Eavan Boland

Moths

Moths are located all over the worldHowever, they are found most abundantly in

regions such as Ireland due to high moisture levels

History

Fuchsia( line 14) noun 1. a plant belonging to the genus Fuchsia,of the evening primrose

family, including many varieties cultivated for their handsome drooping flowers. Also called California fuchsia. a nonwoody shrub, Zauschneria californica,having large crimson flowers.

2. a bright, purplish-red color. Moths (Title, lines 4,9

any of numerous insects of the order Lepidoptera, generally distinguished from the butterflies by having feathery antennae and by having crepuscular or nocturnal habits.

Facsimile (line 21) Also called fax. Telecommunications. a. a method or device for

transmitting documents, drawings, photographs, or the like, by means of radio or telephone for exact reproduction elsewhere. an image transmitted by such a method.

Perishing (19) causing destruction, ruin, extreme discomfort, or death

Vocabulary

Tonight the air smells of cut grass.Apples rust on the branches.  Already summer isa place mislaid between expectation and memory.

This has been a summer of moths.Their moment of truth comes well after dark.Then they reveal themselves at our window --

ledges and sills as a pinpoint.  A glimmer.

The books I look up about them are full of legends:Ghost-swift moths with their dancing assemblies at dusk.Their courtship swarms.  How some kinds may steer by

    the moon.

The moon is up. The back windows are wide open.Mid-July light fills the neighbourhood.  I stand by the

    hedge.

Once again they are near the windowsill---fluttering past the fuchsia and the lavender,

which is knee-high, and too blue to warn them

they will fall down without knowing howor why what they steered by became, suddenlywhat they crackled and burned around. They

will perish---

I am perishing -- on the edge and at the threshold ofthe moment all nature fears and tends toward:The stealing of the light. Ingenious facsimile.

And the kitchen bulb which beckons them makes

my child's shadow longer than my own.

Main topic is of MothsAt nightIn summer

The Narrator has a childSpeaker is a adult / parentAudience is everyone, especially people who can

relate to this experience of moths in the summerStructure

There are 9 stanzasAfter the 6th stanza, the narrator goes from

talking about moths to talking about themselves

Inarguables

Location “between expectation and memory” “at our window” “near the windowsill”

Light “a glimmer” “light” “kitchen bulb”

Night” “tonight” “after dark” “moon” “shadow”

Colors in Stanza 5 “fuchsia” “lavender” “blue”

Literary Features

Location Changes in location represent time passing

Summer now goneLight

The moths seek out light in the nighttime The narrator is “perishing” but seeks the light in the dark time,

finding it in their childNight

The narrator is growing old or dyingColor in Stanza 5

The only passage that refers to color The colors are the beautiful things around the narrators life,

distracting them from the coming old age/death In the next stanza, the moths “fall” just like the narrator becomes too

old or sick

Arguables