flow,
The lilies bloomed within the sedge,And we were lingering to and fro,Where none will track thee in this snow,Along the stream, beside the hedge.Ah, Sweet, be free to love and go!For if I do not hear thy foot,The frozen river is as mute,The flowers have dried down to the root:And why, since these be changed since May,Shouldst thou change less than they.And slow, slow as the winter snowThe tears have drifted to mine eyes;And my poor cheeks, five months agoSet blushing at thy praises so,Put paleness on for a disguise.Ah, Sweet, be free to praise and go!For if my face is turned too pale,It was thine oath that first did fail, --It was thy love proved false and frail, --And why, since these be changed enow,Should I change less than thou.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In this poem I think Elizabeth Barrett Browning did a wonderful job connecting the different stages of her relationship with the changing conditions of the season. First, the poem starts out in summer where the "lilies bloomed" and the "stream did flow". At this point, her relationship is wonderful and joyful, just like the season. This can be seen in her line, "Where none will track thee in the snow". Later in the poem, the tone changes, "For if I do not hear thy foot, / The frozen river is as mute". The season turns to winter and their relationship turns rocky. It seems to me that she begins to mourn over the change in her relationship. *symbol: An object or action in a literary work that means more than itself, that stands for something beyond itself. The glass unicorn in The Glass Menagerie, the rocking horse in "The Rocking-Horse Winner," the road in Frost's "The Road Not Taken"--all are symbols in this sense. For example in this poem: winter is a symbol of the downfall in their relationship; “The frozen river is as mute, The flowers have dried down to the root”*tone: The implied attitude of a writer toward the subject and characters of a work, as, for example, Flannery O'Connor's ironic tone in her "Good Country People." See Irony.
*climax: The turning point of the action in the plot of a play or story. The climax represents the point of greatest tension in the work. The climax of John Updike's "A&P," for example, occurs when Sammy quits his job as a cashier. In this poem, I found the seasons changing from summer to winter brought the climax of the poem; this is the change in seasons and the relationship between the man and woman.
comment on this one please!!
ReplyDeleteI agree that the poet does a beautiful job in paralleling the changing of the seasons, using the connotations associated with spring (life) and winter (death), with the deterioration of the relationship over time. I found the last couple of lines to be intriguing and puzzling at the same time. After describing the man’s breach in their vow and lack of love for her, she says “And why, since these be changed enow, Should I change less than thou” (lines 22-23). She seems to be saying that she is equal in fault of the decline of their marriage as he is, despite all his mistakes. I expected her to finish on a resentful note, but instead she takes some of the responsibility- a mature action. This was my interpretation of the ending.
ReplyDeleteI also saw the connection of the changing seasons to her relationship. As to the last couple of lines, i was confused as to who or what she thought was responsible for the demise in their love. Emma could be right about seeing her own mistakes, but i was wondering if anyone else had other ideas?
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that Browning uses a similar syntax in the lines “And why, since these be changed since May, / Shouldst thou change less than they” (11-12) and “And why, since these be changed enow, / Should I change less than thou” (22-23). I thought the purpose of these lines may be to establish the speaker’s resentful yet cunning way of telling her husband that she no longer wants to be in a relationship with him. In both lines, she uses the word “thou” to suggest that she looks down upon him for his unfaithful acts that are both “false and frail” (21). Looking at it from this point of view, it seems that the speaker takes on a sarcastic tone in lines 11-12 and acts as if she was foolish not to see such a change coming. Similarly, she suggests in lines 22-23 that because she has changed as well, she is ready to break from this relationship.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kathleen about the ending of the poem. The speaker seems to adopt a wry tone, and informs her lover that he cannot expect to treat her badly without consequences. As a result of his “false and frail” love she has lost her feelings for him. Sardonically, she tells him “be free to praise and go!” to show just how little she cares for him.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this poem, because it appeared to portray a strong female character. Instead of trying to appease or win back her unkind lover, she simply tells him to leave.
I agree with all the comments made above. I couldn't help but feel cold as the poem changed from happy, warm spring, to the depressing, slow, winter. I also found the shift into taking responsibility for the failed relationship surprising. Usually in love poems, or songs like those of Taylor Swift, they're spent condemning the other member and saying how all they did was love them. The narrator of this poem takes on a different perspective. In her eyes, if her "face... turned too pale", then it was her who lost love, and failed the relationship.
ReplyDeleteI like the poem because it can relate to anyone, even the relationships today. Seasonal changes are relatable because everyone feels a bit down in the winter, and can understand where the narrator is coming from.
Everyone thinks this already but I can't help but repeat that this poem does a beautiful job of comparing her relationship to the change of the seasons. I had a slightly different interpretation of the ending of the poem than Emma and agree more with Kathleen and Nicky. I think there is definitely some irony going on throughout and I really like it. It characterizes the speaker as edgy, and bold--not the typical obedient woman that men expect and demand in the 19th century--I wouldn't want to wrong her like her past lover. For example not even halfway through the poem she says, "The flowers have dried down to the root: / And why, since these be changed since May, / Shouldst thou change less than they." (10-12) Here I think she is saying, "how silly of me not to realize that you would "dr[y] down to the root" as quickly as the flowers. Of course, love should last much longer, as she hoped theirs would, but he unexpectedly turned cold and she ridicules him for it because she resents this action of his and was most likely hurt by him. Thus I feel that at the end of this poem she declares her response to his action. If he is to stop loving her so quickly as the flowers wither, she can and will do the same.
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