Elegiac Sonnet to a Mopstick

I chose the sonnet Elegiac Sonnet to a Mopstick, by William Beckford, because it is one of the most challenging poems that I have ever come across. I am usually confused by poems because of the different tones and vocabulary used by the author. My confusion towards this poem actually has very little to do with the vocabulary but has to mainly correspond to the format of the sonnet and the time shift within the two stanzas. From the title I assumed that William Beckford was writing a sad, mournful poem to a mopstick, which is why I was first intrigued by this poem.
One of the most complex components of this poem is trying to understand which rhyme scheme that this sonnet contains. From first glance of the sonnet, it may seem that this sonnet is Petrarchan because there are two stanzas that seem to be separated into an octave and a sestet. But after reading through, there is a couplet at the end of the sonnet, and Petrarchan sonnets are to never contain a couplet. So, I assumed that it would be Spensarian which is a rare form of sonnets, but the rhyme scheme is ABAB BABA CDCD EE, which does not follow the Spensarian scheme. Even though the rules say no, I am saying that this poem is a rare form of Petrarchan ending in a couplet, because the volta is between the octave and the sestet.
The volta is placed at this point in the poem because of the time shift that William Beckford infers. In the first four lines of the first stanza, I believe that Beckford is admiring the birch tree’s reflection in the water. Beckford seems to be sympathizing for the taking of a branch from the birch tree in order to make her mopstick. The next four lines of the first stanza, he continues to show remorse for the tree when saying “even stript as thou may be my beating breast”. It seems that Beckford thinks that she took the life out of the tree because now the tree will never be able to get that piece of life back.
In the beginning of the 2nd stanza, she says “So musing on I fare”, which shows Beckford moving forward in time. This is significant because it shows that after time, Beckford still feels saddened for the birch tree and the mopstick. In this second stanza Beckford seems to be comparing this mopstick to his own personal life troubles. In this stanza he seems to be emphasizing the first person by repeatedly saying “I”. Also, it seems as though at the end of the stanza he is writing alliterations, “Thee twirled, turn on the twisting of this troublous world”. The repeated sound of ‘t’ further brings out the uniqueness of this sonnet and the rareness of this type of style.
All in all, William Beckford writes a very unique poem by using unusual components of grammar. He is remorseful for the loss of the branch that was used for a human object which was taken from nature. This poem is very dark and mysterious, and after several read through and a blogpost I am still unsure of what this poem is truly about.