The Gazebo in “In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markiewicz”

When talking about “In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markiewicz” today, we identified the gazebo at the end of the poem as a reference to man-made aspects of life such as Time and Death itself. This would of course make sense in relation to the fact that the speaker wants to burn these aspects down. Man should be purified from these elements to be able to really live life. The match the speaker strikes and the purifying ability of the flames then also reminds us of the flames described in “Byzantium”.

However, I thought that the gazebo can also represent Ireland itself in relation to England. England then being the larger, more powerful house or mansion. This reference to England taking on the metaphorical role of parent, and Ireland subsequently being the child, can also be related to the almost childlike rhymes the poem ends with, and with which the word ‘gazebo’ is surrounded;  ‘Time-climb’, ‘match-catch’, ‘know-blow’, and ‘built-guilt’. The match then could represent the desire to burn the present submissive attitude Ireland has towards England, and be able to grow into the fully adult and independent nation Ireland can be.

Furthermore, when thinking about gazebos, mansions and matches the reader cannot help to be reminded of the large amount of mansions which were burnt down in the Irish civil war, one being Lady Gregory’s mansion.

One Reply to “The Gazebo in “In Memory of Eva Gore-Booth and Con Markiewicz””

  1. Wow, considering what you’ve said here I noticed the binary of the two girls, one old and “condemned to death,” (England) and one younger but “withered old and skeleton-gaunt, / An image of such politics” that dreams of “some vague Utopia,” (Ireland).

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