Term
| "Since then, keen lessons that love deceives. And wrings with wrong, have shaped to me. Your face" |
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Definition
Stanza four reveals that time has moved on and what we have been reading about so far has happened in the past. This shows the lasting power of the memory and the impact it has had on the speaker’s view of love. |
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Term
| "a grin of bitterness swept thereby like an ominous bird a-wing…." |
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Definition
The opposition of "grin" and "bitterness" and the comparison of the loss of love to a menacing bird flying away, heightens the pessimistic tone. |
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Term
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Definition
The speaker feels they were once the loving centre of their ex-partner’s attention. The speaker feels that their ex-partner was looking at them with something like cold suspicion. "Eyes" are a conventional symbol used in love poetry. The speaker is thinking back to a happier time. The speaker uses the word ‘on’ which has a slightly sinister tone. A reader would usually expect a word like gazed, which would suggest a romantic moment. |
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Term
| "And a pond edged with greyish leaves" |
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Definition
| The poem ends the same way in a "neutral tone". The speaker does not comment on who to blame, just focuses on the pond which suggests that the speaker doesn't want to dwell on the past and is locked in a cycle of depression. |
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Term
| "....had fallen from an ash" |
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Definition
An ash tree is the source of the leaves but by leaving out the word 'tree' the reader is reminded of the remains of a fire that has long since burned out, symbolising the death of the relationship. |
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