... of the Ten Commandments, and has to go through punishment and penance in order to be absolved. Both views seem to be offered alternately throughout the poem, which only adds to its complexity. The Prisoner's sin is closer to an offence against God - despite the fact that he has not been ... , stillness and torpor. On the one hand they are presented in the "classical" opposition (white - black), but on the other, at one moment in the poem the Prisoner's desperation becomes so great that he sees even the sunlight as "a dull imprisoned ray" - light and darkness are brought together in a qui...

• Word Count: 1931
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate