How does Virgil build up tension in the death of Nisus?

'me, me, adsum'
1. 'It's me, me, I'm here'
2. Repetition portrays desperation
'o Rutuli!'
1. 'Rutulians'
2. Vocative case: calling on enemy
  1. desperation
  2. Exclamation: vivid + dramatic
'omnis, nihil'
1. 'It is all, none of it'
2. Juxtaposition of all and nothing
  1. depicts chaos of war
    1. adds tension
'amicum'
1. 'friend'
2. Emphatic positioning
  1. last word of line
  2. depicts distance between N + E
'dabat'
1. 'he was still saying'
2. Imperfect tense
  1. fast pace of actions/ events
'aut tantum potuit perferre dolorem'
1. 'nor could he tolerate so much grief'
2. poignant
3. emphasis on N + E's close friendship
4. Juxtaposition of hard and soft sounds
  1. N about to break out into tears?
  2. crying?
'purpures... flos'
1. Metaphor
  1. vivid + poignant
    1. N is not in a comfortable situation
      1. N is not emotionally stable
        Tension: what next?
2. E's death
3. 'purple flower'
'moratur... instant'
1. 'He wants... He presses on'
2. N lost identity
  1. foreshadow death
'it auor'
1. 'the blood trickled'
  1. E's death
2. Empathic positioning
  1. at start
  2. show slow death
3. detailed description
  1. grotesque death
  2. E is humanised: no longer divinely beautiful
'moriens animam abstulit hosti'
1. 'as he died, he stole his enemy's life spirit too'
2. Assonance of 'a'
  1. powerful ending
3. avenged E's death
  1. faithful friend
    1. powerful thoughts
4. even when he died, he caused harm to enemy
  1. faithful soldier
    1. loss of a hero: tense+ poignant

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How does Virgil build up tension in the death of Nisus?

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	Created by mouldybiscuit over 9 years ago