To Love Intensely: E. Browning and Sonnet 43

It is written in many reviews that Elizabeth Browning’s sonnet 43 from “Sonnets from the Portuguese” is purely about the intense love she felt for her soon to be betrothed Robert Browning.  From the every popular quoted first line of “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways:” this seems to be an apt assumption. However, what is one to see when this poem is looked at through the eyes of someone who incapable of feeling much of anything? When the poem is broken down through the malevolent synapse of Ted Bundy, the words take a much more sinister air.

The first line, as mentioned above, is as sweet as sugar as it fawns over the love interest, creating a false sense of security. The narrator goes on to list all of the ways in which their love is felt, such as loving “...thee to the depth, and breadth, and height/ My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight.” Here, this line is misleading. The lines again are singing a melodious song of sweet love but they truly never say anything. A sociopath has no conscience which can also be interpreted into having no soul, as well, as this is the moral compass which guides humans. The theme of empty beautiful words being spun into a loving lullaby continue on with such lines as “I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;” “I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise;” as well as “I love thee with the passion put to use/ In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.”

The poem concludes with the lines “I love thee with a love I seemed to lose/ With my lost saints --- I love thee with the breath/ Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and if God choose,/ I shall but love thee better after death.” Here the true sociopath can be felt delivering a slice of truth as a sweet pale face falls onto his shoulder, lulled by his “loving” words. He confides just enough of himself within these lines to seal the trust of his victim. His torment of being lost, as seen in the “lost saints,” as well as just enough vulnerability, as seen in loving measurement through his breath, smiles and tears, locks everything he needs into place. The final line of loving one after death, if God so chooses, is the last narcissistic blow as the hand that was believed to be full of love takes the life of his victim sending them to this God who makes all these supposed choices when in fact it is he who is in true control.

It may be true that the original intent of this poetical work was to raise the praises of true love. However, shown here is the power of perception. When one takes a work and looks at through the eyes of another, works take on a whole new meaning, even if the work’s meaning seems to plainly stated as in Sonnet 43 of “Sonnet of the Portuguese.”

Dionysus, Maenads, and Kubla Khan

On the surface, Coleridge's “Kubla Khan” is a poem of a beautiful place that came to him within a dream with passionate and surreal undertones. However, if you look a bit deeper, you may see Greek mythology at play within one of Coleridge’s most well known poems. Through a journey of words that bring the audience through hills and valleys, a story of Greek mythology with a focus on the life of Dionysus takes form.

The poem opens with “In Xanadu did Kubla Khan/ A stately pleasure dome decree:” continuing on to describe this pleasure dome. The river Alph runs through, which is a nod to Alpheus, a Greek mythological river and river god. The author’s description furthers this assumption of the Greek theme by stating it runs through caverns measureless to man and down into a sunless sea denoting the might and depth the god has. He continues on to tell of the fertile ground, grand gardens, fragrant trees, and forest spotted with green landscapes. In keeping with his theme, this all points to the lands of the Dionysus cult of the maenads and lived quite a hedonistic lifestyle. Their lifestyle is told more in the following lines, stating:

But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted

Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!

A savage place! as holy and enchanted

As e’er beneath a waning moon was haunted

By woman wailing for her demon-lover!

The first three lines tell of the maenads, inciting thoughts out their sexualized passions brought on by their god Dionysus. The final two have a dual meaning: the frenzied women would dance in the night in passion as well as Dionysus’ creation between Semele and Zeus, as he came to her in the night invisible. Semele was pleased with her invisible lover and his taking of her could be preserved as a demon like possession.  

The poem then continues on with continued dual meaning within lines 17 through 30. These state:

And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,

As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,

A mighty fountain momently was forced:

Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst

Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,

Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s flail:

And mid these dancing rocks at once and ever

It flung up momently the sacred river.

Five miles meandering with a mazy motion

Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,

Then reached the caverns measureless to man,

And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean;

And ’mid this tumult Kubla heard from far

Ancestral voices prophesying war!

These lines have a dual meaning, as well. Not only is this the conception of Dionysus but it is also the demise of his mother, Semele.  The burst that rushes forth and meets which later foretells of war is his conception and the later wrath of Hera who becomes jealous of Zeus’ love for Semele. The volcanic like burst is also when Semele finally saw Zeus in his true form and was incinerated by his image.

The poem continues on to tell of the dome once more, but this time it has a cavern of ice. This could very well be the place where Dionysus was raised. Hera’s wrath was never ending and for protection Zeus sent him to be raised with the mountain nymphs.

Next, Coleridge jumps back to the maenads as they are enticing the narrator with music. Still, there are those who know tell him to beware. Maenads were known to tear apart both animals and mean and feast upon their flesh when in their frenzied states.  Yet the narrator  weaves a protective circle around himself, for he can no longer resist, as he has tasted the milk and honey of Dionysus, which is true paradise.

Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan” is the great poetical work of Dionysus. He wove in Greek mythology perfectly within the lines of surreal beauty that it seeps into the veins of the reader as if they have themselves tasted the milk and honey. It is impossible to not be moved by the musicality and beauty set in Xanadu through Coleridge's amazing words.

A Sister’s Love: “We Are Seven”

As many with siblings know, our brothers and sisters become our protectors. Through out our lives, they are our playmates, our friends, and the ones that look out for us in times of great peril. There is little that can end this bond, especially the one a sister has for her siblings. In Wordsworth’s “We Are Seven,” this loving bond is shown through the conversation held between that of a small child and the narrator as she shows not even death can break blood ties.

“We Are Seven” opens with the narrator taking pause as he watches this small cottage girl. He begins to questions what “it” knows of death. He uses “it” rather than “her” to dehumanize her, thus establishing that his character is one of an outsider. As being such can remove himself from her situation and have a completely logical position. The narrator continues on describe the girl, who is sweet and cherub like with her thick head of curls, fair eyes, and beauty that brought him happiness. The reason she is described as such is the author is setting the tone for her future actions within the poem, for she is not only angelic in her looks.

Finally, the narrator speaks aloud to the girl and ask her “’Sisters and brothers, little Maid,/ How many may your be?’” The exchange continues on with the girl telling of her seven brothers and sisters: two of which dwell in Conway, two are at sea, and “Two of us in the church-yard lie,/ My sister and my brother.” The narrator, curious as to how this can still make a sum of seven, questions the little girl to her logic. To this, the angelic reply was simply a parrot response in disbelief that this person could not understand her. At further prodding, she explains more in depth the story of her sister and her brother, which is as follows:

          "Their graves are green, they may be seen,"

          The little Maid replied,

          "Twelve steps or more from my mother's door,

          And they are side by side.                                  

          "My stockings there I often knit,

          My kerchief there I hem;

          And there upon the ground I sit,

          And sing a song to them.

          "And often after sunset, Sir,

          When it is light and fair,

          I take my little porringer,

          And eat my supper there.

          "The first that died was sister Jane;

          In bed she moaning lay,                                     

          Till God released her of her pain;

          And then she went away.

          "So in the church-yard she was laid;

          And, when the grass was dry,

          Together round her grave we played,

          My brother John and I.

          "And when the ground was white with snow,

          And I could run and slide,

          My brother John was forced to go,

          And he lies by her side."             

These lines give great merit to how her angelic looks tie in, as mentioned above. Not only does she look like an angel, but she is the angelic protector of her brother and sister. She speaks a bit backwards, as at first she tells of them in death. She speaks of how in death she watches over them, taking on many of her daily task with them where they lie. Then, she then continues with a bit more back story as she tells of her sister’s fate. She was neither sad nor angry when she passed away, but felt G-d had released her and took her away. Her phrasing with her sister’s passing further drives home the angelic protector that she is. She then moves on to her brother and that though her sister had passed she did not forget him but rather played with him while still including her sister’s memory until he fell ill. Even though these two are gone and she can no longer protect them from earthly ills, she can protect their memory and does so with a child like innocence personified through cherub qualities. Still, the narrator, ever the outside logic, questions her but this little girl remains firm, stating “Nay, we are seven!”

There are few that will protect you from all the harms and ills of the world. So much is out there that tries to destroy, yet the love of a sister will keep a light burning for all time, even if it to just protect a memory. Wordsworth grasped innocent love of a family through a child’s eyes within “We Are Seven” and the small cherub will keep her siblings alive for years to come.

The Changing Seasons: A Song by Christina Rossetti

          The changing of the seasons have always been poetic in the motions they take. As the cycle keeps going, there is life, death, and a rebirth with every year that passes. However, there is also a human element to these changes, as Spring takes on such innocence while Fall remains all knowing of the impending death that each cycle must take. Christina Rossetti captures this natural poetry in her work “Song.”

          The poem is spoken as if the narrator is telling the story to her audience. The opening four lines “She sat and sang alway/ By the green margin of a stream/ watching the fishes leap and play/ Beneath a golden sunbeam” first tell of Spring. Here, the audience can clearly begin to picture the life that Spring takes on, as sun beams shoot down from the sky and awaken the fish as they swim upstream to create life once more. The green grass has sprouted and the songs of the season can be heard in her voice, from the tiniest bird to the babbling brook. The use of “always” at the opening also reemphasizes that this is in fact Spring, as it will always be returning within the life cycle.

The narrator then states, “I sat and wept alway/ beneath the moon’s most shadowy beam, / Watching the blossoms of the May/ Weep leaves into the stream.” Here, it is seen that the narrator is Spring’s counterpoint: Fall. Fall knows of the impending death that each life cycle must take, again by the use of “always,” and thus weeps as stated above. Fall in general takes on a saddened tone of shadows, longer nights with reduced light, and, as shown here, watches as the life that Spring brought fall into the stream that once teemed with life.

Next, the lines present a comparison of how Fall truly knows what is to come and Spring knows so little. These lines state: “I wept for memory/ She sang for hope that is so fair; / Me tears were swallowed by the sea; / Her songs died on the air.” Fall continues to weep for the memories that once were. Her knowledge is a lack of innocence which Spring still posses, as she still sings for hope. However, the life cycle will forever press on with no change, thus the narrator’s tears falling into an endless sea while Springs songs will fade into Fall’s chill air.

In this poem, Rossetti does an amazing job of humanizing the seasonal cycle. Here, we are presented not only the seasons of change but change in itself. Through her words, one can watch the seasons and gain a better understanding of the seasons of life. 

A Prayer for Death: Sonnet of Sleep

There are many times in our busy lives we have all prayed for sleep to overtake our heavy lids and pass us into the world of the sandman where dreams abound and time loses meaning. These restful states allow us to reset from the day to day grind we experience, and REM sleep organizes out thoughts so our brains can handle the next onslaught of screaming children, memos, and traffic jams. Yet there are times where life is too much and sleep simply is not enough. On the surface, the John Keats sonnet appears to be a man pleading for a restful night wrapped in the blanket of morbid words. However, his morbid words are no mood setting imagery, but in fact true pleas for the calls of the true sleep which one can not return from due to the pains of addiction.

Keats shows the reader of his intentions with the first line, calling upon the soft embalmer of the still midnight. Just by using the term “embalmer,” a tone has been set of morbidity and mortality that he wishes to meet. He goes on to paint a picture of death overtaking him as he states, “Shutting with careful fingers and benign/ Our gloom-ples’d eyes, emboer’d from the light.” Keats continues on with “Enshaded in forgetfulness divine:/ O soothest Sleep! If so it please thee, close,/ In midst of this thine hymn, my willing eyes,” The use of the word divine is a play on words, as death is not only a welcome joy but a G-d send. This idea is further cemented in “Sleep” being capitalized in the next line and as he continues to plead with his angel of death as if it is a divine being or G-d himself. The sonnet continues on to state “Or wait the Amen ere thy poppy throws/ Around my bed its lulling charities.” At the time of the sonnet, Opium was in common use for both recreation as well as medicinal purposes. However, side effects of its use included depression, anxiety as well as sleep deprivation. Though the high gained from the addiction may be soothing, the effects are only exasperating his condition which could also mean this line is used with quite a bit of sarcasm. The poet continues to beg for fear of the next day’s light, and ends with “Save me from curious conscience, that still hoards/ Its strength for darkness, burrowing like the mole;/ Turn the key deftly in the oiled wards,/ And seal the hushed casket of my soul.” He pleads again to be released from his pain that is now eating away at his soul. The “curious conscience” that blackens him so is in fact his addiction that is slowly taking him away, burrowing deeper and deeper within him as glazed sleepless eyes look out calling for relief.  The author ends with a casket as do all physical human forms. At the last line the reader can almost hear a held in sigh as hopes are held high that a prayer will be answered.

Anyone who has suffered from waking pains with no rest can attest to praying for sleep. Still, there are times in which the pain of life bores into your soul and the only relief one can feel is the sweet release that only death can bring. At these times, only a true ode to lasting sleep will do.