Speaker Addresses Sleep For The Last Time example essay topic

Throughout this soliloquy in Henry IV, Part II, the speaker's tone changes many times from appeasement to frustration and, ultimately, to concession because of his failed struggle against insomnia. Throughout the first eleven lines of the soliloquy, the speaker attempts to persuade sleep to overcome him. The speaker initially addresses sleep, personified as "nature's gentle nurse" (l. 3). This description emphasizes how sleep calms the body and mind, hinting at some issue troubling the speaker. By using soothing words such as "weigh down", the speaker creates the image of peaceful repose (l.

4). If the speaker used a harsher word, such as "force" or "push", he might have come off too strongly. Proceeding to ask sleep to "steep [his] senses in forgetfulness", the speaker implies that rest is the cure he needs to relieve him of his worrisome duties (l. 6). The carefully chosen word "cribs" connotes the dirty resting place of lowly people (l. 6).

The speaker's strategy in these first eleven lines is to plead with sleep to leave the peasants and to come down upon him; however, he fails to convince it with his delicate diction and vivid images. Throughout the excerpt's next eleven lines, the speaker's tone becomes quite aggravated. The speaker switches from his previous plea to biting contempt by referring to sleep as a "dull god" (l. 12). In contrast to the previous portrayal of sleep, this particular instance helps describe the speaker's new state of mind. The pattern of the words "dull,"vile", and "loathsome" in ll.

12-13 conveys a dramatic shift from the soft appeasement to the new disturbed attitude. The speaker then describes how a ship-boy is able to sleep amidst a tumultuous storm, yet he himself is unable to sleep in his grand estate. The use of the word "monstrous" in l. 20 connotes something scary but also something evil.

This word could indicate that the speaker sees sleep as a supernatural force pursuing him. The hyperbolic imagery of the turbulent thunderstorm is quite vivid: the winds cause the waves to rise so highly that the clouds become "slippery" (l. 21). The speaker's strategy changes to a more serious one in these lines because he has been unsuccessful at coercing sleep. The final tone the speaker utilizes is benign resignation. Again, the speaker addresses sleep-this time as "partial" (l.

23). By saying this, the speaker realizes that sleep is not responding and that sleep is not assured to everybody. The speaker then rudely inquires to sleep how it can possibly give itself to the sea-boy in such a situation and not to him in his castle. Another key word in these final lines is "repose" (l. 23).

Not only does this synonym for sleep represent relaxation, but it also expresses rest from trouble. When the speaker addresses sleep for the last time, he speaks to it as he would to one of his servants by saying, "happy low, lie down!" (l. 27). The speaker finally decides to dismiss his desire for slumber because he realizes that his disturbed mind does not have the time to focus on his insomnia.

The speaker's strategy in these final lines is harsh because sleep has completely eluded him. Due to his case of insomnia, the speaker of these lines of Henry IV, Part II changes tones throughout his speech varying from gentleness to annoyance to submission.