Edgar Allan Poe
"Sonnet - Silence"
"Sonnet - Silence"
That have a double life, which thus is made
A type of that twin entity which springs
From matter and light, evinced in solid and shade.
There is a two-fold Silence—sea and shore—
Body and soul.One dwells in lonely places,
Newly with grass o’ergrown; some solemn graces,
Some human memories and tearful lore,
Render him terrorless: his name’s “No More.”
He is the corporate Silence: dread him not!
No power hath he of evil in himself;
But should some urgent fate (untimely lot!)
Bring thee to meet his shadow (nameless elf,
That haunteth the lone regions where hath trod
No foot of man,) commend thyself to God!
Poem Explication
"He is the corporate Silence; dread him not!" Poe means that we should silence our emotions but they should still be a part of us. Next, Poe writes, "But should some urgent fate...bring thee to meet his shadow...commend thyself to God!" This means that we should stop changing ourselves and find our true selves before our life is over.
In conclusion, this poem is about how we change in front of others and hide our emotions. Poe says that we should be our true selves and find who we really are.
Poet Research
When Poe says, "Some human memories and tearful lore," it relates to all the negative and sad things in his life such as the separation of his parents. Poe write, "No power hath he of evil in himself; But should some urgent fate... Bring thee to meet his shadow." In this line he could be talking about how death took his wife away from him. In the beginning of the poem, he says, "A type of twin entity which springs from matter and light, evinced in solid and shade," which refers to how he was a bright person but the events in his life changed him to become sad.
In conclusion, Poe's life restricted him from being happy from all the bad events in his life although there were still some positive things that happened.
Sea and Shore
Two-Way Face
Overgrown Grass
The Sky
at one moment
its bright and happy
like a sunflower then
the next it is a lonely alley way
dark and cold
the sky has sunsets
and sunrises,
storms and
rainbow