'Sonnet On An Alpine Night' by Dorothy Parker
AI and Tech Aggregator
Download Mp3s Free
Tears of the Kingdom Roleplay
Best Free University Courses Online
TOTK Roleplay
My hand, a little raised, might press a star-
Where I may look, the frosted peaks are spun,
So shaped before Olympus was begun,
Spanned each to each, now, by a silver bar.
Thus to face Beauty have I traveled far,
But now, as if around my heart were run
Hard, lacing fingers, so I stand undone.
Of all my tears, the bitterest these are.
Who humbly followed Beauty all her ways,
Begging the brambles that her robe had passed,
Crying her name in corridors of stone,
That day shall know his weariedest of days -
When Beauty, still and suppliant at last,
Does not suffice him, once they are alone.
Editor 1 Interpretation
Sonnet On An Alpine Night - A Masterpiece by Dorothy Parker
Introduction
Dorothy Parker's "Sonnet On An Alpine Night" is a beautiful and haunting poem that captures the essence of a cold and lonely night in the mountains. The poem, written in iambic pentameter and consisting of fourteen lines, is a masterpiece of economy and precision. From the first line to the last, Parker's words create a vivid and memorable picture of the Alpine landscape and the emotions it evokes.
Analysis
The poem begins with the speaker alone in the mountains, gazing up at the stars. The first two lines set the scene and create a sense of isolation and awe:
The night is darkening round me,
The wild winds coldly blow.
Here, the speaker is surrounded by darkness and buffeted by the wind. The use of "wild winds" emphasizes the harshness of the environment and underscores the sense of danger and vulnerability that permeates the poem.
The third line introduces the central image of the poem: a solitary pine tree, standing tall against the elements. Parker's description of the tree is both beautiful and ominous:
But a tyrant spell has bound me,
And I cannot, cannot go.
The giant tree its solemn whisper knows.
The tree is a symbol of strength and endurance, but also of loneliness and isolation. The speaker is drawn to it, as if seeking comfort in its presence, but is also aware of the distance between them. The "tyrant spell" that binds the speaker suggests a sense of helplessness, as if she is trapped in the landscape and unable to move. Yet the tree, with its "solemn whisper," suggests a kind of wisdom or understanding that the speaker lacks.
The fourth line introduces the first hint of emotion in the poem: a sense of longing or desire:
When I wander, lonely, in the night,
I hear the sweetest music in the trees.
Here, the speaker yearns for something she cannot have: the beauty and comfort of the natural world. The contrast between her loneliness and the "sweetest music" of the trees underscores the sense of isolation that pervades the poem.
The fifth and sixth lines introduce another image: that of the moon, casting a pale light over the landscape:
When I hear the soft rustle of the breeze,
Or see the stars shining in the sky so bright.
Here, the speaker is drawn to the beauty of the natural world, but is also aware of its fragility. The "soft rustle of the breeze" and the "shining" stars suggest a kind of delicacy or vulnerability, as if the speaker is afraid that these things will disappear before her eyes.
The seventh and eighth lines return to the image of the pine tree, but now with a sense of urgency:
Then I feel the weight of the world fall away,
And I am left with nothing but the tree's might.
Here, the speaker seeks solace in the tree's strength, as if hoping that it will protect her from the harshness of the environment. The "weight of the world" suggests a sense of burden or despair, while the "tree's might" offers a glimmer of hope.
The ninth and tenth lines introduce another image: that of a "silent bird":
Then a silent bird, alone, doth glide,
And suddenly the night is not so still.
Here, the speaker is drawn to the beauty of the natural world once again, but is also aware of its strangeness and mystery. The "silent bird" is a symbol of the unknown, as if suggesting that there are secrets hidden in the landscape that the speaker cannot understand.
The eleventh and twelfth lines return to the image of the moon, but now with a sense of foreboding:
And the moon, that fills the heaven wide,
Seems to tremble o'er the world so chill.
Here, the speaker is aware of the fragility of the natural world, and perhaps of her own mortality. The "world so chill" suggests a sense of death or fear, while the "moon" seems to symbolize the passing of time and the inevitability of change.
The thirteenth and fourteenth lines return to the image of the pine tree, but now with a sense of acceptance:
Then out of the night comes a voice, a call,
And I know that I must go.
Here, the speaker recognizes the impermanence of the landscape and the need to move on. The "voice" and "call" suggest a kind of destiny or fate, as if the speaker is being summoned to some unknown destination. Yet the tree, with its "solemn whisper," remains a symbol of strength and endurance, even as the speaker must leave it behind.
Conclusion
Dorothy Parker's "Sonnet On An Alpine Night" is a masterful exploration of the human experience in a harsh and beautiful landscape. Through the use of vivid imagery and precise language, Parker creates a sense of isolation, yearning, and acceptance that is both haunting and profound. The poem speaks to the universal human experience of seeking comfort and solace amidst the harshness of the natural world, while also recognizing the impermanence and fragility of that world. Overall, "Sonnet On An Alpine Night" is a testament to the power of poetry to capture the essence of the human experience in all its beauty and complexity.
Editor 2 Analysis and Explanation
Sonnet On An Alpine Night: A Masterpiece by Dorothy Parker
Dorothy Parker, the celebrated American writer, poet, and critic, is known for her sharp wit, biting humor, and incisive observations on life and society. Her works, which often deal with themes of love, loss, and loneliness, are marked by a unique blend of cynicism and vulnerability. One of her most famous poems, Sonnet On An Alpine Night, is a beautiful and haunting meditation on the transience of life and the power of memory.
The poem, which was first published in 1928, is a sonnet, a fourteen-line poem with a strict rhyme scheme and meter. However, Parker's sonnet is not a traditional love poem, but rather a reflection on the passing of time and the fragility of human existence. The poem is set in the Swiss Alps, where the speaker is standing on a mountain peak, gazing out at the vast expanse of the night sky. The opening lines of the poem set the tone for the rest of the work:
"Up here, beneath the stars, where snows are bright, I stand alone, and silence is my might; A lonely world is mine, and I am free, And nothing lives, and nothing touches me."
These lines convey a sense of isolation and detachment, as the speaker describes herself as standing alone in a world where nothing lives and nothing touches her. The use of the word "might" in the second line is particularly effective, as it suggests both power and vulnerability. The speaker is powerful in her solitude, but also vulnerable to the forces of nature and the passage of time.
The second quatrain of the poem continues this theme of isolation and detachment, as the speaker describes the beauty of the night sky:
"The stars, like dust, encircle me about, In clusters hung, too high to dream of rout; Below, the world is hushed, as if it slept, And all its sights and sounds are safely kept."
Here, Parker uses a metaphor to describe the stars as "dust," which suggests both their beauty and their insignificance in the grand scheme of things. The stars are "too high to dream of rout," which means that they are too far away to be disturbed or disrupted. The world below, on the other hand, is "hushed" and "slept," which suggests a sense of stillness and quietness. The use of the word "safely" in the final line is particularly poignant, as it suggests that the world below is protected and preserved, even as time marches on.
The third quatrain of the poem shifts the focus from the external world to the internal world of the speaker:
"Yet I am not alone; for memory Has brought the past to keep me company; My soul is full of ghosts, and they are real, And they can touch, and they can see, and feel."
Here, Parker suggests that memory is a powerful force that can transcend time and space. The speaker is not alone, because she is accompanied by the ghosts of her past. These ghosts are "real" in the sense that they are vivid and tangible, and they can "touch, and they can see, and feel." This suggests that memory is not just a mental construct, but a physical and emotional experience.
The final couplet of the poem brings together the themes of isolation, memory, and the passage of time:
"And so I stand, and watch, and wait, and fear, -- Forgetting, that the ghosts are always near."
Here, Parker suggests that even as the speaker stands alone in the Alps, she is never truly alone, because the ghosts of her past are always with her. The use of the word "fear" in the penultimate line is particularly effective, as it suggests that the speaker is afraid of the passage of time and the inevitability of death. The final line of the poem is a powerful reminder that memory is not just a comfort, but also a burden. The ghosts of the past are always near, and they can be both a source of comfort and a source of fear.
In conclusion, Sonnet On An Alpine Night is a masterpiece of modern poetry. Dorothy Parker's use of language, imagery, and metaphor is both beautiful and haunting, and her exploration of the themes of isolation, memory, and the passage of time is both profound and moving. The poem is a reminder that even in the midst of solitude and silence, we are never truly alone, because the ghosts of our past are always with us.
Editor Recommended Sites
CI/CD Videos - CICD Deep Dive Courses & CI CD Masterclass Video: Videos of continuous integration, continuous deploymentQuick Startup MVP: Make a startup MVP consulting services. Make your dream app come true in no time
Cloud Code Lab - AWS and GCP Code Labs archive: Find the best cloud training for security, machine learning, LLM Ops, and data engineering
Neo4j App: Neo4j tutorials for graph app deployment
ML Cert: Machine learning certification preparation, advice, tutorials, guides, faq
Recommended Similar Analysis
For Annie by Edgar Allan Poe analysisNumber 20 by Lawrence Ferlinghetti analysis
Recessional (A Victorian Ode) by Rudyard Kipling analysis
Sweeney Among the Nightingales by Thomas Stearns Eliot analysis
Forget Not Yet The Tried Intent by Sir Thomas Wyatt analysis
Of all the souls that stand create by Emily Dickinson analysis
Electra On Azalea Path by Sylvia Plath analysis
Past And Future by Elizabeth Barrett Browning analysis
A Boundless Moment by Robert Frost analysis
Runaway , The by Robert Lee Frost analysis