In Robert Burns' Address to the De'il, I found several instances where gothic images are present. For example, in lines 27, Burns mentions "ruined castles," the color "grey," and mentions a "nod to the moon." The use of light is also evident throughout the poem including the light of the moon as well as how the stars "shot down wi' sklentan (or slanting" light."(line 38)
Burns also mentions spectors and the sounds of "eldritch croon," or ghastly moans throughout the work. The effect of adding the multiple elements of gothic imagery throughout the poem solidifies that this work is gothic, but can it fit into any other genre? Does this imagery comment on the state of the church during this time period, or of political involvement in religious views?
The question might be: what effect doers Burns want the gothic imagery to have in this poem? Compare this to Taylor's translation of "Lenore," where the gothic is definitely meant to be creepy. When Burns says his "rev'rend graunie" has told him that where
ReplyDelete"auld ruin'd castles grey /
Nod to the moon,
Ye fright the nightly wand'rer's way,
Wi' eldritch croon."
It seems different: first, how do ruined castles "nod"? Further, "eldritch" means creepy or ghostly, but a croon is (according to the Scots dictionary) the lowing of a cow. Scary mooing? My point is that the gothic imagery borders on the ridiculous in Burns--it has become parodic, in the same way that the poem is making fun of Milton's very serious treatment of the devil.