Ode To Evening : Critical Analysis

Answer: Ode to Evening is a beautiful poem of fifty-two lines. It is addressed to a goddess figure representing the evening. Collins slowly constructs Evening as an allegorical figure with many attributes, and visual characteristics. The figure of Eve is only a sketch, but her attributes add up to the idea of an attractive, calm woman who is not restless or forcefully active.

According to the poet, Evening possesses solemn springs, dying gales, etc. gives way to calm as the wind literally often dies down in the evening. The smooth movements of water and the air ensure that her figure is not static.

The glaring bright-haired sun sits regally in his tent of clouds, edges of which seem to be made of many-colored braided cloth. This ethereal cloth evokes a picture of a vivid sunset; the sun is descending to its wavy bed behind an ocean. This is the end of the day. And the sun is not at the height of vigor but the implication is that he rests only after an active day.

Twilight is not yet an attuned mood of Eve. The air is hushed, except for some annoying sounds like a bat, beetle, etc. Collins has simply been addressing Evening. William Collins has not built up a literal picture of Evening, but a picture of the allegorical figure. He composed details of her attributes.

Collins says that the Evening is calm and beautiful. But the Evening is not just beautiful. She also includes chill blustering winds, driving rain, etc. When he cannot walkabout, the poet hopes to look out from a hut on a mountainside. Though, he says that she moves from the lowly heath. And she is lighted only by a reflection of a totally calm lake.

Collins takes the evening with all season of the year. But some of the associations are not pleasant. Spring is nicely associated with both water and the movement of air. Summer is with sport and half-light. Autumn is less lovely but is generous with leaves. Winter is nasty.

From the beginning, William Collins has asked the Evening to guide him on. He wants the ability to see her and write about her. The progress in the poem has not just been the gradual unfolding of Evening, but the gradual education of the poet. These qualities have obvious human analogs.

Ode to Evening is one of the masterpieces of William Collins who does not point morals.