The Valley of Unrest
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Analysis |
Once it smiled a silent dell
Where the people did not dwell; They had gone unto the wars, Trusting to the mild-eyed stars, Nightly, from their azure towers, To keep watch above the flowers, In the midst of which all day The red sun-light lazily lay. Now each visitor shall confess The sad valley’s restlessness. Nothing there is motionless— Nothing save the airs that brood Over the magic solitude. Ah, by no wind are stirred those trees That palpitate like the chill seas Around the misty Hebrides! Ah, by no wind those clouds are driven That rustle through the unquiet Heaven Uneasily, from morn till even, Over the violets there that lie In myriad types of the human eye— Over the lilies there that wave And weep above a nameless grave! They wave:—from out their fragrant tops External dews come down in drops. They weep:—from off their delicate stems Perennial tears descend in gems. |
I chose this poem because the works of Edgar Allen Poe have always been personal favorites of mine. I interpret this poem as a telling of how life changes and once your battles are over and all is said and done, you want a place like this to die in. Somewhere away from other people, but somewhere still remembered. Somewhere ripe with the beauty of nature, but somewhere that you weren't constantly engulfed in it. Somewhere that the very workings of the earth around us seemed like a magic that could never be fully grasped. Somewhere that you could be buried, in an unmarked grave, but any who passed it would know, who you were, place their offering of flowers, and would "weep:- from off their delicate stems, perennial tears descend in gems."
This poems rhyme, rhythm, and symbolism, all push the story further. This pastoral uses a very peculiar rhyme scheme: AA,BB, CC, DD, EEE, FF, GGG, HHH, II, JJ, KK, LL. This combined with the Trochaic rhythm provoked the reader to continue further and somewhat faster pace. The symbolism paints life as a war and the inevitable waiting for death being a time of solemn peace. Flowers are signs of new life and regeneration. When you look "from their azure towers, to keep watch above the flowers," you are looking out on the fruit of you labor. The last two lines, "They weep:- from off their delicate stems perennial tears descend in gems." This comes together as the perspective of someone who, not without struggles, is waiting for death to come. Even with this somber knowledge, they know that they wont be forgotten. |