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can someone please help me analyze this poem. i am so lost.
thank you
732
She rose to His Requirement—dropt
The Playthings of Her Life
To take the honorable Work
Of Woman, and of Wife—
If ought She missed in Her new Day,
Of Amplitude, or Awe—
Or first Prospective—Or the Gold
In using, wear away,
It lay unmentioned—as the Sea
Develop Pearl, and Weed,
But only to Himself—be known
The Fathoms they abide—
ouch. okay . . . i stink at analysis, so i'm probably only going to get obvious stuff, but . . .
the first stanza's obvious. the woman in the poem is being married to a man, and giving up the pleasures and carefree life of childhood to take on her traditional role as "woman and of wife".
in the second stanza, i think "if ought she missed" is the same as "if she missed anything"; "her new day" is after she's married . . . i think that "amplitude or awe" means that she was properly . . . um . . . looking up to her husband, a good and modest wife; though i'm not quite sure what amplitude is - could mean that her life is becoming larger with her new responsibilities and all; being amplified. First prospective could be her looking ahead to the rest of her life - or have something to do with her being ready to have a child; i think "the gold in using wear away" is talking about how the first fluch of love and marriage fades, "wears away." ]
in the third stanza, the poem notes that the young wife doesn't mention her discontent, if she bears any; and then it says "as the sea develop pearl and weed" which, i think, refers to the passing of life and time for the woman, just as it does for the sea - god things, such as the pearl; and less good, like the weed. but it says that only "himself" - the husband, i think - would know. only he knows her depths and "fathoms" or how deep she and her emotions go.
that's probably not going to help any. but good luck!
by the way - who's that by? and when was it written? must have been a while ago - the requirements for "wife" are a bit different today . . . : )