by: Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)
EARTH, lie heavily upon her eyes;
- Seal her sweet eyes weary of watching, Earth;
- Lie close around her; leave no room for mirth
- With its harsh laughter, nor for sound of sighs.
- She hath no questions, she hath no replies,
- Hush'd in and curtain'd with a blessèd dearth
- Of all that irk'd her from the hour of birth;
- With stillness that is almost Paradise.
- Darkness more clear than noonday holdeth her,
- Silence more musical than any song;
- Even her very heart has ceased to stir:
- Until the morning of Eternity
- Her rest shall not begin nor end, but be;
- And when she wakes she will not think it long.
- REST - euphamism of death?
- Sleep- similar to dying until you wake up.
- PEACE in death/rest - 'Hush'd in and curtain'd with a blessed dearth of all that irk'd her from the hour of birth.'
- TENDER- 'sweet eyes', 'holdeth her', 'blessed dearth'
- 'Harsh laughter' - out of place, peaceful. No true emotion. Resting from emotion and feeling. Any kind of emotion breaks this peace and takes her out of the resting trance.
- 'Paradise' and 'Darkness' , 'Eternity' capitalised : we reach paradise when at peace/death/resting. Heaven? Religion? Sense of timelessness. Everlasting state.
- All problems leave us in this state - 'Hush'd in and curtain'd with a blessed dearth of all that irk'd her from the hour of birth.'
- Rest/death is better than life itself?
- FORM/STRUCTURE: Like a PRAYER or LULLABY.
- 'th' creates a soft sound, hushed + peaceful.
- 'ceased to stir' , 'holdeth her' - idea of her being protected in this state. Safe and neutral. 'Darkness' acts as a shield to her.
- 'Her rest shall not begin nor end, but be' - living within the moment. treasuring.
- ENJAMBMENT - (continues sentence on next line) Similar to HARDY.
- 'Dearth' - lack of
No comments:
Post a Comment