Music, when soft voices die,
Vibrates in the memory,
Odours, when sweet violets sicken,
Live within the sense they quicken.
Rose leaves, when the rose is dead,
Are heaped for the beloved's bed;
And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone,
Love itself shall slumber on.
Percy's unique poem is very short but makes one think about it. On line five, he completely changed the subject from music to love. He began by stating that "Music....vibrates in the memory" to show that it is a part of life and can even describe it at some times. In the second half, he said that "Love itself shall slumber on," implying that even after death people will continue to love you.
ReplyDeleteThis poem is very short but yet has great effects on the mind of the reader. I feel like the second part of the poem changes in meaning and perception. Is the author trying to relate to something else?
ReplyDeleteI think for the most part the poem is dark and dreary with using words like "soft voice die" and "rose is dad." The poems creates a sense of sadness but at the las line it says "Love itself shall slumber on" and I think that is saying that love will still carry on.
ReplyDeleteI think erin has a really good point in saying that the poem's last line implies that love will still carry on. But I guess looking at it from a more general view, I think the poem is quite idealistic and romantic. Shelley expresses the way of life where people live on remembering how things were and keeping hope for the future hoping that things will get to that point again. This idea is supported by lines such as, "Music....vibrates in the memory". It's a sweet poem- kindof makes me sad though.
ReplyDeleteOne of the first things I noticed, which was really interesting, is the fact that each line has a rhyme scheme except for the first line. Why was the first line left out? Did it just turn out that way? I really like how this poem is really just saying that memories will live on forever, even when the actual thing is gone. The author is saying that you will always have memories through what we hear, see, and feel.
ReplyDeleteThis poem portrays death as peaceful and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jas, the message is encouraging. I think it is comforting to know that after we die, a part of us will live on, like the petals of the rose or the memory of the music mentioned in the poem. This makes me think of our vocabulary word Vestige, a trace of something that once existed but is now lost.
ReplyDelete