the bar. As the poem continues, the writer uses astronomical symbols to depict the place, time, and nature of the situation. There is a hint that Sweeney is going to face a disaster as the whole scene is set to foreshadow doom. Two women try to seduce him using various tactics. However, instead of allowing them to exercise their will, he senses something odd and decides to avoid them. To free himself from the trap, he feigns exhaustion and excuses himself. Thus, he escapes successfully leaving behind the shadow of looming death.
• Major Themes in “Sweeney among the Nightingales”: Horror, lust, tragedy, and escape are the major themes of the poem. The poem revolves around a man who possesses wild sexual desires. He loves drinking and having fun with women, referred to as nightingales in the poem. Although he does this for sport, he does not know that his sport might bring him frightful happenings. The poem shows the brutish Sweeney to show that the modern man is a crude version of Agamemnon, a Grecian King. Unlike him, modern man is also corrupt, reprehensible, and deserving of a horrific fate. Sweeney does not share the exact qualities of Agamemnon. Eliot has updated him as uncultured, wild, and seductive to add his modernistic view to the poem. To him, man’s nature is a mix of good and bad qualities. However, when one chooses to walk on a dark path, he goes away from qualities like heroism and bravery.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Sweeney  among the Nightingales

literary devices are modes that represent the writer’s ideas, feelings, and emotions. It is through these devices the writers make their few words appealing to the readers. T. S. Eliot  has also used many literary devices in the poem whose analysis is as follows.

1. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /e/ in “Apeneck Sweeney spread his knees” and the sound of /o/ in “Gloomy Orion and the Dog.”
2. Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession such as the sound of /s/ in “the shrunken seas” and the sound of /th/ in “Therefore the man.”
3. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /t/ in “Declines the gambit, shows fatigue” and the sound of /r/ in “Tears at the grapes with murderous paws.”
4. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;

“She and the lady in the cape
Are suspect, thought to be in league;
Therefore the man with heavy eyes
Declines the gambit, shows fatigue.”

5. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. T.S. Eliot has used imagery in this poem such as; “Apeneck Sweeney spread his knees”, “Are veiled; and hushed the shrunken seas” and “Bananas figs and hothouse grapes.”
6. Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects that are different in nature. The writer has used murder, lust, and horror in the poem to reflect the evil nature of mankind.
7. Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem uses symbols such as greed, the evil nature of mankind, and escape.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Sweeney  among the Nightingales

Poetic devices are tools that writers use to shape their texts in a better way. The use of rhyme, rhythm, and meter helps them mold their poems into better structures. T. S. Eliot, too, has used some poetic devices in this poem whose analysis is given below.

1. Iambic Tetrameter: It is a type of meter having four iambs per line. The poem uses Iambic Tetrameter such as; “Let-ting/ his arms/ hang down/ to laugh.”
2. Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here each stanza is quatrain.
3. Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows an ABCB rhyme scheme, and this pattern continues till the end.
4. Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are ten stanzas in the poem, with each having four lines in it.

Quotes to be Used

The following lines are useful when talking about a person having animalistic qualities and evil nature.

“Apeneck Sweeney spread his knees
Letting his arms hang down to laugh,
The zebra stripes along his jaw
Swelling to maculate giraffe.”