I need help analysing a quote for an English assignment but I can't find the deeper meaning:
"Day of wrath, that day of burning,
Seer and Sibyl speak concerning,
All the world to ashes turning." ~ Abraham Coles
I would be very grateful if someone could help me with this.
2 answers
I don't know the context of the quotation. Obviously it's about a cataclysmic event that is destroying the world in fire. Who are "Seer" and "Sibyl"? Mythological characters observing the event from afar, or participants? What do YOU think? Why would they speak about it? What would they say?
From this and his other writings, it seems as if he was quite religious. How will you interpret "Day of wrath" and "All the world to ashes turning"?
http://www.bartleby.com/248/322.html
https://books.google.com/books?id=4zVtAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA258&lpg=PA258&dq=abraham+coles+day+of+wrath&source=bl&ots=Ij8EE_uuvn&sig=8frTFYTcWwwYZveTRRK8aJAqMMw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwio9PbdqrbUAhUB3SYKHcgtA8AQ6AEIRTAF#v=onepage&q=abraham%20coles%20day%20of%20wrath&f=false
http://www.bartleby.com/248/322.html
https://books.google.com/books?id=4zVtAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA258&lpg=PA258&dq=abraham+coles+day+of+wrath&source=bl&ots=Ij8EE_uuvn&sig=8frTFYTcWwwYZveTRRK8aJAqMMw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwio9PbdqrbUAhUB3SYKHcgtA8AQ6AEIRTAF#v=onepage&q=abraham%20coles%20day%20of%20wrath&f=false