Tamerlane

The poem uses several contrasts of light and darkness to heighten tension and give nuance to the story. One of the strongest examples of this is when the speaker asks, “Why did I leave it, and, adrift, / Trust to the fire within, for light?” (Lines 94-95). Here he contrasts the light of love to the light of battle and bloodshed as a way to feel whole. This is foreshadowed when the speaker recounts, from his deathbed in the future, his time in war: “the red flashing of the light / From clouds that hung, like banners” (Lines 44-45). Later, when looking back on his lover, the speaker compares their connection again with light: “Too well that I should let it be / Light in the wilderness alone” (Lines 153-54). In this way, the poem establishes light as a source of fulfillment, although one is proved to be less healthy than the other.

The poem uses images of darkness to show the fallibility of these light sources—in other words, the limitations of each one as a way to find fulfillment and connection. For example, the speaker acknowledges that his memories of his lover have become “shadows on th’ unstable wind” (Line 80). Then, he looks toward his dreams of the future as “dimmer nothings which were real— / (Shadows—and a more shadowy light!)” (Lines 122-23). This shows the duplicitous nature of any kind of wholehearted, hotheaded love.

As the speaker approaches his death, he compares his last days to the light of the moon juxtaposed against the warm summer sun of youth. Here, his final hours are lit more dimly and distantly than the memories of his childhood; however, the moon’s light still has the power to dispel the self-illusion with which the speaker has surrounded himself on the path he has chosen.