Stanza 138 - Explanation

Original Stanza

'Why work'st thou mischief in thy pilgrimage,
Unless thou couldst return to make amends?
One poor retiring minute in an age
Would purchase thee a thousand thousand friends,
Lending him wit that to bad debtors lends:
O, this dread night, wouldst thou one hour come back,
I could prevent this storm and shun thy wrack!

🔍 Line-by-Line Analysis

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

Line-by-Line Breakdown:

• "Why work'st thou mischief in thy pilgrimage,"

  • "Why work'st thou mischief": Why are you, Night (implied, being addressed), creating trouble/evil/harm? The archaic "work'st" indicates a direct address in the second person.
  • "in thy pilgrimage": While on your journey, while performing your duty. Night has a set course that it follows each day to return again. It's presented here as if Night is actively choosing to inflict pain.
  • Analysis: This line sets the tone of frustration and accusatory tone. The Night is personified as an agent actively causing harm.

• "Unless thou couldst return to make amends?"

  • "Unless thou couldst return": Unless you could come back after the mischief.
  • "to make amends": To repair the damage, to compensate for the harm done.
  • Analysis: This line builds on the first, suggesting that there might be some justification for the Night's evil if it were followed by a way to fix it. However, the speaker implies that no such "amends" are possible in this situation. The line also hints at a cyclical nature of time and suggests that Night may come back without undoing this wrong.

• "One poor retiring minute in an age"

  • "One poor retiring minute": A single, insignificant minute (of darkness) retreating early.
  • "in an age": In an entire era, in the longest possible stretch of time.
  • Analysis: Lucrece is desperate for the night to end early. She is saying that even the slightest shortening of the night would be a great benefit. This line conveys the immense scale of Lucrece's suffering; she views even one minute of relief as precious in the vast expanse of time.

• "Would purchase thee a thousand thousand friends,"

  • "Would purchase thee": Would earn you, would gain for you.
  • "a thousand thousand friends": An enormous number of friends, a multitude of gratitude.
  • Analysis: This line shows the potential positive impact even a small act of kindness (shortening the night) could have. "A thousand thousand" is hyperbole, emphasizing the immense gratitude that would result. Lucrece implies that if the night would just end sooner it would have great benefits.

• "Lending him wit that to bad debtors lends:"

  • "Lending him wit": Giving wisdom or intelligence to him (referring to time, or perhaps mankind in general).
  • "that to bad debtors lends": Which lends (wisdom/time/opportunity) to those who are not worthy, those who abuse it.
  • Analysis: This is a more complex line. It implies that even though Night is sometimes "generous" (lending time or opportunity) to those who waste it, in this case, it is being needlessly cruel. In some instances, Night lends something that is not appreciated, wasted on those who do not deserve it.

• "O, this dread night, wouldst thou one hour come back,"

  • "O, this dread night": An exclamation, emphasizing the terror of the night.
  • "wouldst thou one hour come back": If only you, Night, would go back just one hour.
  • Analysis: Lucrece expresses a desperate wish to rewind time, even a short amount of time, to alter what has happened.

• "I could prevent this storm and shun thy wrack!"

  • "I could prevent this storm": I could stop the impending disaster, the awful event (the rape).
  • "and shun thy wrack!": and avoid your destruction/ ruin. "Wrack" is an older spelling of "wreck" but also means destruction and violence. In this case it means the violent destructive effects of the Night.
  • Analysis: This line reveals the core of Lucrece's anguish. She believes that even a small amount of time reversed could prevent the tragedy that is about to unfold. She is aware of the destruction that night has brought.

Overall Meaning:

The stanza is a desperate plea to the Night, personified as a cruel and indifferent force. Lucrece is begging the Night to shorten itself, even by the smallest amount of time. She believes that if she could just have a little time back, she could prevent the rape that is about to occur, saving herself from ruin and avoiding the tragedy that is about to unfold. Lucrece argues that if only the night would end soon, the suffering caused would be undone.

Literary Devices:

• Personification: The Night is treated as a living being, capable of agency and making choices ("Why work'st thou mischief...").
• Apostrophe: Direct address to an absent entity (the Night). The "O" in "O, this dread night" is a classic marker of apostrophe.
• Rhetorical Question: The opening lines ("Why work'st thou mischief...? Unless thou couldst return...") are not seeking answers but are used to express Lucrece's frustration and outrage.
• Hyperbole: "A thousand thousand friends" is an exaggeration to emphasize the potential for gratitude.
• Imagery: The "storm" and "wrack" (shipwreck/destruction) create vivid images of the destructive power of the Night and the impending tragedy. These are metaphors for the rape and its consequences.
• Alliteration: "Wouldst thou one hour come back" for emphasis
• Metaphor: Night represents the event to come and the darkness in Lucrece's soul.

This stanza is highly charged with emotion, revealing Lucrece's despair, her helplessness, and her desperate hope (however faint) that she can somehow avert the impending disaster. The use of personification and other literary devices intensifies the sense of the Night as an active, malevolent force working against her.