I would love some help analysing this poem. I cannot understand it's true meaning. The woman is obviously thinking of her love, but why is he so hidden and needing to break free? Has she allowed her life to block him out up to this point? or has he chosen to turn from her and she's asking him to come out to him? The last two lines completely confuse me too. Please help me to understand this beautiful poem. Thanks! Shelley

First let's take a look at the poem:

Sonnet XXIX
by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I think of thee !--my thoughts do twine and bud
About thee, as wild vines, about a tree,
Put out broad leaves, and soon there 's nought to see
Except the straggling green which hides the wood.
Yet, O my palm-tree, be it understood
I will not have my thoughts instead of thee
Who art dearer, better ! Rather, instantly
Renew thy presence; as a strong tree should,
Rustle thy boughs and set thy trunk all bare,
And let these bands of greenery which insphere thee
Drop heavily down,--burst, shattered, everywhere !
Because, in this deep joy to see and hear thee
And breathe within thy shadow a new air,
I do not think of thee--I am too near thee.

There are several different ways you can look at this. One is that she clouds her image of him with her own thoughts, not knowing what he's thinking. Another is that she wants him to assert himself (be more demonstrative) so that she can see what he's really like.

The last two lines are saying (I think) that her closeness to him and fondness for him may be stifling him.

Les

I think of thee!—my thoughts do twine and bud
About thee, as wild vines, about a tree,
Put out broad leaves, and soon there 's nought to see
Except the straggling green which hides the wood.

(He's wearing a fig leaf?)

Yet, O my palm-tree, be it understood
I will not have my thoughts instead of thee
Who art dearer, better! Rather, instantly
Renew thy presence; as a strong tree should,
Rustle thy boughs and set thy trunk all bare,

(Is it getting warm in here, or what?)

And let these bands of greenery which insphere thee
Drop heavily down,—burst, shattered, everywhere!
Because, in this deep joy to see and hear thee
And breathe within thy shadow a new air,
I do not think of thee—I am too near thee.

Les, I really like your interpretation! It makes sense! Hugh, you are too funny! Thanks for all the help! Shelley

Here is the poem, her Sonnet 29:

I think of thee !--my thoughts do twine and bud
About thee, as wild vines, about a tree,
Put out broad leaves, and soon there 's nought to see
Except the straggling green which hides the wood.
Yet, O my palm-tree, be it understood
I will not have my thoughts instead of thee
Who art dearer, better ! Rather, instantly
Renew thy presence; as a strong tree should,
Rustle thy boughs and set thy trunk all bare,
And let these bands of greenery which insphere thee
Drop heavily down,--burst, shattered, everywhere !
Because, in this deep joy to see and hear thee
And breathe within thy shadow a new air,
I do not think of thee--I am too near thee.

She has chosen an unusual metaphor - sustained for the whole poem, though only just - of vines overgrowing and concealing a tree to express an unusual idea: the distinction between, on the one hand, her continual thoughts (the 'wild vines') about the person she loves (the 'tree'), and on the other, the 'deep joy' of actually being with that person.

She calls the loved one a palm-tree, presumably because she pictures a palm-tree as upright and strong. No matter that in real life palm trees can grow at all angles, and be decapitated by strong winds, and are rarely if ever covered by vines.

In the first six and a half lines she is saying that her crowding thoughts about the man she loves are an unsatisfactory substitute for his actual presence. From there to the end of line 11, she calls on her love to appear, and dispel and supersede all those confused and inadequate thoughts.

In the second-last line, being within the loved one's 'shadow' doesn't mean anything sinister. It just describes closeness consistently with the overall metaphor. 'new air' is to achieve the rhyme, but also felicitously could mean new music as well as new fresh air around a tree freed from choking vines.

In the last line she means that when her loved one is so near, she doesn't need to construct thoughts about him, she can just be with him and feel the joy of that.



Post Edited (06-24-04 09:37)

Ian, you did an outstanding job interpreting this poem for me! Thank you!!