in the beginning—
her light, always her light
then noon; penicillin
and a needle full of death
death, so much death
flows this morning in Verona
and that pit,
years and years deep
lurking in the corner
of the marble garden—
arms and bones
tangled, broken
and the smell of death
but
where are her bones
with the scent of honey and myrrh
and
who will now reap the grain
from the yellow fields of August
no! no! no!
harvester sheath your scythe
I will not let her wander
all alone in the sterile garden
my gentle old priest, please
take this grief away from me
here is a loaf of leavened bread
for your kind service
Part of the cycle of poems thirteen silk verses
A few words about the poem…
Giulietta: Love, Death, and the Fragility of Life | Cyprus Poems
In the cycle "Thirteen Silk Verses" within the Cyprus Poems collection, the poem "Giulietta" stands as a profound meditation on the intertwined themes of love, death, and grief. This poem recalls Verona veiled in sorrow, where life and death meet amidst a garden's silent stones, and its haunting echoes reverberate through Cyprus Poems as a whole. The reader is drawn into the tender but tumultuous finality of a love story, resonating with the legacy of Giulietta herself.
The poem opens with an image of "her light, always her light," an illuminating beginning that anchors the poem's duality—between life’s vitality and the shadow of approaching loss. As noon arrives, marked by the medical intercessions of "penicillin" and "a needle full of death," the vibrant world Giulietta once inhabited surrenders to the inevitability of mortality. The scene shifts to a Verona morning flooded with death, a reminder of time’s passage and its effect on both the physical world and the human heart. In the marble garden, a deep, unseen pit holds “arms and bones / tangled, broken,” each word an artefact of shattered lives and lost stories. Yet, amidst the sorrow and decay, the speaker cannot reconcile Giulietta’s memory with this scene. Her bones, infused with "the scent of honey and myrrh," must be elsewhere, untainted by death’s touch.
From here, the speaker’s grief becomes a desperate protest. Giulietta, once a source of warmth and illumination, cannot be left in this cold and desolate place. Even as the yellow fields of August await their harvester, the speaker cries out, “no! no! no! / harvester, sheath your scythe.” This plea to the harvester not to reap what remains of Giulietta in the sterile garden reflects a timeless human struggle against death’s finality. Here, the speaker’s love defies mortality itself, refusing to let her memory wander alone among the shadows.
As a final act of grief and devotion, the speaker turns to a “gentle old priest,” offering a loaf of leavened bread as a humble request for solace. The gift, laden with religious significance, represents hope for spiritual healing and the easing of sorrow. Giulietta’s story concludes not in the garden’s cold isolation but in an enduring human act of love, tying the poem’s profound sorrow to the promise of remembrance.
In "Giulietta," part of the "Thirteen Silk Verses" cycle, Cyprus Poems unfolds a universal meditation on love, loss, and the solace of memory. The poem's elegiac beauty is timeless, its themes reflecting the delicate threads that connect individual and collective experiences of grief. Through its finely wrought language and imagery, "Giulietta" emerges as both a lament and a tribute, inviting readers to explore the human condition within the Cyprus Poems collection’s richly evocative world.
Analysis of Themes
The poem centres on mortality, memory, and the sorrow that attends everlasting love. The choice of the name Juliet, as with the use of Eurydice and Ophelia in other poems, brings a rich literary heritage to bear, making the heroine a symbol of undying love and of remembrance that lingers beyond death. This connection to Shakespearean tragedy draws attention to the contrast between fleeting love and the speaker’s desperation to keep her memory alive.
Verse Analysis
The brief, intense lines in "Juliet" convey the speaker’s pain and determination to hold her close, even in eternity. The sparseness of each phrase reveals the weight of loss and the feeling of irreversibility, with every word reflecting the fragile nature of human grief.
Symbolism in the Poem
The poem abounds in symbolism. Juliet’s light becomes a metaphor for enduring memory and love. The “needle of death” and the decayed landscape represent humanity’s fragile state. The marble garden and the reaper with his scythe convey life’s inevitable cycle, confronting the reader with the tension between love and mortality.
Main Poetic Imagery
Through imagery, the poem connects readers to the speaker’s deep sorrow for his lost love, expressing his desire to preserve her memory. The contrasts between decay and eternity, shadow and light, capture a human struggle against time’s passage. The intertwined, broken bones embody humanity’s vulnerability yet also reveal the lasting imprint of a profound love.
Impact of Religious Symbolism
The religious tone deepens as the speaker, unable to part with Juliet in this sterile, sombre garden, turns to a revered elder, begging for solace. The elder, a figure of spiritual authority, represents a hope for comfort. Meanwhile, the reaper pauses, his scythe suspended, an unspoken appeal for spiritual peace and redemption. Juliet thus becomes a symbol not only of eternal love but also of the deeply human wish to transcend loss through faith.
In this way, Juliet serves as a timeless reflection on the universality of love and loss, grounding these experiences in human faith and memory. The name Juliet enriches the narrative, connecting the poem to a tradition of mournful tales and elevating the sorrow of loss to a contemplative quest for memory and redemption.
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