Stanza 112 - Explanation

Original Stanza

'With rotten damps ravish the morning air;
Let their exhaled unwholesome breaths make sick
The life of purity, the supreme fair,
Ere he arrive his weary noon-tide prick;
And let thy misty vapours march so thick,
That in their smoky ranks his smother'd light
May set at noon and make perpetual night.

🔍 Line-by-Line Analysis

Okay, let's break down Stanza 112 from Shakespeare's The Rape of Lucrece line by line, identify the literary devices used, and then discuss the stanza's overall meaning.

Line-by-Line Breakdown:

• "With rotten damps ravish the morning air;"

  • Meaning: The speaker is calling upon some dark, personified force (likely Night or a destructive spirit) to contaminate or violate ("ravish") the fresh morning air with "rotten damps" (i.e., unhealthy, decaying moisture).
  • Literary Devices:
    • Personification: The "rotten damps" are given agency to "ravish," an act usually performed by a person. This highlights the aggressive and corrupting nature of the darkness being invoked.
    • Imagery: Evokes a strong image of decay and pollution spreading.

• "Let their exhaled unwholesome breaths make sick"

  • Meaning: The "rotten damps" emit "unwholesome breaths" that sicken.
  • Literary Devices:
    • Personification: The "rotten damps" are given the ability to exhale breath.
    • Imagery: reinforces the idea of poison and disease

• "The life of purity, the supreme fair,"

  • Meaning: This refers to Lucrece. She is the embodiment of purity and beauty. The goal of the dark forces is to attack and corrupt her.
  • Literary Devices:
    • Epithet: Lucrece is characterized by a defining attribute ("life of purity," "supreme fair"), serving to emphasize her virtuous nature.
    • Metaphor: Lucrece is a representation of purity itself.

• "Ere he arrive his weary noon-tide prick;"

  • Meaning: This refers to the sun reaching its zenith, or noon. The speaker wants the darkness to corrupt Lucrece before the sun, which represents light, truth, and justice, can arrive. The word "prick" is a now archaic term referring to a point in time.
  • Literary Devices:
    • Metaphor: The sun represents goodness, truth, and justice.
    • Alliteration: "weary noon-tide" emphasizes the point in time.

• "And let thy misty vapours march so thick,"

  • Meaning: Continue to call upon the darkness and its "misty vapours" to move forward aggressively and in great abundance. The idea is to create a dense cover or fog.
  • Literary Devices:
    • Personification: The "misty vapours" are given the ability to "march," suggesting a deliberate and powerful advance.
    • Imagery: Creates a feeling of being crowded, of lack of air.

• "That in their smoky ranks his smother'd light"

  • Meaning: The dense formation of darkness completely extinguishes the sun.
  • Literary Devices:
    • Imagery: Strong visual image of the sun's light being suffocated by smoke.
    • Metaphor: The "smoky ranks" are a metaphor for the forces of evil/darkness that are overwhelming the light.

• "May set at noon and make perpetual night."

  • Meaning: That the sun, which should be at its highest point, will instead "set" (like it would at night), creating a permanent state of darkness. This represents the complete triumph of evil and the loss of virtue.
  • Literary Devices:
    • Paradox: The sun setting at noon is a contradiction, highlighting the unnatural and catastrophic nature of the impending event.
    • Hyperbole: The idea of "perpetual night" is an exaggeration, emphasizing the total and devastating victory of darkness.

Overall Meaning:

This stanza is a powerful curse or invocation. The speaker, filled with foreboding, is calling upon the forces of darkness to corrupt Lucrece before the light of day (representing justice, truth, and virtue) can arrive. The darkness is meant to overwhelm and destroy her purity, plunging the world into a state of perpetual moral and spiritual darkness. The "rotten damps" and "misty vapours" represent the spread of evil and corruption, while the image of the sun being smothered at noon symbolizes the utter defeat of goodness. The stanza foreshadows the tragedy that is about to unfold, emphasizing the violence and destructive power of the forces that are about to violate Lucrece. It sets a tone of hopelessness and despair.