Down, Wanton, Down
Down, Wanton [1], Down [2]
Down, wanton, down! Have you no shame
That at the whisper of Love's name,
Or Beauty's [3], presto! [4] up you raise
Your angry head and stand at gaze? [5]
Poor bombard [6]-captain [7], [8]sworn to reach
The ravelin [9]and effect a breach [10]-- [11]
Indifferent what you [12]storm [13]or why, [14]
So be that in the breach you die! [15]
Love may be blind, but Love at least
Knows what is man and what mere beast; [16]
Or Beauty wayward [17], but requires
More delicacy from her squires [18]. [19]
Tell me, my witless [20], whose one boast [21]
Could be your staunchness [22]at the post [23], [24]
When were you made a man of parts [25]
To think fine [26]and profess the arts? [27]
Will many-gifted Beauty come
Bowing to your bald rule of thumb [28],
Or Love swear loyalty to your crown? [29]
Be gone, have done! [30] Down, wanton, down!
FOOTNOTES
[1] Wanton: Somebody without sexual restraint. It refers to the male sexual
organ which is undisciplined.
[2] The poem is about love, and it is highly developed to the people who do
not understand the beauty. The poet gives himself over to erection, and
elaborates on penis, male sexual organ, which does not appreciate love.
Moreover, it is significantly mentioned that is uncontrollable. He differentiates
beauty and love from sex, wishing the traditional romantic poems of
Chaucer's and Marvel's be revived, since he is considered as one of the
Georgian poets who wrote conventional lyric poems in a romantic style.
[3] The importance of beauty and love, in a romantic scene, is disregarded by
wanton.
[4] Presto: A musical composition which is meant to be played very fast.
[5] The musicality of the poem is comparable to the lyric poetry, such as
Marvell's, which conveys the intense feelings with a musical quality.
[6] Bombard: A kind of cannon which was used in medieval warfare, and
could hurl large stones at an enemy.
[7] The organ's governing role is emphasized by 'captain'.
[8] 'Bombard-captain' is served as a representation of the sexual organ,
since it bombards like a cannon.
[9] Ravelin: A small outwork in fortifications consisting of two embankments
shaped like an arrowhead that point outward in front of larger defense work.
[11] The captain, or the sexual organ, wishes for the shore, which is a kind of
defensive work.
[12] Wanton is addressed again.
[14] The male sexual organ, or the cannon, is indifferent since it does not
want to know the reason of why it bombards is sex or love, intending to do
that.
[15] Death is your inevitable destiny, happening of that is my wish.
[16] Your inability to distinguish between man and beast is the sign of your
stupidity.
[17] Wayward: Behaving erratically.
[18] Squire: A man accompanying a woman on a social occasion. The
representation of the obsession of classical terms in Graves's mind is exposed
merely since 'squire' is designated to denote a young apprentice knight.
[19] The beauty at least needs delicacy.
[20] My witless: Another representation of wanton.
[21] It refers to an art about which you can boast.
[22] Staunchness: Loyalty.
[23] It signifies the military post.
[24] Possessing an art must be the reason of what you boast and why you are
at the post not the erection, the lamentable possession of which presents no
ground to boast.
[25] A perfect man like what the medieval poetry portrayed has courtesy as
an art.
[27] Possession of different skills, or arts, and delicate thought, which you
lack, is the rallying point to boast.
[28] Rule of thumb: An experienced way of proceeding.
[29] Debating on the approval of love and beauty for you, wanton, is
unimaginable since the rule of thumb is your method.
[30] Have done: Get finished.
ANALYSIS
Robert Graves, the distinguished poet who established his principles to backtrack on conventional lyrics, short poems conveying intense feelings, wrote 'Down, Wanton, Down' to illustrate his consideration on the restoration of personal emotions and distinctive subject matter. The choice of traditional words and emotional setting, having sex, besides the emotional subject matter, erection, revitalizes the conventional lyric poetry which often has a musical quality, but the figures of speech had been employed to embellish the poets' styles diminish the main subject matter. The poet accomplishes another main subject, difference between love and sex, by the same figures of speech and the warlike setting, setting, which was given rise to when the emotional setting vanished.
Experimenting wanton as his main subject matter is a step forward in lyrics, and even in the modern era he lived. Nevertheless, he takes another step forward in subject matter when all the metaphors stand against the wanton, the main subject matter. 'Poor bombard-captain' and 'witless' are the ways the poet addresses the wanton. Illustrating 'wanton' as a 'poor bombard-captain' is the negative attribute the poet gives to it. Instead, love and beauty, which do not have any kind of these figures of speech, are not regarded as trivial as wanton ,since they are significant love at least/ knows what is man and what mere beast'. Avoiding the metaphors and personification, he simplifies his idea toward love and beauty. Graves makes fun of wanton, while he respects love and beauty. This is visible in the rhetorical questions he asks in the last two stanzas in which he compares the wanton, as a man of post, to love, as a man of parts. Then he concludes to 'many gifted beauty' and 'bald rule of thumb' of wanton. The difference between love and sex is the ultimate subject matter that can be acquired.
Despite the emotional setting of the whole poem, the dominant setting is a warlike one which starts from the second stanza. Making fun of emotional setting, like what the figures of speech did, governs the main setting in which the violence of the captain, who is of a high rank, contrasts with the passion of the squires, who are of a noble rank. The captain, or the wanton, is a determined warrior, while the squire, or the lover, is the follower of peace, since no words depict the violence of love in the poem. These two different settings, peaceful and violent, convey the difference between love and sex.
Being a Georgian poet, Graves employed some musical quality to reach the intense emotions, while all the elements that are mentioned are designated not only to revitalize the conventional lyrics but also to make fun of sexual desires; all these elements pave the way for Graves to reach not a conventional lyrics, but a modern one.
Maryam Javaherinia