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Allusion
Explanation and Analysis—Hither, Hither:
Alcott's poem "Hither, Hither" marks a significant allusion to her work in verse. It appears in Chapter 2 when Meg and the other March girls are performing skits and songs on Christmas Day:
Hither, hither, from thy home,
Airy sprite, I bid thee come!
Born of roses, fed on dew,
Charms and potions canst thou brew?
Bring me here, with elfin speed,
The fragrant philter which I need.
Make it sweet and swift and strong,
Spirit, answer now my song!
In terms of form and style, the poem appears (approximately) in iambic trimeter. It contains rhyming couplets in the first stanza (aabbccdd) and the scheme changes slightly in the second stanza (aaeffe). The speaker seems excited and has strong feelings about invoking the "spirit." So too are the March girls enthusiastic about invoking the family's Christmas spirit, as well as impressing Marmee.
It's significant that Alcott included her own poetry in the novel. She could have chosen the work of any other poet but instead determined that her poetic form and subject fit the mood of the first scene better than any other. This demonstrates her confidence in both prose and verse; the story switches seamlessly between the two mediums and is enhanced by her imaginative poetry.
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