Vitae Lampada goes further into describing itself. “And It’s not for the sake of a ribboned coat, or the selfish hope of a season’s fame.” –immediately tells us that what they are encountering in their match, what they need to win, is not a one man team, but rather the whole team working as one. Not for personal glory but for much higher stakes, for the entire team.
Preludes now introduces a picture of a low, dirty place. “The grimy scraps, of withered leaves about your feet.” A grimy place, a dirty place, somewhere that is not well maintained, with stray withered leaves across the floor. The next few lines” The showers beat on broken blinds and chimney pots.” Once again an image of a badly maintained place, with rain beating on broken pots that are left behind. On the whole, a negative image.
Vitae Lampada, is also setting in a negative image, an image of lost hope and despair. “The sand of the desert is sodden red –Red with the wreck of a square that broke;” A square, in this case is referring to a formation of troops. Sir Henry Newbolt is comparing the aspect of war, with a game of cricket and this extended metaphor has worked exceedingly well in managing to contrast and yet bring the two closer together. Sodden red suggests that a great many soldiers have died and their blood spilled across the battlefield.
The next two lines, add deeper to the feeling of despair. “The gatling’s jammed and the colonel dead, And the regiment blind with dust and smoke” The soldiers that Sir Henry Newbolt is referring to here is not in a bright situation, with their guns jammed, and their leader (colonel) dead, and the entire regiment of them blind in the dust and smoke, it is indeed apparent that a deep feeling of desolation is introduced. And, as in Preludes, a negative image is painted.
Revolving around time appears to be the main theme in Preludes. The start of the second stanza “the morning comes to consciousness,” lets us know that the morning has come, after the evening in the first stanza. And time is also in the fourth stanza “the conscience of a blackened street.” could possibly mean after dark. And a few lines before, four and five and six o’clock suggests that time is moving quickly.
The final stanza of Vitae Lampada uses a few “ strong words” possibly to reinforce it’s meaning. “Every one of her sons must hear, and none that hears it dare forget.” Her sons, this of course, means the country’s people and the strong word “must” hear, hear the patriotism perhaps? And “dare” forget. “dare” is a strong word, a threat even. Threatening them to remember their loyalty, and to never forget it.
Vitae Lampada’s last few lines, bring a sudden contrast, compared to the rest of the poem. The second stanza is an image of despair, but here, the final touch to the sense of patriotism is added. “Bear through life like a torch in flame, and falling fling to the host behind.” This sentence carries a great deal of meaning to the main theme of the poem. Bear through life like a torch in flame suggests that these troops, instead of hopelessness, now carry a symbol, a beacon of light. The torch, could be as a baton is passed on in a game of relay. “As falling fling to the host behind”. When a soldier falls in battle, his effort is not lost, not wasted, but instead, passed on to those behind, as they march forward, with the flaming torch.
These two poems have indeed, very different ideas and themes, but they both have several things in common. For a start, both Preludes and Vitae Lampada use time description to allow the reader a window in which to see the rest of the poem. Both are describing, metaphorically, aspects of life. And they both, to an extent, use negative images to describe, to paint their visual images to the reader.
