Mahon: Ecclesiastes Flashcards
(9 cards)
What are the key themes
Repression and religious hypocrisy
Inherited identity and tradition
Disillusionment and conformity
What is Ecclesiastes about
Biblical allusion: Ecclesiastes is a book of the Old Testament, critiques rigid religiosity, cultural indoctrination, and spiritual hollowness.
What are 5 key quotes
“God you could grow to love, it, god-fearing, god-“
“Dank churches, the empty streets, the shipyard silence , the tied up swings”
“And not feel called upon to understand and forgive”
“Bury that red bandana and stick, that banjo”
“Promising nothing under the sun “
Analysis of “dank churches, empty streets, shipyard silence, the tied up swings”
Symbols and metaphors: on Sunday everything stopped, These images convey lifelessness, repression, and suffocating tradition. The physical spaces mirror psychological and spiritual confinement
Analysis of “ god you could grow to love it, god fearing, god”
Triad of god, blasphemy, emphasise the all consuming presence in his childhood. The irony underscores how unappealing or absurd this way of life truly is, despite being presented as noble or righteous.
Analysis of and not feel called upon to understand and forgive
The rest of his poems showcase a need to understand others, he has a deep seated sense of empathy, to go back, he would have to repress that instinct
Analysis of “bury that bandana and stick, that banjo”
The flash of colour juxtaposes the darkness of the world, a symbol of the artist. What is music and art if it isn’t free expression of identity and opinion? Such a personal poem takes a universal context on identity
Analysis of “promising nothing under the sun”
ends with both pity and condemnation. Mahon recognizes how deeply someone might internalize this life but ultimately sees it as hollow
What was masons personal connection to this poem
He grew up as a Protestant in Ulster in the 1950s but had to leave.
Normally his poems are through another person however this is so personal
