What seem to be themes of this sequence? (decay and corruption of the British empire, the passing of an irrelevant Victorianism, the often-vain search for pleasure) Is the performance a celebration, an elegy, or both?
What are some connotations of the title Facade, literally and metaphorically?
Would you describe the tone as cheerful, critical, regretful, or eclectic and changing? Are the swift changes in tone a limitation or a merit? (subject itself suggests ambivalence and ambiguity)
Is the date of composition, 1926, significant? In what ways is this a “modern” poem? (concerned with its own novelty and shock value, eager to “make it new”)
Is the order in which the poems are presented significant?
Sitwell described Façade as a series of experiments in rhythm and music. To what degree does this seem accurate?
Do the songs and their musical renditions seem entirely congruent, or are there places where the music seems slightly different in tone from the text? (counterpoint)
During the performance, what effect was created by the fact that the poet spoke from behind a curtain? Would this have rendered the meaning less associated with its creator? More convincing because not attributable to a single source?
How would you characterize the sequence's diction? (classical, historical and geographical allusions mixed with modern slang)
1. "Hornpipe"--What are some associations of the sea? The original (Botticellian) Venus rising from the sea? Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and Albert Tennyson the Victorian Poet Laureate? Would the descriptor Hottentot have had racist connotations? What is humorous about the Queen's use of slang? (minx, not the goods for me)
2. "En Famille"--What kind of family is presented? (patriarchal) For what do the daughters yearn? (wish the exoticisms of hell) What is added by the knowledge that Joshua Jebb was a Surveyor General of Prisons and designer of Pentonville? What are the traits emphasized in this underground hell? (rules and respectability) What foreign regions/people are evoked? (Spanish, Chinese, Middle-Eastern)
3. "Mariner Man"--What famous poem is evoked by this title? (Coleridge's "The Ancient Mariner") What does the sailor fear? (trains) Why the allusions to Babylon and Troy? (former destroyed civilizations) Why does he tell his listener that his story will not interest her? (isolated, solipsistic)
4. "Long Steel Grass"--What meaning, if any, can you derive from this section? (gasconade=boasting, onycha=incense, phoca=a seal like land mammal, pica=a digestive disorder) What happens in the palace of the Chinese queen? What is the tenor of Il Captitaneo's wooing? (vulgar) What is meant by a "Paphian vocation"?
5. "Through Gilded Trellises"--What are the goals of Dolores, Inez and the other women mentioned? How do they spend their time? Why do you think the poet speaks of their "simian shapes"?
With what tone was the speaker tell them that "Time dies!" (they seem oblivious and the speaker gives unpleasant news)
6. "Tango-Pasodoble"'--What aspects of this tango seem sheer nonsense? What are some suggestions of the references to a bandit, luggage, and the tower of Babel and League of Nations? (Babel represented chaos before the orderliness hoped for in the League of Nations)
What happens to Don Pasquito when he briefly leaves his new wife? (she flirts with his friend) What does he do in response, and how is he rewarded? (eavesdrops, is offended by what he hears) What seems to be the purpose of this segment? (yet more cheerfully presented frivolity and emptiness)
7. "Lullaby for Jumbo"--Against what background does Don Pasquito seem faded? What are implications of the red "spined flowers"? (eroticism and life; he is faded)
8. "Black Mrs. Behemoth"--Who is Mrs. Behemoth and why is she unhappy? (she maintains an empty palace) Where is Coromandel, and why do you think this particular place was chosen? (New Zealand)
9. "Tarantella"--What happens in this section? Can you think of literary antecedents for the references to fruit? What is signified by the references to Queen Venus and Silenus? What is a cachuca? (Andalucian dance)
What seems to be the activities of the nymphs, and why does Venus tell Silenus that they should forestall further evils? Does it make sense that Venus, not Cupid, has a bow and arrow? What is suprising about the fact that Venus expresses disapproval of sexual activity?
10. "A Man from a Far Countree"--What does the man from the far country desire? (beautiful women and wealth) Were is the biblical reference to being black and not comely? (Song of Solomon 1:5-6) Does this allusion suggest a good outcome? (yes)
11. "By the Lake"--What conversation occurs by the lake? Why can the lovers not speak to one another? (one is married to Midas) What do the snow flowers seem to represent? (overtones grown for love's shroud) What is the effect of the synaesthesia throughout this section?
12. "Country Dance"--What happens in this country frolic? What famous Victorian poem is suggested by the references to goblins and fruit? How does the "maid" respond to the goblin's advances? (runs, as the women in the poem learn to avoid the goblins) Do you think Silenus will catch the running maidens? (uncertain; the chase is on)
13. "Polka"--What does Mr. Wagg boast of? Are there erotic implications to his claims? What may be the purpose of the allusions to Nelson and Robinson Crusoe? (suggestion of British conquest by sea and colonial possessions) What does he like in the smiles of a black woman? (the potentiality of fresh conquests)
14. "Four in the Morning"--Why is Mr. Belaker a ghost? What had he been in life? Who sees him at the window at four in the morning? What seems to tone of this section? (eerie depression) Why do you think Mr. Belaker is black?
15. "Something Lies Beyond the Scene"--What lies behind the scene in hell? Who is the Aga and what are implications of his behavior? Is it ominous that the dancer is called Princess Cockatrice? What seem the implications of evoking Chinese and Muslim cultures?
16. "Waltz"--What seems to be represented by Daisy and Lily who walk near a castle? What are their interests? (fashion) What are the meanings evoked by the allusions to classical sea goddesses and nymphs? Why do the nymphs mimic waterfalls? What does the speaker tell Daisy and Lily? What is the significance of the lost of Philomel's song? (all pleasant life has departed)
17. "Jodeling Song"--What is added to this song by the music and stanza form? (mixed cheerfulness and sadness) Why must men bid farewell to William Tell and Mrs. Cow? (William Tell a Swiss hero) What are implications of the other farewells? (storks, roses' bells) Whose heart has gone beyond the forest waves? (possibly Ganymede's) What are implications of the final image of his friends seeking their graves? (all dying)
18. "Scotch Rhapsody"--Why is Gordon is Gordon and why does he admonish himself not to bathe in Jordan? (wishes to continue the life of leisure) What will he do in the hotel in Ostend if he can find room? (drink) Are his prior statements inconsistent with his final assertion that heaven in the place for him? What significance can you find in the confusion of speaker and listener?
19. "Popular Song"--What are some motifs here that have appeared in prior sections? (lady walks at leisure, classical and other women evoked, Lily O'Grady is black, as several other characters have been, suggestions of heat and lakeside, all things are decaying) Why is it significant that "Heliogabalus lost his head"? What are implications of the final line, "And dust forbids the birds to sing"?
20. "Fox Trot--Old Sir Faulk"--What had been the private habits of Sir Faulk? (a huntsman, sleeps, is served tea) What seems the meaning of the fact that the nursery teas are for Japhet, Shem, and Ham? (Noah's children; we have returned to origins of world) Is it significant that the sequence contains several titled elderly men? (society is decaying) Against what must Meg, Sir Faulk and the others protect themselves? (the Flood) Are they successful? (no, hell is flooded at the end)
21. "Sir Beelzebub"--Who is Sir Beelzebub and why is he given the title Sir? Where does he reside, and for whom does he call? What is important about the fact that Tennyson, temperance workers and the Crimean War battle Balaclava are mentioned? (Tennyson was the author of "The Charge of the Light Brigade," celebrating the heroism of the soldiers in this battle) What has happened to the habits and beliefs of the Victorian period (as here presented)? What do we make of the fact that hell is apparently depopulated?
Will this bode well for the modern era? Does this section form an appropriate ending for the sequence? (the facade collapses)