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Unread 07-18-2013, 03:59 PM
Maryann Corbett's Avatar
Maryann Corbett Maryann Corbett is offline
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Location: Saint Paul, MN
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I have to disagree with some of the points made a few posts back about "Marvel what man mars." "Forced" is not what it is; to be "forced" it would have to be syntactically wrong in all types of English. It's marked by the poetic device of alliteration, and it's in elevated diction, and it could reasonably be called archaic because of all those things taken together. But it's not "forced."

And it's right that it should be marked and elevated, because it's a crux in the poem. It summarizes the poem's claim, which is the wish that all the evils of human culture might be thrown away, leaving the purity of a child's nature. The poet wants us to pay attention at just that spot.
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