Had Tiberius Been a Cat

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Had Tiberius Been a Cat In “Had Tiberius Been a Cat” by Matthew Arnold, the major theme that is obvious is how this poem describes Tiberius, of ancient Rome. Tiberius was the man who did not want to be emperor, and was called tristissimus hominum, meaning “the gloomiest of men” by Pliny the Elder. Yet he was a brilliant general and emperor. The poem describes his personality, and how he was a leader among the military and ancient Roman society. The poem’s poetic elements are alliteration, allusion, denotation, euphony, imagery, rhyme, symbol, and verse. Alliteration is when the initial sound of a word, beginning either with a consonant or a vowel, is repeated in close succession. In the poem, “cruel, but composed…” is an example of alliteration; the line describes how Tiberius had natural qualities of a leader. An allusion is a historical reference, an example of this is Tiberius being compared to a cat. Denotation is the dictionary meaning of a word. In the poem the words cruel, composed, bland, dumb, inscrutable and grand all have literal meanings. Euphony is when a poem is made up of pleasant, harmonious sounds. “Had Tiberius Been a Cat” has smooth sound when read, the words flowing agreeably, especially the line “So Tiberius might have sat, had Tiberius been a cat.” Imagery is the mental image or idea you get from reading a poem. Arnold makes Tiberius seem alive once again; by giving an idea of what kind of person he was, even if he’s been dead for quite some time. The whole poem rhymes fluently, giving a light feeling to the words. A symbol is a word, phrase, or image with a deeper, more complex meaning. The symbol of Matthew Arnold’s poem is a cat, representing Tiberius, and how similar he was to cats. A verse is a poem when rhyming is involved, and the lines all clearly rhyme. All the elements work together to portray Tiberius. He was cruel, but calm

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