Allusion

Allusions

1.   Allusion in song ‘My Heart Will Go On’ by Celine Dion

Once more you open the door
And you’re here in my heart
And my heart will go on and on

2.   This song is one of the defining songs of the 90s and a classic movie song that will go down in history. You have to have seen the movie Titanic to fully understand the allusion she is making here: to the door that Jack and Rose laid on while the boat sank. The first part "Every night in my dreams I see you I feel you" means that Rose (from the movie Titanic) dreams about (Jack from thr movie Titanic who died.) Than the lyrics "that is how I know you go on" means that although a person dies their heart lives on. Than the lyrics "near far wherever you are I believe that the heart does go on" she does not know where his heart is but she knows it lives on, most likely referring to heaven. Then the lyrics "once more you open the door" means even though he is gone he still opens the door to her heart. Then "and you're here in my heart and my heart will go on and on" mean that even if she falls in love and marries another guy he will still be in her heart forever. Than the lyrics "love can touch us one time and last for a life time" means that even after him being gone for years she still feels and remembers his love. Than "love was when I loved you one true time I hold to in my life we'll always go on" means she will still love him no matter who she meets and no matter what that they will live on in her heart. Than "we'll stay forever this way you are safe in my heart" means no matter what her love for him will never change and that his memory and the memory of their love is safe in her heart.

3.   Biblical Allusion (Antediluvian)

When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. Then the days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters. So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died. – Genesis 5:3-32

Antediluvian is a Latin phrase for “before the flood”. It refers to the worldwide flood during the times of Noah in Genesis. Something very old or outdated is sometimes exaggeratedly called Antediluvian. This period chronicled in the Bible between the fall of humanity and the Genesis flood narrative in the biblical cosmology. The term refers to any ancient and murky period.

Sentence: The teacher’s antediluvian belief made John ill-suited for classroom teaching.

Myth Allusion (Cupid)

Cupid: Cupid, or Amor, was the Roman god of love, who was also called Eros by the Greeks. He was usually depicted as a young winged boy with a bow and arrow. To play Cupid is to be a matchmaker, while someone who suddenly falls in love is said to have been struck by Cupid's arrow. Diane knew Sam had asked her not to get involved in his personal life, but she couldn't resist the urge to play Cupid and set him up with Rebecca.

Literarry Allusion (At rest on ocean’s brilliant dyes / An image of Elysium lies (Edgar Allan Poe, Serenade)

In the graphic novel Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi depicts a fallen soldier being cradled by his mother, a woman in a veil. The image alludes strongly to images of Jesus being taken down from the cross by Mary (external allusion). Later on in the book, Satrapi uses an almost identical image to show a mother fainting into the arms of her husband (internal allusion). This is an allusion to the mythical afterlife of the Greeks, which was called Elysium. In the poem, the “vision of Elysium” is the stars being reflected in the ocean – so Poe is suggesting that the stars are really the Fields of Elysium, where the Greeks believed heroes would go when they died.

Pop Culture Allusion (Sideshow Bob, The Simpsons)

Ah, Krusty – this is your Waterloo! 

This is an allusion to the Battle of Waterloo, where Napoleon Bonaparte suffered a crushing defeat from which he would never recover. Using this allusion, Sideshow Bob suggests that he is about to bring down Krusty just as Napoleon was brought down at Waterloo.