TimeTime, said to be eternal, possess neither a beginning nor an end. Yet however there is a fixation on being able to measure it in years, months, days, hours, minutes and seconds. Trying to save time with new technology, manage time with multi-tasking activities. All in the hopes of giving meanings to the past, present and future. The past is able to been seen but not changed, today is in the present yet still unpredictable, and tomorrow is not guaranteed. If I Could Tell You by W. H.
Auden is a villanelle much like others using rhyme, repetition, and meter, that revolve around the main idea of the continuity time and its unforeseeable nature. The rhyming of the alternating ending lines, “Time will say nothing but I told you so” (1) and “If I could tell you I would let you know” (3) keep the rhyme scheme which stays on the central themes. “Time will say nothing but i told you so” shows that time keeps going, because this is a statement. Although the things of the future are unforeseeable, it is guaranteed that in the end the only one who will know what will happen is Time.
“If I could tell you I would let you know” show how unforeseeable Time is. Auden knows that he can not see into the future, which is why he says “If I could… ”. These two phrases depict the speakers understanding of the continuity of time even though he shows to have a desire to know ahead of time what to do before certain events. The villanelle itself has a rhythm as a whole through periodical thinking. The beginning shows how Time does not wait for anything or anyone, “nothing but I told you so”.
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He later goes on to question Time in the second stanza and if we should fight back, which is why he says “weep when clowns put on their show” and “stumble when musicians play” which are juxtapositions since these actions are not likely given the circumstances. The third stanza shows the shift as he begins to understand that Time is necessary and things have to happen for a reason, “the winds must come from somewhere”. In the fourth stanza his train of thought is nearing a conclusion as he begins to wonder if not only do things have to happen, but are they meant to happen for the greater good, “Perhaps the roses really want to grow”.
The ending shows Audens maturity throughout the villanelle and ends with “If I could tell you I would let you know ” stating that Time is out of his hands, but it is acceptable and if there was anyway he could help, he would. Throughout the villanelle, time is personified and introduced to the reader as an unreliable character, through. Auden blames Time for unwanted changes in life, and he repeats the line because he observes that all changes, even those that are unintentional, come with Time.
The repetition of Time at the end of the stanza rather than the beginning or end display how eternal time is. The first part of each stanza question Time, but all ends with “Time will say nothing but I told you so”, explaining that whatever Auden thinks or observes, will all be part of the past in the future. Much like poetry as a whole, used to express emotion and speechless opinions, the villanelle is almost perfect fitting for the theme of time. A villanelles structure alone portrays almost a near exhibition of time.
Through the first five stanzas, a villanelle is predictable with tercets although the last stanza is a quatrain. This depiction could be metaphorical that time can be planned although in the end, everything may not come to together as hoped. The meter only emphasises this metaphor more by breaking the alternating line in each of the tercets before at the end. Audens desire to be able to match time is emphasized by the repetition of two phrases by the structure of the poem, which in itself helps portray the author’s idea about times continuity and its unforeseeable nature.
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I would hate to be famous. When you’re famous, you don’t have any privacy. Also, there’s too much criticism. Lastly, it can harm my safety. Being famous isn’t all that great, like you think it is. Many people who are famous have many problems and sometimes wish that they weren’t famous at all. I do not want to be famous. First, when you’re famous, you do not ...
